MPs have been urged to hold the Charity Commission to account after it failed to comply with recommendations made following an investigation into its handling of concerns about sexual abuse.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) today criticised the commission’s implementation of its previous recommendations regarding sexual abuse inquiries at two charities and laid its reports before parliament.
Previously, PHSO published two reports – one regarding the experiences of a woman named Lara Hall and another about a man named Damian Murray – both of which criticised the commission’s response to their complaints and recommended actions to improve.
Today, the PHSO’s chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath said the commission has “not complied with the bulk of our recommendations, despite our best efforts and our willingness to work with them to ensure compliance”.
The commission has provided financial remedy to both complainants and reviewed its case handling.
However, PHSO said the commission has not acknowledged or addressed all the failings identified, implemented service improvements to the ombudsman’s satisfaction or accounted for the decisions it made.
“It is important that the commission provides a full apology for their failings and reassures Lara and Damian that they will put things right by complying completely with our recommendations. They have not done this so far,” said Hilsenrath.
The commission, meanwhile, has lodged a judicial review over the PHSO’s critical reports, questioning its authority to make such recommendations and the regulator’s power to implement them.
Commission accused of blocking publication
PHSO accused the commission of preventing it from laying the critical reports before parliament, which the charity regulator denies.
According to the ombudsman, it took the rare decision to ask MPs to intervene in March but was prevented from doing so when the commission issued legal proceedings.
The ombudsman claimed that it has only been able to lay its reports before parliament now following a motion successfully put forward last week by Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) chair Simon Hoare.
PHSO has requested that MPs intervene “to find a resolution that will put things right for both complainants”.
“Parliament may arrive at its own views about rectifying the injustice. We have shared what we consider to be an appropriate remedy,” PHSO said in its statement.
Complainants seek justice
Both Hall and Murray welcomed the reports being laid before parliament, criticised the regulator’s actions and urged MPs to take action.
Hall said in a statement: “It is my hope that by bringing the reports to parliament’s attention action will finally be taken.
“The commission must urgently address safeguarding to protect vulnerable people. Right now, it is failing in its core duty.
“It is time for change, oversight, and accountability within the charity sector so what happened to me is never repeated.
“I call on Parliament to hold the commission to account and restore public trust. People deserve to feel safe approaching charities, and they deserve a regulator that takes safeguarding seriously.”
Murray said: “I trust now that politicians will hold the commission to account, where I as an ordinary UK citizen failed.
“By stark contrast with the commission, I very much appreciate the careful, professional and empathetic way that the ombudsman’s team have dealt with me and with the complex and consequential concerns I have raised.”
Regulator: ‘Ombudsman has misunderstood our remit and overstepped its role’
A commission spokesperson said it had apologised to Hall and Murray and accepted that it had lessons to learn from both cases, “principally in the way in which we communicate with complainants, and we have made improvements to our processes as a result”.
“But it is our view that by making the decision that we did not comply with certain recommendations in its reports, the ombudsman has misunderstood our remit and overstepped its role, meaning that its decision-making was unlawful,” they said.
“We respect the work and authority of the ombudsman, but it is vital that we, in turn, are enabled to do the job that parliament set us.
“We have worked hard to seek to resolve the matter with the ombudsman directly, but this has not proven possible. For that reason, we have brought legal action at the High Court.
“We have not asked the court to block the laying of any report before parliament.
“We did, though, ask the parliamentary committee to delay considering the reports to allow the courts to give judgment on our own and the ombudsman’s statutory remits first.”
A spokesperson for PACAC said the committee would be considering the approach it will take to the reports in due course.
