The Charity Commission has opened a compliance case into Citizens Advice amid allegations of “internal discrimination and political activities”.
In September, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) wrote to Citizens Advice’s chief executive Claire Moriarty about “worrying complaints” regarding political campaigning and actions at the charity that appeared to breach its charitable objects, commission guidelines and UK law.
The letter, seen by Civil Society, shows that the “incidents and activities” relate to staff supporting Palestine at work, including the publication of social media posts and use of the Palestinian flag as background during virtual meetings.
UKLFI raised these concerns with the Charity Commission which were then passed to a casework manager in the compliance casework team.
The casework manager told UKLFI that concerns were raised directly with Citizens Advice on 20 September, according to correspondence seen by Civil Society.
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “Concerns have been raised with us over alleged actions by staff at the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux.
“We have opened a regulatory compliance case to allow us to engage with the charity’s trustees and gather more information.”
HP petition is ‘political activity’
In its letter, UKLFI said employees were sent a letter through their work emails entitled “Call for Citizens Advice to end the purchase of all HP products”.
It contains a petition that has been signed by around 150 staff members and urges staff to end the purchase of Hewlett Packard equipment, following a call for a boycott from the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC).
UKLFI’s letter reads: “The BNC claims that HP systems are used in Israel and are apparently ‘complicit in violations of Palestinian rights’.
“The BNC is a Palestinian organisation, whose members are listed on its website. It should be mentioned that the first organisation in the list of BNC members is the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine.
“This is a committee comprised of representatives of various Palestinian political factions, including the designated terrorist groups Hamas, the PFLP and the PLFP-GC.”
UKLFI said the petition is “political activity that doesn’t further any of [Citizens Advice]’s charitable purposes.
“Furthermore, the petition relates to Israel, which is outside the UK, and [Citizens Advice] only operates within the UK. Senior members of [Citizens Avice] staff have signed the petition, as well as many others. It therefore appears that [Citizens Advice] is condoning the circulation and signing of a purely political petition, which doesn’t further [Citizens Avice]’s charitable objects.”
‘Breaches of Equality Act 2010’ and ‘social media policy’
The letter says that Citizens Advice’s “Jewish and Israeli employees” and individuals from organisations who work with the charity “are likely to be adversely affected” by “the incidents”.
It adds that “unwanted political emails, espousing support for Palestinians, is likely to harass Jewish and Israeli staff members”.
“The receipt of a request to sign the HP petition that contains propaganda and inaccuracies has been instigated by an organisation whose aim is to destroy Israel, and that has already been signed by many colleagues and creates an intimidating, hostile and offensive environment at work.
“The Palestine flag background on Teams/Zoom meetings certainly caused a Jewish [Citizens Advice] employee extreme distress. The complainant had to sit and look at this image, which created a very hostile, offensive and intimidating workplace for them.”
UKLFI argued that these “incidents” breached the Equality Act 2010.
On the social media posts referred to in the letter, it said that Citizens Advice breached its social media policy as it “hasn’t maintained its political impartiality in the social media posts”.
“[Citizens Advice’s] employees have failed to be politically partial not only on social media but also within the office workplace,” the letter reads.
“It appears that they have been allowed to express their partisan political view in relation to the Israel/Hamas war with impunity.”
Citizens Advice: ‘We take allegations of prejudice and discrimination very seriously’
In response, Moriarty told UKLFI that Citizens Advice “will consider the matters you raise and whether any steps need to be taken as a result”.
She said: “This will, as you will appreciate, be an internal matter for the charity. I can assure you that the charity takes inclusion and the prevention of prejudice and discrimination very seriously, and this is reflected in the way in which we, as a charity, operate.
“I can also assure you that the charity doesn’t adopt a corporate position on the war in Gaza or engage in political activities that aren’t intended to further its objects.”
A spokesperson for Citizens Advice confirmed to Civil Society that the charity is in contact with the Charity Commission.
They said: “We want to be a service where everyone is comfortable coming to us for help, and a workplace where everyone feels they belong.
“As an impartial and independent organisation, we take allegations of prejudice and discrimination very seriously. This is reflected in the way we operate, including the steps we take to consider internal issues like those raised.
“We continually review and revise our equity and inclusion practice to ensure we uphold our values in all that we do.
“Recognising that people will hold their own personal opinions, we work hard to ensure workplace behaviours and discussions adhere to our internal policies and align with our organisational purpose and values.”
