The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a Bristol-based supported housing charity over “serious governance and financial concerns”.
Emerge, which supports people suffering the effects of substance abuse, was initially placed into the regulator’s double defaulters class inquiry in November 2023, after the charity failed to submit its accounts and annual returns for multiple financial years.
However, during the class inquiry, additional serious concerns about the charity’s governance and finances emerged, leading the regulator to open a separate investigation.
The new investigation will examine the extent to which Emerge’s trustees have acted in accordance with their legal duties, including whether they have acted in the charity’s best interests.
It will consider the extent to which any of the failings identified in the administration of the charity are a result of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees.
The scope of the inquiry may be extended if additional regulatory issues emerge during the commission’s investigation.
Every set of accounts overdue since 2020
According to the charity’s most recently filed accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 2023, it had a total annual income of £356,000 and an annual expenditure of over £422,000, placing it in a deficit.
The charity had also been operating in a deficit for the previous three financial years.
Its accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 2024 are currently 199 days overdue. Each set of accounts has been submitted late by the charity – sometimes up to a period of almost two years later – since 2020.
Civil Society has contacted Emerge for comment.
