A government minister has voiced “full confidence” in the Charity Commission’s leadership after the regulator was found in contempt of parliament by a group of MPs.
The commission’s chair Julia Unwin apologised “unreservedly” last month after the Committee of Privileges concluded that the regulator had sought to block two special reports from being laid before the House of Commons, which it had previously denied.
Unwin said the regulator “should not […] have persisted in challenging through the courts the laying of the two reports”, in which the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) had criticised the commission’s implementation of its previous recommendations regarding sexual abuse inquiries at two charities.
The committee had called on the commission’s board and chief executive David Holdsworth to apologise to the House of Commons.
Meanwhile, Lara Hall, one of the victims at the investigated charities, urged Holdsworth to resign and the commission’s board to consider their positions.
Last Friday, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Scriven asked the government whether it retained confidence in the commission’s board and CEO following the committee’s findings.
In a written response, culture minister Baroness Twycross said: “I have full confidence in the leadership of the Charity Commission, and am confident that the board is taking action to address the concerns raised by the report, and to learn lessons in its handling of similar cases going forward.”
