The regulator has announced that it has concluded a four-month-long investigation into a charity co-founded by Prince Harry.
The Charity Commission first opened a regulatory compliance case into Sentebale, a charity which works with children and young people predominantly in the southern African country of Lesotho, in April this year amid governance concerns.
Prince Harry, alongside fellow co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, had both stepped down as patrons of Sentebale in March following an internal dispute between the charity’s trustees and its chair.
The princes reportedly decided to quit in solidarity with the former trustees who had resigned in protest at the chair, Sophie Chandauka.
The Charity Commission said that after assessing initial concerns at Sentebale, it informed the charity that it would be opening a compliance case.
Now, the commission has issued the charity with a regulatory action plan to address “governance weaknesses” after the “damaging” internal dispute emerged.
Lack of clarity around role descriptions
Among the key problems uncovered by the commission during its investigation were a lack of clarity around role descriptions and internal policies, which exacerbated tensions and resulted in the dispute between trustees and the chair. This amounted to “mismanagement in the administration of the charity.”
The commission also criticised all parties involved in the dispute for allowing it to play out publicly, and further concluded that the then trustees’ failure to resolve disputes internally severely impacted the charity’s reputation and “risked undermining public trust in charities more generally”.
However, the investigation found no evidence of any “widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir at the charity”, despite previous claims to the contrary from Chandauka.
The commission did, however, acknowledge the “strong perception of ill treatment felt by a number of parties to the dispute and the impact this may have had on them personally”.
The commission also found no evidence of any alleged “over-reach” by either the chair or Prince Harry as patron, but it remained critical of the charity’s lack of clarity in delegations to the chair which allowed for misunderstandings to occur.
Next steps recommended
As part of the regulatory action plan issued by the commission to Sentebale, the current trustees need to implement an internal dispute policy; improve the charity’s complaints and whistleblowing procedures, and establish clearer processes for delegating authority on behalf of the charity.
The plan also highlights the importance of the trustees securing sufficient funding to enable Sentebale to sufficiently support its beneficiaries.
David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: “Sentebale’s problems played out in the public eye, enabling a damaging dispute to harm the charity’s reputation, risk overshadowing its many achievements, and jeopardising the charity’s ability to deliver for the very beneficiaries it was created to serve.
“This case highlights what can happen when there are gaps in governance and policies critical to charities' ability to deliver for their cause.
“As a result, we have issued the charity a regulatory action plan to make needed improvements and rectify findings of mismanagement.”
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