A member of the public has complained to the Scottish Parliament because the charity regulator in Scotland has taken over a year to decide whether to investigate possible missue of charitable funds.
Peter Martin of Muir of Ord asked OSCR to investigate the “misuse of charitable funds in relation to sexual abuse in the diocese of Galloway” in April 2018, but has still not had a decision.
"[OSCR] undertook to decide within six to eight weeks whether to investigate," he told Civil Society News. “I am still waiting for them to inform me of their decision.”
He sent a further complaint this month about the lack of a response from OSCR to the Scottish cabinet secretary for communities and local government.
OSCR’s response
An OSCR spokesperson told Civil Society News: “We acknowledge that the time taken to respond to Mr Martin is longer than we would normally expect.
“Our response has been delayed because we have been considering a broader approach to our engagement on these issues with the Roman Catholic Dioceses.
“We will be writing to Mr Martin to apologise for this delay and to let him know that we are still considering his concern.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson told Civil Society News in response to Martin’s complaint about OSCR: “The Scottish Government has received a letter from Mr Martin and alerted OSCR to the concerns he raised.
“We understand OSCR are now considering those concerns and OSCR will write to Mr Martin directly about the matter.”
The original complaint
Martin’s original concern lodged with OSCR, and according to The Herald, claimed the Catholic diocese of Galloway misspent charitable funds in support of a paedophile priest Paul Moore, which included buying him a house.
Moore was jailed for nine years for sexually abusing three children and a student priest.
A spokesperson for the Catholic Church told The Herald: “The diocese did not contribute any funding towards Paul Moore’s legal costs.
“Prior to his conviction, the diocese fulfilled its obligations to all retired clergy and he lived in a house owned by the diocese.”
The Galloway diocese is a registered charity with OSCR and has an income of almost £3.5m.
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