The Charity Commission has opened a regulatory compliance case into the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), after identifying “potential regulatory concerns”.
In March 2024, the Good Law Project (GLP), cross-party politicians and a former member of the Charity Commission board urged the regulator to investigate the IEA over possible breaches of charity law.
They accused the think tank of promoting “extreme views”, falling “foul of regulations around political campaigning and educational research” and having “inappropriate links with openly political offshoot organisations”.
In response, the commission said it had not identified concerns that the IEA was acting outside of its objects or published guidance and decided that no action was needed.
In May 2024, the GLP urged the regulator to reconsider its decision, with the latter agreeing to conduct a reassessment of the information provided by the former and “assess whether or not there are any issues which require regulatory engagement or action”.
‘Potential regulatory concerns’ identified
In a statement on its website last week, the GLP said that “after we threatened formal legal action against the Charity Commission for refusing to engage with the IEA’s misconduct, it agreed to take another look”.
The GLP published a letter it received from the regulator on 22 May, in which an official confirmed it had “identified potential regulatory concerns” and was now engaging with the IEA “to understand further”.
“I’ve opened a regulatory compliance case to examine the concerns and haven’t made any findings at this time,” the letter reads.
The letter says the reassessment of the GLP’s concerns “wasn’t limited to responding only to the specific points raised in the letters from GLP”.
“Therefore, I’ve also conducted open-source research and looked through the commission’s systems to check for any relevant information and connected regulatory concerns, in accordance with our published risk framework and usual approach.
“Having carefully reassessed the complaints and considered the relevant information readily available, I’ve identified potential regulatory concerns that I’ll examine further in this regulatory compliance case.”
The potential regulatory concerns relate to the charity’s trustees’ management of perceptions of potential political bias, a potential lack of transparency around funding, and perceptions that the IEA “may have pre-determined policy positions which wouldn’t be in keeping with its charitable purposes to advance education”.
‘More robust response’ needed
In its statement last week, the GLP added: “IEA’s director of public policy and communications agreed publicly that Liz Truss had handed over power to the IEA and other ‘extreme neoliberal thinktanks’.
“We all remember the enormous damage she did to our pensions, the economy and our international standing.
“The IEA’s activities are the polar opposite of public benefit – and we’ve already written back to the Charity Commission encouraging an even more robust response.”
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “We can confirm that, following an internal review, we’ve opened a regulatory compliance case to assess potential regulatory concerns about the IEA.
“Our case will examine the trustees’ management of perceptions of potential political bias, perceptions of a potential lack of transparency around funding, and perceptions that the charity may have pre-determined policy positions which wouldn’t be in keeping with its charitable purposes to advance education.”
Civil Society has contacted the IEA for comment.
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