A grantmaking charity is being investigated after it repeatedly failed to submit accounts on time.
The C J M Charitable Trust, which makes grants to other charities involved in community and social matters, has filed its accounts more than a year late in three of the past five reporting years.
The Charity Commission, which announced its statutory inquiry on Friday, said trustees had “consistently demonstrated that they are either unwilling or unable to comply with their legal duties”.
Double defaulter
The regulator initially included the grantmaker in its double default class inquiry on 29 November 2023 after it failed to submit its accounts, annual returns, and trustees’ annual reports for the financial years ending 30 September 2021 and 2022.
During the initial inquiry, the trust fell into further default after it failed to submit financial records on time for 2022-23 as well.
This prompted the regulator to open a separate statutory inquiry on 20 March.
The trust has now filed all its overdue financial records including those for 2022-23 on 10 April.
The commission’s inquiry will examine the trustees’ administration, governance, and management of the trust, in particular their compliance with their statutory accounting and reporting responsibilities.
It will also investigate whether the charity has appropriate and robust financial controls in place and if potential conflicts of interest and connected party transactions have been properly managed.
The commission added that the scope of its inquiry may be extended if additional regulatory issues emerge.
All five trustees of the C J M Charitable Trust also sit on the board of the P T C Trust, which was also late in filing its annual returns for the two most recent financial years.
Civil Society was unable to contact the C J M Charitable Trust, which recorded an income of £58,000 in 2022-23, for comment.
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