{"id":79735,"date":"2017-03-15T10:30:48","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T10:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=6bab62b41f4957d045ca817ae5c1b407"},"modified":"2017-03-15T10:30:48","modified_gmt":"2017-03-15T10:30:48","slug":"press-release-childrens-cancer-charity-did-not-operate-for-the-public-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=79735","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Children\u2019s cancer charity did not operate for the public benefit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>The Charity Commission, the regulator of charities in England and Wales, has published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/kids-integrated-cancer-treatment-inquiry-report\">report of its investigation<\/a> into Kids Integrated Cancer Treatment Ltd. The charity\u2019s objects included providing financial support for families of children with cancer and providing medical treatment and other support for children diagnosed with cancer. The regulator removed the charity from the register of charities in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission has concluded there was mismanagement and misconduct by the trustees, after finding a number of \u201cserious deficiencies\u201d in the charity\u2019s management, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>unauthorised payments to trustees<\/li>\n<li>repeated failure to avoid or manage conflicts of interest<\/li>\n<li>inadequate financial controls and failure to keep and maintain accounting records<\/li>\n<li>the submission of inaccurate and misleading information to the Commission about the remuneration of trustees<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The report states that there was some evidence the charity provided some activities to help its beneficiaries before it closed but it was \u201cnot possible for the inquiry to conclude that the charity was operating for the public benefit\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The regulator is now considering what further regulatory action it may take, which may include the use of its new powers.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission\u2019s engagement with the charity began after concerns were raised about the charity\u2019s links to an individual who was related to one of the founding trustees and was convicted of theft and fraud by false representation in 2013, in connection with fundraising appeals for children with cancer (not linked to KICT).<\/p>\n<p>The investigation found that the individual was sole director of 2 companies that the charity entered into consecutive agreements with. The trustees told the Commission that the charity gained \u00a361,000 from these agreements; however, the Commission\u2019s scrutiny of the charity\u2019s bank records suggests the charity had, in fact, made a net loss from its association with the companies.<\/p>\n<p>The inquiry also found a series of unauthorised payments and benefits to 3 of the charity\u2019s 4 trustees; one of the trustees received over \u00a317,000 in the space of 4 years, and attended 11 training events in the USA, part-funded by the charity.<\/p>\n<p>These payments were contrary to the charity\u2019s governing document. The Commission also found that conflicts of interest were not managed in making decisions about payments and that there were poor financial controls in place. For example, the trustees could not produce any documentary evidence to confirm that funds withdrawn as cash from the charity\u2019s bank account were properly applied in furtherance of the charity\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"michelle-russell-director-of-investigations-enforcement-and-monitoring-at-the-charity-commission-said\">Michelle Russell, Director of Investigations, Enforcement and Monitoring at the Charity Commission, said:<\/h4>\n<blockquote>\n<p>While we found some evidence of charitable activity, there were numerous personal and business associations between the charity and the convicted individual, which led to significant financial personal benefits for him and his companies, and significant private financial benefit to three of the four trustees.<br \/>\nThat is absolutely unacceptable, as it goes against one of the most fundamental principles of charity, namely that charities exist to provide public, not private benefit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">Those involved also allowed serious deficiencies to take place and mismanagement of and misconduct in charity. The trustees failed to comply with their duties and responsibilities and let down not just themselves, but also the people the charity was set up to help.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/kids-integrated-cancer-treatment-inquiry-report\">full inquiry report<\/a> is available on GOV.UK.<\/p>\n<p>Ends<\/p>\n<p>PR 17\/17<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h4 id=\"notes-to-editors\">Notes to editors<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gov.uk\/charity-commission\">The Charity Commission<\/a> is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/charity-commission-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016\">annual report<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Search for charities on our <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/apps.charitycommission.gov.uk\/showcharity\/registerofcharities\/RegisterHomePage.aspx\">online register<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"contact \" id=\"contact_2196\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Press office<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"email\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Email<\/span><br \/>\n              <a class=\"email\" href=\"mailto:pressenquiries@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk\">pressenquiries@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Press enquiries &#8211; office hours<\/span><br \/>\n              0300 065 2123\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Press enquiries &#8211; out of hours<\/span><br \/>\n              07785 748787\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charity Commission publishes the report of its inquiry into Kids Integrated Cancer Treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79735"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}