By Charlie Carmichael-
Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into Fazal Ellahi Charitable Trust. The charity opened the inquiry on 16 April 2018.
The charity’s expressed objectives cover a range of areas for the benefit of Muslims. They include the education of all people, particularly children and young persons in the Muslim religion, and the Urdu language, as well as the advancement of the Muslim religion through the provision of collective prayer meetings and otherwise.
The Charity Commission removed the charity from the register in 2009, in accordance with its legal obligations under Section 34 of the Charities Act 2011. This was because the trustees had failed to submit its annual financial accounts or respond to repeated correspondence from the Commission, forcing the Commission to force it to cease its operation. Despite its removal from the register, the charity continued to operate including running a mosque and religious classes for children. Requests for correspondence by the Commission should never be ignored by any responsible charity organisation. Such a conduct boarders on ignorance, and is very reckless.
The Commission has now exercised its regulatory powers under section 76(3)(d) of the Charities Act 2011 to ‘freeze’ the charity’s bank account, and under section 84A of the Act, to direct the trustees not to take specified actions relating to activities at the charity which would constitute regulated activity.
Despite not being registered with the Commission, the charity remains under the Commission’s regulatory remit. The Commission engaged with the charity in 2017 after being made aware of offences committed by the Imam at the mosque operated by the charity. The offences resulted in a conviction of six counts of encouragement of terrorism and two counts of encouraging support for a proscribed organisation in relation to a series of sermons and classes for children he gave at the mosque.
The charity commission’s inquiry will examine the following regulatory concerns:
- the management and oversight of staff, use of the charity’s premises and safeguarding procedures by the trustees
- whether the trustees have properly exercised their legal duties and responsibilities under charity law in the administration of the charity
- the financial management of the charity, particularly in regards to maintaining and preserving accounting records
- whether there has been misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees, including failure to comply with the charity’s own governing document
The Commission has exercised its regulatory powers under section 76(3)(d) of the Charities Act 2011 to ‘freeze’ the charity’s bank account and under section 84A of the Act to direct the trustees not to take specified actions relating to activities at the charity which would constitute regulated activity.