A charity that operates an independent school in which children were exposed to Daesh propaganda has been issued with an Official Warning after an investigation found the trustees responsible for mismanagement and/or misconduct. Its trustees have also been issued with an Order directing them to take specific actions.

The Charity Commission, the regulator of charities in England and Wales, opened a statutory inquiry into the Lantern of Knowledge Educational Trust (1111331) after a former Islamic Studies teacher, Umar Ahmed Haque, was charged with disseminating terrorist material to children at a secondary school run by the charity. The Commission was also concerned about a decline in Lantern of Knowledge Secondary School’s performance against the independent school standards.

During his criminal trial, Mr Haque acknowledged that he showed children in his class a video relating to Daesh. However, he pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the jury could not reach a verdict. In March 2018, Mr Haque was convicted of a number of other terrorism offences, unrelated to this charity, and sentenced to life in prison.

In a report on its inquiry into the charity, published today, the Commission finds that Mr Haque “grossly abused” the position of trust he held at the charity and exploited an opportunity to show children in the charity’s care the video, which promoted the ideology and tactics of a proscribed terrorist organisation to children.

The report notes that the public rightly expect charities, particularly those working with children and young people, to be safe places, free from abuse or harm, and that, in light of Mr Haque’s actions, this was not the case within this charity. The Commission concluded that there was therefore misconduct and/or mismanagement in the charity’s administration.

The Commission’s inquiry also examined the school’s compliance with the independent school standards and is critical of the trustees for failing to address a decline in compliance with these standards. Since 2015, the school has gone from being ‘outstanding’ to the lowest grade possible of ‘inadequate’.

The trustees are criticised for further failures, including to comply with the charity’s own governing document and internal policies.

The report acknowledges improvements in the charity’s governance and safeguarding procedures since the Commission’s intervention. The trustees have also made progress and acted to address weaknesses identified by independent reviews that they instigated.

To address the mismanagement and/or misconduct set out in the inquiry’s report, the Commission issued the trustees with an Official Warning and has also directed the trustees, by order, to take specified actions. These include complying with the independent school standards, and undertaking a review of its governing document.

Tim Hopkins, Assistant Director for Investigations and Inquiries at the Commission, says:

Umar Haque’s action at this charity was appalling. It is completely unacceptable for any charity to be associated with terrorism and we are concerned by the corrosive effect this might have on public confidence in this and other charities.

Charities should lead the way in taking public expectations seriously and be distinct from other types of organisations in their attitude and behaviour, their motivations and methods.

We expect the trustees of this charity to learn from the failings set out in our report, and to comply with the required actions to strengthen the charity’s administration. We will closely monitor the trustees’ compliance with these actions.

The full inquiry report is available on gov.uk

Ends

Notes to editors:

1. The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society.
2. The Commission is not responsible for regulating or assessing the educational provision of independent schools; that is the responsibility of Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
3. Mr Haque was also employed at another unconnected charity. A copy of the Commission’s report into that charity, following a statutory inquiry, can be viewed here.

• Charities are encouraged to apply for share of the Health and Wellbeing Fund to develop schemes themed around ‘starting well’

• Fund will help community projects improve learning and development, perinatal mental health and prevent obesity

• Third round of the Health and Wellbeing Fund is part of the government’s aim to level up communities and promote equality

Mothers and babies will benefit from a new multi-million pound fund to give people from BAME or poorer backgrounds the best chance at a healthy start in life.

Applications open today for a share of a £3.3 million fund to support community projects in England aimed at tackling obesity, reducing smoking and improving learning among mothers and young babies.

This new round of the Health and Wellbeing Fund has been launched with the theme of ‘starting well’ to improve outcomes for mothers and babies in deprived areas or from BAME backgrounds from preconception to up to 2-and-a-half years of age.

This will pay for 3-year projects run by voluntary and community social enterprises (VCSEs) to help level up deprived communities and give children the best possible start in life.

Public Health Minister Jo Churchill said:

Everyone deserves to live a long, healthy life, and we’re determined to reduce the inequality that some families face. We’re committed to start this work from birth, and the voluntary sector have an enormous role to play in its success. This year we have launched the Health and Wellbeing Fund which is centred around starting well, to make sure mothers have the help they need to make the right decisions to support their health, and the health of their babies.

The fund is open to applications from charity-run projects aimed at:

• improving perinatal mental health
• reducing the percentage of babies born with low birthweight
• increasing babies being breastfed
• obesity prevention and support
• reducing smoking or encouraging smoke-free homes
• improving learning, speech and language development
• improving immunisation rates and reducing rates of preventable disease

It aims to tackle key public health issues from an early age such as obesity, which disproportionately affects people and children from an economically deprived area. The government recently launched a world-leading obesity strategy to make the healthy choice the easy choice for families and help reduce obesity rates.

The £3.3 million is available to support the new schemes in 2020/21, with funding for schemes planned for a further two years up to 2022/23.

The Health and Wellbeing Fund is already supporting 23 social prescribing schemes and 23 children and young people’s mental health schemes that are providing important services to communities across England.

Chair of the Early Years Healthy Development Review, Andrea Leadsom, said:

As Chair of the Early Years Healthy Development Review, I am determined that every baby gets the best start in life, and the review will look at how to achieve world-class provision of services for new families.

The Health and Wellbeing Fund is a fantastic funding opportunity for charities spearheading perinatal mental health and I encourage them to apply.

Applicants have until Friday 30 October 2020 at midday to apply with the successful projects to be announced in December.

The Health and Wellbeing Fund is run by the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance.

The alliance was relaunched last week with charities being encouraged to join and ensure the lived experiences of the people they represent are reflected in the development of health policy.

VCSE organisations can apply for a share of the fund.

The Health and Wellbeing Fund is an integral element of the Health and Wellbeing Programme, part of a programme of government investment in the voluntary sector. The programme is run in a partnership between the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Improvement, and Public Health England.

The Health and Wellbeing Alliance is a key element of the Health and Wellbeing Programme, the aim of which is to promote health equalities and reduce health inequalities across the country.

The dace, from the Environment Agency’s Calverton fish farm, were part of a very large batch that spawned particularly successfully thanks to a heatwave when they were being reared.

In fact, the sheer number of fish that hatched meant space was at a premium – so the dace were released into the river 6 months earlier than usual, at 18 months old.

Kye Jerrom, Environment Agency fisheries specialist in East Anglia, said:

“Restocking our rivers helps boost fish populations, support a healthy ecology, and benefits anglers – and it’s a key feature of the work we do to benefit people and the environment.

“This work is part of a whole programme of fish-restocking, which will see thousands of dace, roach and chub put back into the river to compensate for the fish lost to a pollution in 2018.”

Fisheries officers had completed the task within a few hours, making sure to closely follow social-distancing guidelines. Further restocking of dace, roach and chub is planned for the winter.

The restocking comes as part of a recovery plan following a pollution incident in Brackley, Northamptonshire, in 2018, during which thousands of fish died.

Since the incident, the Environment Agency has released more than 30,000 fish back into the river.

In addition to monitoring and improving fish numbers, Environment Agency’s fisheries teams also help fish in distress, carry out fisheries enforcement activity, respond to environmental incidents, improve habitat and encourage new anglers to take up the hobby, working alongside angling clubs, wildlife trusts, landowners and other groups.

Their work is funded by income from fishing licence sales.

You can purchase a fishing licence online at https://www.gov.uk/fishing-licences

Now is the perfect time to fish – and by buying a licence you are fishing lawfully and supporting the Environment Agency’s work to boost and protect nature.