Charities (Hansard, 8 March 1994)

§ Mr. Livingstone
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the legal powers of the Charity Commission to investigate malpractice within charities; and what is the range of penalties open to the Charity Commissioners to penalise trustees if malpractice is found.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
Under section 8 of the Charities Act 1993, the Charity Commission, or a person appointed by it, may institute inquiries with regard to charities or a particular charity or class of charities, either generally or for a particular purpose.
If malpractice is found, the commission can:

(a) suspend and, if necessary, remove trustees;

(b) appoint additional trustees;

(c) freeze bank accounts;

(d) prohibit all further fund raising;

(e) stop further actions by the trustees in dealing with the charity's property;

(f) refer the matter to the appropriate authorities for them to consider legal proceedings for the recovery of charity property or to compensate the charity for any loss;

(g) refer the matter to the police.
In less serious cases, the commission may simply give charities a warning and ensure that faults are put right. If necessary, the commission will monitor the activities of the charity.

§ Mr. Livingstone
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the legal obligations of the Charity Commission to publish details of its investigations into malpractice among charities.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
The commission is not legally obliged to publish details of investigations it undertakes. The commission does, however, have discretion, where it thinks appropriate to publish the investigator's report in full or to publish extracts from, or statements about, the report.

§ Mr. Livingstone
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the legal powers of the Charity Commission to compel charities to hand over lists of their donors; and what is the range of penalties open to the Charity Commission to penalise charities if they refuse to do so.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
The Charity Commission has the power to require any person to provide it with information or documents which relate to a charity and which it is necessary for the commission to have in order to discharge its functions properly.
If a person refuses to provide information sought by the commission using this power, the commission may apply to the High Court to have the person dealt with as if he had disobeyed a court order.
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§ Mr. Livingstone
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 17 December,Official Report, column 948, how many people were interviewed during the course of the Charity Commission's investigation into the relationship between the Foundation for Business Responsibilities and Aims of Industry; who they were; and how much money had been paid to Aims of Industry in each year between 1988 and 1991.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
I understand from the Charity Commission that no personal interviews were held during the inquiries made into the relationship between the Foundation for Business Responsibilities and Aims of Industry.
The published accounts of the Foundation for Business Responsibilities do not show details of payments made to Aims of Industry as expenditure broken down other than into the categories of accommodation, service charges and research. Charities are not required to provide further detail in their accounts.

§ Mr. Livingstone
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of unlawful political activity by charities have been investigated by the Charity Commission since 1990; and in how many cases the commission found against the charity concerned.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
Since 1990 a total of 76 complaints about improper political activity have been investigated. Of these, 24 were upheld.