Charity Commission stepped in when a chair was accused of sex offences
The Commission has criticised a charity for not taking enough action when its chair was charged with offences relating to sexual assault against a child, in an operational compliance report published today.
Holme-on-Spalding-Moor Village Hall had not filed a serious incident report and the Commission only became aware of the accusations through its work with another case. A police investigation had already started but the regulator contacted the trustees for further details to ensure that beneficiaries were not at risk.
The charity had voted against excluding the chair as trustee and was unable to specify what action had been taken against him. The Commission also said that the charity’s safeguarding policy fell short of the regulator’s guidance.
“We were not satisfied that the trustees had considered the seriousness of the situation or dealt with the matter appropriately, including considering suspending the trustee pending the outcome of the criminal investigation by the police,” the Commission said, and told trustees to review their safeguarding and conflicts of interest policy.
The person did not stand for election at the charity’s annual general meeting and has been convicted and sentenced to seven years after admitting to two offences.
The operational compliance case has been closed “on the basis that there was no ongoing risk” and the Commission will follow up with the charity to check that it has acted on advice to improve its safeguarding policy and introduce a formal conflicts of interest policy.
The Charity Commission initially included this operational compliance report as a case study in its report Tackling abuse and mismanagement at the end of last year.
Holme-on-Spalding-Moor Village Hall had not filed a serious incident report and the Commission only became aware of the accusations through its work with another case. A police investigation had already started but the regulator contacted the trustees for further details to ensure that beneficiaries were not at risk.
The charity had voted against excluding the chair as trustee and was unable to specify what action had been taken against him. The Commission also said that the charity’s safeguarding policy fell short of the regulator’s guidance.
“We were not satisfied that the trustees had considered the seriousness of the situation or dealt with the matter appropriately, including considering suspending the trustee pending the outcome of the criminal investigation by the police,” the Commission said, and told trustees to review their safeguarding and conflicts of interest policy.
The person did not stand for election at the charity’s annual general meeting and has been convicted and sentenced to seven years after admitting to two offences.
The operational compliance case has been closed “on the basis that there was no ongoing risk” and the Commission will follow up with the charity to check that it has acted on advice to improve its safeguarding policy and introduce a formal conflicts of interest policy.
The Charity Commission initially included this operational compliance report as a case study in its report Tackling abuse and mismanagement at the end of last year.
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