Trustees of a disability charity which owes more than £1.5m in tax have been excluded by the Charity Commission as part of a statutory inquiry.
Adam Stephens has been installed as interim manager of William Blake House by the commission, which placed the charity under statutory inquiry last month.
Stephens, of professional services firm S&W Partners, will be responsible for representing the Northamptonshire charity’s negotiations with HMRC, which has served it a winding-up petition, to settle its debt.
Chair Bushra Hamid and trustee Paula Allen, who both occupy the same roles at the Shoosmith Gallery and serve as trustees at Steiner Friends, have been excluded from William Blake House as part of the order made this week.
Last year, a group of families attempted to take over William Blake House, which runs four care homes, stating that the wellbeing of 22 residents and public money were at risk.
Besides the debt to HMRC, concerns were also raised about payments William Blake House has made to Van Kruger Consulting, a private firm run by Hamid.
Ongoing investigation
The regulator initially opened a compliance case into William Blake House before escalating its intervention to a full statutory inquiry last month after “serious concerns” were raised around potential financial mismanagement.
It is investigating the tax debt, unmanaged conflicts of interest, potential unauthorised benefit and late filing of accounts.
According to its accounts, William Blake House and Van Kruger Consulting agreed on a decade-long project in 2017 to develop seminars and educational materials.
But the project, which racked up associated costs of £649,000 as of September 2024, has not gone live yet, the accounts show.
As part of his remit, Stephens will take over the charity’s administration, secure its property including assets and bank accounts.
He will also assess the charity’s viability to continue providing its services.
Registered in 2001, William Blake House runs four care homes and has been described as a “home for life” for “loved ones [that] deserve stability” by a family group representative.
Last year, the group called for the service to be stabilised and all public money to be used solely for the benefit of residents, as well as robust oversight to ensure this will never be repeated.
