Commission urges public to give safely during Ramadan

Press release

With Ramadan underway, the Charity Commission is encouraging donors to ensure they are giving safely by making a few checks before they donate.

Ramadan is a renowned time of generous giving, with the Muslim Charities Forum estimating that, in previous years, UK donors have given over £130 million to charity during the holy month alone.* Many expect this figure to rise again this year as Muslim communities are returning to mosques and in-person celebrations following the pandemic.

While most online and in-person fundraising is genuine, fraudsters and criminals may try to take advantage of this unparalleled generosity. This may include fake appeal websites, email appeals falsely using charities’ names, or appeals from fake charities.

The regulator is therefore pointing to simple steps people can take to make sure donations reach registered charities:

  • check the charity’s name and registration number at gov.uk/checkcharity – most charities with an annual income of £5,000 or more must be registered;
  • make sure the charity is genuine before giving any financial information – it’s ok to decide not to give on the spot. Be wary of unsolicited emails from charities you have never heard of and be careful when responding to emails or clicking on links within them;
  • exercise the same caution as with any other internet transaction, for example, to donate online, visit the charity’s own website and always type the website address into the browser yourself;
  • take your time to ask a fundraiser questions and check street collectors’ ID badges, fundraising materials and information. Be careful when responding to emails or phone calls, or when clicking on links from any organisations purporting to be charities;
  • contact or find out more online about the charity that you’re seeking to donate to or work with to understand more about their spending. Ask a trusted friend or relative if you are unable to research this or need a second opinion;
  • ignore requests to donate through a money transfer company;
  • if in doubt about an approach, give instead to a charity that you have an existing relationship with.

Helen Stephenson, CEO of the Charity Commission, said:

The generosity of British Muslims, especially during Ramadan, is remarkable. It’s vital that these substantial donations reach their intended causes, to strengthen communities and improve lives at home and abroad.

That’s why we urge everyone to follow our simple steps to check that their money is going where they think it is. Donating to a registered charity is a good way to feel confident of that.

The Charity Commission’s online register also allows donors to search for charities operating within their own local authority area, or to undertake keyword searches to find charities providing specific services, such as foodbanks or support for older people.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

  1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator and registrar of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see the about us page on GOV.UK.
  2. *Figures around donations are always estimates. For more information please contact the Muslim Charities Forum.

Published 8 April 2022



Dame Judith Macgregor’s term as Interim Chair of the British Tourist Authority has been extended

Dame Judith Macgregor was British High Commissioner to South Africa from September 2013 until March 2017, when she retired from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) after 40 years in the Diplomatic Service.

After graduating from Oxford with a first-class degree in Modern History, and a year in Romania, Dame Judith entered the FCO in 1976 serving first in the former Yugoslavia, and later as First Secretary in Prague and Paris.

After accompanying her husband as Director General for Trade Promotion in Germany and Ambassador to Poland, she resumed her career as FCO Director for Security Policy in 2000, and then as Ambassador to Slovakia (2004-6). She became FCO Director for Migration in 2007 and Ambassador to Mexico in 2009. In 2013, she became British High Commissioner to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland and was awarded the DCMG in January 2016.

In 2017, Dame Judith was appointed to the Board of the British Tourist Authority, becoming Interim Chair in August 2022. She is an Independent Non-Executive Director of the UK/Mexican mining company, Fresnillo plc and Vice Chair of the Council of Southampton University. In 2018 she joined the Arts and Humanities Research Council, as well as becoming a trustee of the University of Cape Town Charitable Trust. In February 2020 she was appointed Chair of the Strategic Advisory Group to the Global Challenges Research Fund and in March 2020 she became a Trustee of the Caradon Lecture trust.

Beyond her Board activity, Dame Judith is a member of the Advisory Council for Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple. In 2018 she became a Deputy Lieutenant for Hampshire.

This interim appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. As interim Chair, Dame Judith will be remunerated at £40,000 per annum. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Dame Judith has not declared any activity.



Monica Chadha, Edgar Wright, Scott Stuber, Elizabeth Karlsen and Laura Miele have been appointed to the British Film Institute

Monica Chadha

Monica is an experienced board advisor with over 25 years experience in the creative industries. She advises a number of organisations including the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC); British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE); Digital Entertainment Group Europe (DEGE); and serves on the CMI President’s Advisory Council; the Bias in AI Research Group at Durham University; and the All Party Parliamentary Group for AI.

In 2018 Monica was appointed ambassador for Women on Boards and a ‘Super NED’. In 2019 she was one of the top 50 Women to Watch in the UK in the Female FTSE Board Report. She is also a long-term global coach for a multinational entertainment company; and a faculty member of the FT Board Director Programme.

Monica was previously CEO of MyMovies.Net Ltd, Vice Chair of Queen Mary University of London and Chair of Remuneration; Founder and Co-Chair of the Deloitte Higher Education Cyber Security Group; Chair of the British Independent Film Awards Advisory Board and the British Board of Film Classification Advisory Group; a member of the BAFTA Digital Communications Board and Non-Executive Director positions at British Video Association; Voddess Portal Ltd; and Obviously Creative Ltd. Early in her career Monica was Head of Operations for various film distributors and started out at Technicolor Distribution.

Elizabeth Karlsen

Elizabeth is an internationally renowned, award-winning producer, who co-founded the leading independent UK based production company Number 9 Films in 2002 with partner Stephen Woolley garnering 52 BAFTA nominations and wins and 20 Academy Award® nominations and wins.

In February 2019, Elizabeth and Stephen jointly received the highly prestigious and coveted BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. She has produced some of the most celebrated independent films in the US and Europe including: Todd Haynes’s Carol (nominated for 6 Academy Awards®, 6 Golden Globe Awards and 9 BAFTA Awards) Mark Herman’s Little Voice (winner of a Golden Globe Award, nominated for 1 Academy Award®, 6 Golden Globe Awards and 6 BAFTA Awards) Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game (winner of an Academy Award®, a BAFTA Award and nominated for 6 Academy Awards®), Made In Dagenham (nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards) and Phyllis Nagy’s Mrs Harris (nominated for 12 Emmy® Awards, 3 Golden Globe Awards and a PGA Award) and Wash Westmoreland’s Colette (Nominated for 4 BIFA’s and an Independent Spirit Award), On Chesil Beach, written by Ian McEwan and directed by Dominic Cooke and Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth (nominated for 1 Academy Award® and winner of 3 European Film Awards).

Elizabeth’s latest features are Mothering Sunday, written by Alice Birch and directed by Eva Husson which premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and Oliver Hermanus’s Living, scripted by Kazuo Ishiguro and on release later this year.

Laura Miele

Laura is a seasoned technology and media executive with 25+ years of leadership in development, marketing, commercial, and data/analytics in the operation and strategic guidance of interactive entertainment and is responsible for EA’s worldwide operational effectiveness and acceleration of long-term growth.

Laura is passionate about increasing the number of opportunities for women and underrepresented talent, leading EA’s efforts to advance representation across the company and its games. Laura founded the EA Women’s Ultimate Team Employee Resource Group to promote gender diversity and equality inside and outside the organization and and an inclusion framework as part of the game development process leading to EA SPORTS FIFA 16 being the first AAA sports title to integrate female players- four years before it became the industry standard.

Laura is amongst Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, AdAge’s “Women to Watch” list, San Francisco Business Times “Most Influential Women in Business,” and the Variety500, a member of Fast Company’s Impact Council, Advisory Board Member for The Game Awards, and served on the board of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Scott Stuber

Scott oversees the development, production and acquisition of the Netflix film slate. Recent hits under Scott’s supervision include: Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, Academy Award winner Marriage Story, The Old Guard, Murder Mystery, Extraction, Bird Box, and three-time Academy Award winner Roma directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

Prior to Netflix, he founded and ran Bluegrass Films, which produced such hits as Ted, Central Intelligence, and Safe House. A former vice chairman of worldwide production at Universal Studios, he was responsible for films including A Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile, Meet the Parents and its follow-up films, plus both the Bourne and Fast and the Furious franchises.

Scott is on the board and active with a variety of organizations, including the Charlotte + Gwenyth Gray Foundation, Baby2Baby and Chrysalis.

Edgar Wright

Edgar Wright first gained worldwide recognition for his Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy consisting of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End, each made with actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as well as producer Nira Park, all frequent collaborators. He worked with the same team while directing the late-1990s/early-2000s television series Spaced. Wright also co-wrote, produced and directed the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Along with Joe Cornish and Steven Moffat, he co-wrote Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in 2011.

Wright wrote and directed the 2017 action crime film Baby Driver, which went on to become a global box office hit, and in 2021 directed and co-wrote, with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Last Night in Soho which starred Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, and Dame Diana Rigg in her final film role. 2021 also saw the release of Wright’s first documentary film, The Sparks Brothers, covering the entire 50-year legacy of Ron and Russell Mael of California pop band Sparks, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival that year.

Members of the BFI Board of Governors are not remunerated. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election.

Monica Chadha,Scott Stuber, Laura Miele & Edgar Wright, declared no political activity.

Elisabeth Karlsen declared being a Labour Party member and having campaigned for them during the 2019 election.



Iain Coucher announced as preferred Ofwat Chair candidate

Press release

The Environment Secretary has selected Iain Coucher as the Government’s preferred candidate to succeed Jonson Cox as the Chair of Ofwat.

The Environment Secretary has selected Iain Coucher as the Government’s preferred candidate to succeed Jonson Cox as the Chair of Ofwat, the independent economic regulator of water services in England and Wales.

Mr Coucher’s selection followed a rigorous process conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee (ESC) will now hold a pre-appointment hearing and report on Mr Coucher’s suitability for the post.

Pre-appointment scrutiny is an important part of the appointment process for some of the most significant public appointments made by Ministers to verify that the recruitment meets the principles set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Pre-appointment hearings are held in public and allow a Select Committee to take evidence from a Minister’s preferred candidate before they are appointed. The ESC will publish a report setting out their views on the candidate’s suitability for the post, which will be considered by Ministers before deciding whether to proceed with the appointment.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any declared) to be made public. Mr Coucher has not declared any significant political activity in the past five years.

Subject to the ESC’s report and the final decision being made by the Secretary of State, Mr Coucher will take up the post on 1 July 2022. Mr Cox has agreed with the Environment Secretary to extend his tenure as Chair of Ofwat to 30 June 2022.

Biographical details of Iain Coucher

  • Iain has held a number of senior executive roles, including that of Chief Executive at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and Network Rail.
  • He has been a non-executive director for Cadent Gas plc and a Board Member for the Rail Safety and Standards Board.
  • He is currently a senior adviser at HIG Capital, a leading global investment fund, as well as a Trustee of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Earthwatch (Europe).

Published 8 April 2022



SIA announces “good causes” grants

Altogether the SIA has awarded a total of £113,000 to nine charities and community enterprise groups. The grants will come from a special SIA fund that uses ill-gotten cash confiscated from individuals convicted of criminal offences within the private security industry.

The awards and beneficiaries for the grants are:

Pete Easterbrook, the SIA’s Head of Criminal Enforcement, said:

We believe that crime should not pay, so it’s fitting that illegally acquired money should be taken from criminals and used for the benefit of society and, especially for the protection of the public.

This money will support organisations with a focus on protecting the public. This includes charities actively preventing violence against women and girls; supporting young people who are searching for post-education careers in security and protecting vulnerable people in higher education.

Money from this fund will also continue to support the rehabilitation of service personnel with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Michelle Russell, Chief Executive of the SIA said:

We are delighted to award nine charities and social enterprises from the funds derived from court orders following our pursuit of the proceeds of crime. This year’s beneficiaries are a reflection of some great work underway by charities from across the UK all contributing to public protection.

Further information:

The SIA has held powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) since 2015. This allows the SIA to undertake financial investigations and seek confiscation orders against companies and individuals who make a profit from criminal activity. POCA is a law that ensures any money made from criminal activity can be recovered.

Since 2017 the SIA has been pursuing financial recovery from convicted criminals following prosecution. Where the SIA has brought a prosecution and there has been a conviction, the SIA may undertake confiscation proceedings against those convicted. If successful, the SIA receives a percentage of the confiscated money. The proceeds must be used to either fund good causes or further SIA’s financial investigations.

Read the SIA’s blog ‘The Proceeds of Crime Act (2002)’, published in 2019.

The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the United Kingdom, reporting to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Our main duties are: the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking designated activities; and managing the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.

For further information about the Security Industry Authority visit www.gov.uk/sia. The SIA is also on Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and Twitter (SIAuk).