All late-filing charities are clearly highlighted with a bright red border around their entry on the Charity Commission’s website. Kirsty Weakley asks why charities under a Commission investigation don't face the same treatment.

I was recently prompted to look Christ Embassy up on the Charity Commission’s website, having previously written about the charity in September when the Commission sent out a press release announcing that it had opened a statutory inquiry into the organisation, I learned that it had filed accounts, that it had seen its income go up again (but not its expenditure), and from reading the accounts I discovered it was being investigated by HMRC over concerns about overseas payments.

What I did not learn is that the Charity Commission had opened a statutory inquiry. This seems strange - if it had not filed its accounts there would be a red warning border. Indeed only last Friday the Commission’s chief executive, Sam Younger, was quoted urging members of the public to check the Register of Charities before donating, he said: “It is essential that the public check the online register before donating to ensure an organisation is genuine.”

While it’s important that the public can check that a charity they wish to donate to is up-to-date with its accounts filing, and that it does not spend a disproportionate amount on non-charitable expenditure, surely they should also be warned if the regulator has concerns about how the charity is being managed?

There are very good reasons why the Commission will not make an inquiry public knowledge, it doesn’t shout about all of its investigative work as it needs to make sure it doesn’t prejudice the investigative work.

Since 1 April 2013 48 charities have been placed under inquiry, with 33 names being announced publicly, and the Commission says that when responding to questions from the public it will make it clear if it has concerns.   

But considering that in most cases where it has decided it is in the public interest to name a charity, it would be sensible to indicate this on the charity’s entry on the Commission’s - a purple border maybe, and the sentence “on xxx the Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into xxx” linking to the news item explaining why the inquiry has been opened.

A Charity Commission spokeswoman said that: “We are currently exploring how the Commission can make it easier for the public to see certain information including whether it would be possible to flag up on a charity’s entry on the Register Of Charities if an inquiry is open.”

The Commission rightly argues that it is important for charities to keep their entry up to date, but the Commission should think about doing the same if it wants to be seen as a one-stop shop for members of the public seeking information about a charity before donating.