New Charity Inquiry: CWM Harry Land Trust Limited

11 Oct 2019 11:04 AM

Charity regulator opens investigation into a Wales-based environmental charity

The Charity Commission has opened a new statutory inquiry into CWM Harry Land Trust Limited (1100899), an environmental charity whose objects also include the education and rehabilitation of prisoners and ex-offenders.

The charity was previously included in a class inquiry in November 2018, which was opened to examine charities which had repeatedly failed on their reporting requirements. As part of the class inquiry the Commission issued an order directing the trustees of the charity to provide information by specified dates, including the charity’s annual accounts for the financial years ending 31 March 2016 and 2017. However the trustees failed to comply. The charity has failed to file financial information in line with statutory requirements for 3 consecutive years, raising serious concerns over the charity’s administration, accountability and transparency.

The Commission also has concerns over a number of related party transactions, including payments to a trustee and two loans to the charity from a company where one trustee was a director.

The inquiry will examine the extent to which:

• the trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect of their administration, governance and management of the charity.
• any failings or weaknesses identified in the administration of the charity during the inquiry were a result of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees.
• the trustees responsibly managed the charity’s resources and financial affairs, in particular with respect to how they have managed conflicts of interest and/or loyalty.

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 independent regulator of charities in England and Wales; our role is to regulate charity trustees’ compliance with the charity law framework.
2. Double defaulters are charities that have defaulted on their statutory obligations to meet reporting requirements by failing to file their annual documents for two or more times in the last five years.
3. Shortly after the opening of the inquiry, the charity filed its accounts for FYE 31 March 2016. The charity continues to be in default of its filing obligations for FYE 31 March 2017 and 2018.