Kids Company trustees have been given a deadline of next week to agree a voluntary ban on them from acting as company directors, according to national news sources.
Kids Company collapsed in July 2015, shortly after receiving a £3m government bailout. Following a series of investigations, the Insolvency Service wrote to the former trustees and chief executive of Kids Company in July, telling them that the Business Secretary will bring court proceedings to ban them from being company directors.
The proceedings would ban the individuals from “running or controlling companies” for between two and a half and six years.
In October, Sky News reported that some Kids Company trustees might agree to voluntary bans for shorter periods, rather than testing the issue in court. This was thought to include the charity’s chair, Alan Yentob, although this has not been confirmed.
Sky News and The Times have both now reported that negotiations over voluntary reductions have gone on for over two months, and that the Insolvency Service has handed down a deadline of 20 December for any negotiations to conclude. If the trustees do not agree before the deadline, the case will go to court, the reports said.
Camila Batmanghelidjh, the chief executive of Kids Company, was included in the list of those facing bans because the Insolvency Service argued she was a “de facto director” even though she was not a trustee. Batmanghelidjh is not among those who might agree voluntary bans, it is understood.
Both the Insolvency Service and Bates Wells Braithwaite, the lawyers representing the trustees, have both declined to comment.
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