The Muslim Charities Forum is taking legal advice after the Department for Communities and Local Government terminated its funding in response to allegations made in The Telegraph.
Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (pictured), announced last month in a statement update on integration of communities that it would be terminating the funding received by the umbrella body as part of the Faith Minorities in Action project.
He said that following a formal review and the organisation’s “poor performance in delivering against agreed objectives”, it was terminating its funding.
This cut comes despite reassurances from the Muslim Charities Forum in October of the importance of the work it does, and of the Faith Minorities in Action project.
Pickles said that the Muslim Charities Forum has failed to reassure the government that it has “robust measures in place to investigate and challenge its members. Concerns have also been raised about events held by member organisations, at which individuals with extremist views have been invited to speak.”
Pickles continued, saying “this has undermined their work and means they are no longer able to deliver on the Faith Minorities in Action objectives”.
The Muslim Charities Forum lodged a serious incident report with the Charity Commission in response to this, and is continually updating the regulator of any developments.
A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “The charity did the right thing in informing us and filing a serious incident report with its regulator proactively and promptly.” It added that is has no further comment to make at this time.
The Muslim Charities Forum said it was “extremely disappointed with the decision”, stating that it rejects the basis on which the funding decision has been made. It said it would consider all options available to contest the DCLG’s decision and allegations.
The charity was due to receive £138,030 this month from the DCLG for the Faith Minorities in Action project, having received about £110,000 in 2014 for its work.
The project worked across six cities in England with representatives from over ten major and minor world faiths. The project aimed to bring people together to build trust between communities across the country. A spokesman from the umbrella body has said that “it is now likely that this vital work will cease on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations”.
Charity writing to Eric Pickles
Another charity to have had its funding cut is this week writing to Eric Pickles to request a meeting in order to discuss issues raised in the Department’s statement. Pickles revealed that the decision was taken on the grounds that Islamic Help had invited an individual with alleged extremist views to speak at one of its events.
Islamic Help said it was “surprised, dismayed and angered” by the decision to stop funding under the Faith Action project. In the statement, Pickles said that his department had asked Faith Action, who deliver English language training to facilitate integration, to cease its funding of Islamic Help as part of the project.
Pickles went on to say: “I hope this action illustrates our resolve to cease funding any organisation that supports or is linked to individuals who fuel hatred, division and violence. We will fund only those programmes and organisations that actively encourage integration and uphold fundamental British values.”
The charity said that this action is a “smear on the good work it has been doing” and that it has not been notified by the DCLG, nor any other government office, of this decision or received any indication or warning that any of its events or speakers could be regarded as extremist in any sense. The charity has not been informed by any government department or Faith Action who the individual in question is.
A spokesman from Islamic Help said: "We utterly refute any accusations of being linked to or of playing any part in promoting extremist views or extremism. We are dismayed by the decision to stop funding for the project in question which is baffling, unjustified and unreasonable.
"The government has not only contributed to the very atmosphere of ‘Islamophobia’ that it claims to be combating but has harmed its own objective of promoting integration and British values."
