Public Accounts Committee publishes report on the Charity Commission

The Charity Commission’s approach to regulation has been heavily criticised as lacking rigour by the Public Accounts Committee (“PAC”) following its enquiry into the Cup Trust. The PAC considered that it was clear the Cup Trust had been set up as a tax avoidance scheme and doubted it had ever met the legal criteria to register as a charity. In addition, the PAC found that the Charity Commission had missed several “red flags” that should have raised its suspicions about the Cup Trust’s activities.

The report, published on 4 June, notes that over the last 25 years the PAC and National Audit Office have repeatedly found shortcomings in the Commission’s performance of its investigative and enforcement role.

The National Audit Office announced on 24 May 2013 that it was carrying out a study of the Commission’s effectiveness as a regulator and the PAC has indicated that it will undertake another investigation into whether the Commission is fit for purpose. Read the full PAC report.

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