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Charity regulator opens statutory inquiry into The Dorset Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder Support Group

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into The Dorset Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder Support Group (1067658). The inquiry was opened on 13 August 2018.

The charity’s objects include offering help, advice and support to parents and carers of children with AD/HD, to promote and raise the awareness of AD/HD among professionals and the community.

In September 2016, the charity was included in the Commission’s class statutory inquiry, which looked into charities that had defaulted on their annual reporting obligations two or more times in the last five years. The charity filed its outstanding financial information and was removed from the class statutory inquiry on 15 January 2018. The fact that the charity has yet again failed to meet its statutory requirement to file its financial accounting documents on time is a serious regulatory concern to the Commission and evidence of misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of charity.

As a result of the charity’s repeated failure to adhere to its statutory duty to file accounting information, the inquiry will look at:

• the extent to which the trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect of their administration, governance and management of the charity, and in particular;
  • the extent to which a properly appointed board of trustees is exercising proper and adequate oversight over the charity’s affairs,
  • financial management including the charity’s financial controls,
  • compliance with legal obligations for the preparation and filing of the charity’s accounts and other information or returns.
• the extent to which the trustees have complied with previously issued regulatory guidance.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work see the about us page on GOV.UK.
2. Search for charities on our check charity tool.
3. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.

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