A charity controlled by Reform UK Scotland’s leader is under investigation by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), which has instructed it to register.
Civil Society understands the regulator has opened a formal inquiry into the Badenoch Trust, where Malcolm Offord is director and secretary, after complaints over its lack of registration in Scotland were raised shortly before Offord’s election to Holyrood.
Reform UK won its first Scottish parliament seats during the election on 7 May, securing 17 MSPs, including Offord, and garnering a total of 745,419 votes.
The regulator has since urged the Badenoch Trust to register as a charity in Scotland.
“We have advised the charity to apply to register with OSCR at the earliest opportunity,” an OSCR spokesperson said. “It appears the charity is managed and controlled mainly in Scotland and carries out ongoing administrative activities from premises [there].”
The spokesperson added that Offord’s charity – which was registered separately with the Charity Commission for England and Wales in 2007 – meets the regulator’s registration criteria.
Offord is one of two trustees at the grantmaking charity, which supports causes including medical research, education and care for young people.
In its most recent accounts in the year ending 31 December 2024, it reported a total income of £1,252 and an expenditure of £38,507.
Neither the Badenoch Trust, newly elected MSP Offord nor Reform UK responded to requests for comment.
Allegations against Offord’s charity
On May 5, investigative journalist David Hollas posted to X saying he had filed a formal concern with OSCR about the Badenoch Trust.
Hollas wrote that the charity did not appear on the Scottish charity register and was administered from the same address as Offord’s firm Badenoch Co & Limited.
The Badenoch Trust’s registered address is 26 Charlotte Square in Edinburgh.
Badenoch Co & Limited was registered at that address until 4 April 2024, when it moved to 10 Charlotte Square.
Hollas added that the charity now also operates from 10 Charlotte Square where Offord exercises “significant control.”
TFN claimed the charity’s 2024 accounts detail multiple grants given to Scottish charities including the University of Glasgow and the Edinburgh International Festival Art of Listening.
These grants were allegedly made despite the charity not being registered in Scotland.
On its website, OSCR states: “In Scotland, an organisation can only call itself a charity if it is entered in the Scottish Charity Register, published and maintained by OSCR.
“OSCR has powers to take action against those claiming to be charities when they are not.”
