Residents in the Lancashire town of Haslingden have reacted angrily to charity Agapao International’s decision to sell its headquarters, a community building, to private buyers – but the Charity Commission says it is not in breach of the Charities Act.
The Mary Hindle Resource Centre has been put up for sale for £250,000, and a public meeting last month saw many of the 35 attendees raise concerns about the property being sold to a commercial investor, reports the Lancashire Telegraph.
The worried residents have the support of their local MP, Graham Jones, who reportedly attended the meeting and raised the issue in a parliamentary debate yesterday.
He claimed in the House of Commons that Agapao International is selling the building “for its own financial gain in order to put right financial mismanagement”, and asked minister for civil society Nick Hurd why the Charity Commission "seems to lack the power to investigate".
Hurd replied that both he and the Commission know of the case, and pointed out that the sector regulator’s role is to deal with serious misconduct or mismanagement, “not to deal with complaints where people are just unhappy with decisions that are taken within the law and within the governance arrangements of the charity”.
'Decision is up to the trustees'
A Commission spokeswoman confirmed as much to civilsociety.co.uk: “So far as we know the building in question is part of the general property of the charity Agapao International," she said. "It was given to them by the charity Community Action in Rossendale when it wound up in 2009. Agapao received the property in October of that year.
“The charity is free to sell the building if they wish, and this decision is up to the trustees. Provided that they comply with the statutory provisions in section 117 of the Charities Act 2011 we have no regulatory concern about this matter.
“We are engaged with the charity regarding their future plans."
The Lancashire Telegraph also reports that none of the trustees of Agapao International attended the November meeting, despite being invited.
And civilsociety.co.uk could not reach the charity today for comment.
