Twenty-three of the 201 statutory inquiries opened into charities in the year to March 2014 focused on religious organisations, Paula Sussex, chief executive of the Charity Commission, has said.

The information was contained in a letter written by Sussex to Kate Green, shadow work and pensions minister. The letter was prompted after Green asked Rob Wilson, the minister for civil society, how many inquiries into charities of all faiths had been opened by the Commission in the last three years.

Sussex’s letter also featured a table which broke down the faith of each of the charities that had been investigated in 2013-14. Of the 23, nine were Islamic, seven were Christian, four were Jewish, two were Sikh and one was listed as being ‘other’.

According to data compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in 2013, there are ‘just over’ 11,000 registered, religious charities operating in England and Wales. That figure may well be something of an underestimate however, as it only takes into account charities “with purposes that include, but are not limited to, the advancement of religion”.

In November of 2014, Claystone – an independent think tank – published a report which accused the Charity Commission, and its chairman William Shawcross in particular, of being biased against Muslim charities.

The Muslim Charities Forum – the umbrella body for Islamic charities operating in the UK – also sought legal advice after the Department for Communities and Local Government terminated its funding in January.

An ITV documentary also questioned whether the Commission had the power to tackle religious extremism in the sector after claiming it uncovered evidence of “race hatred, religious bigotry, and extreme rightwing activism” in three, registered charities.