The Charity Commission opened 53 statutory inquiries in the year to the end of March 2016, compared to 103 the previous year, according to an annual publication summarising regulatory activity.
However, in the six months to the end of September it has opened 136, according to an annex published alongside the Tackling abuse and mismanagement report.
In the year to March 2016 the commission also issued 14 people with a notice of intention to remove them as trustees, up from four the previous year. It has removed eight of them.
The commission opened 1,327 operational compliance cases during the year, up from 1,182 the previous year. In the period between April and September it has opened 903.
It has also increased the amount of information it gets from other agencies. There were a total of 2,332 disclosures, with the Commission making 1,410, comparable to last year’s figure of 1,446, and receiving 922, up from 667.
The regulator identified three main types of abuse in its report: financial mismanagement and financial crime, concerns about safeguarding and terrorism.
Terrorism
Some 630 of the disclosures with other agencies related to terrorism or extremism, a figure that was highlighted on the front page of the Telegraph on 1 January.
In an interview with the Telegraph, published on New Year’s Day, Williams Shawcross, chair of the Commission said the extremists taking over charities is “not the most common problem we have, but it is the most potentially dangerous and deadly”.
Terrorism or extremism featured in four new inquiries, 21 reports of a serious incident and eight operational compliance cases.
Financial abuse
Financial abuse and mismanagement featured in the majority of cases. Some 46 of the new statutory inquiries included concerns about financial abuse or mismanagement.
Concerns about fraud, theft or the misapplication of funds featured in 10 inquiries.
Safeguarding
In 2015/16 concerns about current or historic safeguarding issues featured in 1,131 reports of serious incident, accounting for nearly half the serious incident reports.
Safeguarding issues featured in two new inquiries and made up 187 discloses between the commission and other agencies.
Good governance is key
The commission said that issues relating to good governance was a feature of much of its work this year.
Michelle Russell, director of investigations, monitoring and enforcement, said: “Good governance is at the heart of what it is to be a well-functioning, effective charity.
“Too often in our casework we see basic mistakes, sometimes by those seeking to abuse charities but all too often simply through ignorance or carelessness. The impact this has on charities and their work individually, but also on the sector more widely, can be significant.
“This report demonstrates the need for trustees to get a real grip on their duties and do the basics better. We provide a huge amount of help and guidance for trustees and now more than ever it is important that these are used by trustees to help them fulfil their role.”
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