Former trustees at a faith charity were responsible for misconduct and/or mismanagement in its administration after repeatedly failing to file financial information, a Charity Commission investigation has found.
Middlesbrough Central Masjid and Community Centre had failed to submit accounts for several years, and the Charity Commission placed the charity into its double defaulter class inquiry before opening a statutory inquiry last December.
New trustees have since begun at the charity and told the regulator former trustees failed to submit the required accounting information on time due to factors which were compounded by Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
Accounting issues
Accounts filed for the 2019 calendar year indicated that the charity had income of £85,278, but its accounts did not have an independent examiner’s or auditor’s report included, which was required.
No accounting information was received by the Commission for the 2020 and 2021 financial years until 23 March 2023. The accounts for 2020 were 508 days late and the accounts for 2021 were 143 days late.
However, the accounts for both financial years were reviewed and found to meet the reporting requirements. The charity is no longer in default.
Findings
The current trustees explained to the inquiry that they were fully aware of the charity’s shortcomings with regard to reporting requirements.
They stated that they had been appointed in July 2020 and January 2023 and had taken over from the former trustees to resolve the non-compliance issues.
“The current trustees stated that there were many factors that contributed to the former trustees’ failure to submit the required accounting information on time which were compounded by the advent of Covid, and the restrictions put in place,” reads the inquiry report.
Current trustees had opened a new bank account with online access which will facilitate the provision of accounts information to the current and future trustees and auditors, it adds.
The inquiry concluded that the former trustees had not complied with or fulfilled their duties as trustees under charity law.
There was a failure to file annual accounting information in accordance with their statutory obligations repeatedly over several years, which is misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity.
The Commission found that the former trustees were responsible for misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity. The former trustees repeatedly failed to prepare and submit the necessary financial information.
“The current trustees cooperated fully with the inquiry and the Commission is satisfied with the steps taken to prevent a recurrence of this failure,” it adds.
Related Articles
