The Charity Commission has exonerated a childcare charity after a Conservative MP complained it had undertaken party political activity on Twitter.
Rob Wilson, MP for Reading East, wrote to the Charity Commission late last year complaining about the Family and Childcare Trust, which campaigns for affordable childcare and rights for working parents.
Wilson claimed the charity had sent tweets which included hashtags and phrases associated with the Labour party. He also complained that the charity's chief executive, Anand Shukla, was closely associated with the Labour party.
In January the Commission confirmed it was looking into the allegations. But in an operational compliance report published today it said the charity had followed its guidance on campaigning.
“We were satisfied that the charity has adequate procedures in place for ensuring that the benefits of any campaigns are properly weighed up against the potential risks and the charity’s independence and the public perception of this are maintained,” the Commission said.
“Our conclusion was that the charity was complying with our guidance.”
The Commission said trustees had explained how they maintained political neutrality.
“Regarding the use of the Twitter hashtags, the charity explained that it had done so in order to join a conversation that was relevant to the charity’s purposes and to ensure that the charity’s tweets were seen by a larger audience,” it said in its report.
“The trustees said that they were satisfied that none of the charity’s tweets containing the named hashtags indicated a bias in favour of a particular political party.”
The Commission also said it welcomed plans from the charity to minimize any further risk of political activity, including “establishing an audit and risk committee to scrutinize campaigning and political activities”.
In response to the report, Shukla promised to continue his charity's campaigning work.
"We welcome that the Charity Commission has stated unequivocally that Family and Childcare Trust has been operating in accordance with its guidance and procedures," he said.
"We will continue to campaign to make sure children and families have what they need to thrive."
