Tag Archives: HM Government

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into Beth Yosef Foundation, registered charity number 1071268. The inquiry was opened on 21 December 2016.

The charity has objects to advance the Jewish Religion, in particular as practised by Sephardi Jews. The charity was identified by the Commission for a compliance visit, as its objects suggested it might be operating in high risk areas and it had failed to submit annual returns to the Commission since February 2012. The Commission met with a trustee of the charity in November 2016.

The visit identified a number of serious regulatory concerns relating to the administration and financial management of the charity by the trustees. The Commission’s concerns include a failure by the trustees to submit their annual returns, whether the charity has any validly appointed trustees, loan agreements entered into by the charity and the sale of property owned by the charity.

The inquiry will examine:

• whether the trustees are properly appointed and whether decisions made by current trustees regarding the administration and management of the charity have been validly made, in particular in relation to the disposal of charity property
• whether any potential conflicts of interest have been identified and correctly managed by the trustees
• the financial management of the charity and application of charitable funds, in particular relating to rental income received from a property owned by the charity and how rental income has been applied
• whether or not the trustees have complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law
• whether there has been any misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees

The Commission stresses that opening an inquiry is not in itself a finding of wrong doing.

The purpose of an inquiry to examine issues in detail and investigate and establish the facts so that the regulator can ascertain whether there has been misconduct and mismanagement; establish the extent of the risk to the charity’s property, beneficiaries or work; decide what action needs to be taken to resolve the serious concerns, if necessary using its investigative, protective and remedial powers to do so.

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.

The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool.

Ends

PR 04/17

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online register.
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.
4. The Commission’s decision to announce the opening of a statutory inquiry is based on whether it is in the public interest to do so and with consideration of our objective to increase public trust and confidence in charities.

A call for evidence has today (23 January 2017) been launched to seek views on the educational experiences and outcomes for some of the country’s most vulnerable children.

Minister for Vulnerable Children and Families Edward Timpson has asked Dame Christine Lenehan to conduct an independent review looking at the outcomes and experiences of children and young people attending residential special schools and colleges.

The review is designed to find practical outcomes for the government and other agencies who work with this group of young people, who often have the most complex needs and require more intensive support.

It will look at the characteristics of this group, how and why they are placed in residential special schools and colleges, the support that’s available to them during and after their placement and the ways in which families say their experience of these settings could be improved.

To ensure that the review is informed by a wide range of views and evidence from the sector, Dame Christine has launched a call for evidence and is asking for contributions from people working in residential settings, students attending these residential schools and colleges, their parents or carers, and children, young people and adults who have now left these settings. Councils, academics and other sector groups are also encouraged to take part.

Director of the Council for Disabled Children since 2003, Dame Christine will be supported in the review by Mark Geraghty, chief executive of the Seashell Trust, which runs an outstanding residential special school and college for children and young people with complex needs.

A Department for Education spokesperson said:

Every child, no matter the obstacles they face, should have the same opportunities for success as any other. This independent review will look at how the experiences of children and young people attending residential special schools and college can be improved, to ensure the right support is in place.

We are grateful to Dame Christine Lenehan and to Mark Geraghty for conducting this review. Together they bring a wealth of experience from across the education and social care spectrum.

The call for evidence runs until March 17. The review will report back to the government later this year.

Following the launch of the industrial strategy green paper today – International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, visited a leading advanced technology business in Oxfordshire to reiterate the government’s commitment to supporting UK business to grow at home and abroad.

On the visit to Prodrive in Banbury – a successful independent British engineering innovation business – the International Trade Secretary outlined the steps government is taking to support trade and investment across the country which can have a crucial impact on the growth of local economies.

The industrial strategy green paper sets out a plan to improve living standards and economic growth by increasing productivity and driving growth across the whole country. To achieve that goal, the green paper sets out ten strategic pillars to underpin a new government approach.

Encouraging trade and inward investment policy is one pillar and is key to opening up markets for UK firms, boosting productivity and growth across our economy, including by increasing competition and helping to bring new ways of doing things to the UK.

The Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox, said:

Trade and investment is a vital part of building an economy that works for all, creating jobs and transforming local communities and industry.

Across the UK we’re pioneering a whole host of new technologies, working with industry and universities to ensure Britain remains the location of choice for many sectors, such as the next-generation automotive industry. Prodrive is a fantastic example of innovative British automotive engineering at its best and a great illustration of our how we can and should be exporting our world-class expertise to benefit our economy.

The UK is open and ready for business and the launch of the Industrial Strategy today shows our commitment to improving growth and productivity across the whole country.

The Department for International Trade is leading government work to continue to champion free trade and ensure it helps deliver an economy that works for everyone.

The strategy lists how the department will:

• build future trade relationships – The UK remains committed to pursuing free trade. That includes seeking to achieve continuity in our trade and investment relationships with third countries thereby minimising disruption for business as we leave the EU
• build global prosperity
• improve market access for exporters
• create a more active approach to winning overseas contracts
• increase defence exports
• double export finance capacity
• make government trade services easier to use for firms – the department has recently launched a ground breaking new digital platform to provide digital services to help exporters and investors;
• join up trade and inward investment promotion with local areas
• strengthen the value from trade shows and
• develop a new, more strategic approach to inward investment

Following the decision to leave the European Union, the UK has the opportunity to develop its new trading arrangements and take forward its ambition to become a global trading nation and champion of free trade.

On the visit to Prodrive the Secretary of State had a tour of the factory and saw first-hand how the company makes bespoke parts for race and rally cars using traditional metalworking techniques and the advanced technology workshop where the company develops innovative projects for some of the company’s biggest clients such as Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and McLaren.

Further information

The Automotive Investment Organisation which now sits within DIT, has since it was set up by the Automotive Council in 2013, helped create or safeguard over 20,000 jobs in the UK automotive supply chain, and by attracting inward investment helped increase local content in UK-built cars from 36% to 41%.

Car-making in the UK is thriving – with more cars built last year than any year since 1999.