The Charity Commission has issued regulatory guidance to a think tank and research institute whose chair made several “concerning comments” as well as an official warning after the charity repeatedly failed to file its accounts on time.
In April last year, the commission opened a regulatory compliance case into the Oxford Initiative for British Islam after concerns were raised that its chair, Taj Hargey, had drawn a comparison between Zionism and Nazism during an interview.
Hargey also said politicians should be “identified” if they have family links to Judaism or Zionism because “the public should know that [they] aren’t objective and unbiased”.
The trustees told the regulator that Hargey had made those comments “in a personal capacity, not on behalf of the charity”.
In response, the regulator said that although it recognises the importance of freedom of expression for charity leaders, it expects “trustees to be aware of the potential impact of comments on their charity’s reputation”.
“In this case, the commission concluded that the trustees failed to take sufficient action to distinguish the charity’s identity from the chair’s comments in a personal capacity, in order to protect the charity’s reputation,” it said.
“The chair’s name is often publicly associated with the charity, as it was in the reporting of these comments.
“The commission has therefore issued regulatory guidance requiring the trustees to implement effective written policies and procedures to manage situations in future.”
Official warning
The regulator also issued the Oxford Initiative for British Islam with an official warning after it failed to file accounting records on time for five consecutive years.
According to the regulator, the charity was 74 days late in filing its most recent financial records for the year ended 31 December 2023 and over a year late in filing its accounts for the 2019 and 2021 calendar years.
It was also 282 days late in filing its 2022 accounts and 32 days late in filing its 2020 accounts, according to the commission’s records.
In its official warning, the commission instructed the charity to take steps to ensure all future annual accounting records are submitted within the statutory deadline, warning that failure to do so may lead to further regulatory action.
The regulator said failure to file accounting data within 10 months after the end of the charity’s financial year amounts to a breach of trust or duty, or misconduct and/or mismanagement in the charity’s administration.
Commission: Trustees put charity ‘at risk of harm’
Steve Roake, assistant director of investigations and compliance at the commission, said: “The law requires all trustees to meet core duties and responsibilities, including to prepare and submit financial reporting documents on time, to protect their charity’s reputation and good name, and to cooperate with the commission’s enquiries.
“Sadly, our case involving the Oxford Initiative for British Islam found that the trustees repeatedly failed to meet their legal duties and responsibilities, putting the charity at risk of harm.
“We also found that the trustees didn’t take sufficient steps to distance their charity from comments made by its chair, and are critical of the trustees for this failure.
“We hope the trustees will learn lessons from these incidents to improve the charity’s governance for the future.”
Civil Society has contacted the Oxford Initiative for British Islam for comment.
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