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Commission inquiry finds misconduct and mismanagement.

The Charity Commission (’the Commission’) has published a report of its inquiry into Islamic Education and Research Academy (registered charity number 1134566) (‘the charity’).

The Commission opened an assessment case on 15 March 2013 into the charity following a number of adverse media articles regarding an event organised by the charity. The Commission conducted its own research into the charity and identified a number of regulatory concerns with previous statements made by the charity’s trustees and other speakers.

The Commission met with the trustees on 20 June 2013 and conducted a books and records inspection on 21 January 2014. On 7 March 2014, the Commission opened an inquiry into the charity.

The Commission concluded that that there had been misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity by the charity’s trustees as set out in the report published today.

On 26 May 2016 the Commission issued an order requiring the trustees to take specific actions which are set out in the report. The order also requires the trustees to complete the specified actions by 25 November 2016. On 6 October 2016 they provided their response to the Commission’s order. The Commission has requested additional information from the trustees and will give them until the end of the specified period before determining whether the order has been complied with.

Michelle Russell, Director of Investigations, Monitoring and Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said:

Trustees must be vigilant to the risks that can arise as a result of their charities activities and take appropriate steps to manage these whilst also acting in the best interests of their charity and ensuring that their charity’s funds, assets and reputation are not placed at undue risk.

Trustees must be able to show that an activity furthers their charity’s purposes. Even if this can be shown, expressing or promoting extreme, partisan or controversial views on a particular issue as part of that activity may compromise the charity’s independence, integrity, purposes or public trust and confidence in it. Such actions or behaviour may pose or cause risks to the charity’s operations and other activities, or the safety of its staff and volunteers.

The full report is available on GOV.UK.

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online register.
3. Details of how the Commission reports on its regulatory work can be found on GOV.UK.