He today welcomed to London General Nicolae-lonel Ciucă, Chief of the General Staff of the Romanian Armed Forces, to discuss mutual interests and strengthen Defence ties. This follows Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon’s announcement last year that the UK will send RAF Typhoon aircraft to Romania in support of the NATO Southern Air Policing mission.

General Ciucă and the Chief of the Defence Staff discussed the UK and Romania’s partnership as members of NATO, UK deployments to Romania this year, and possible trade opportunities.

Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach said:

The UK shares an important Defence relationship with Romania, both bilaterally, and as part of our membership of NATO.

I was pleased to welcome General Ciucă to the UK, and continue to recognise the key role Romania plays within the Alliance, including their commitment to increase defence spending to meet the 2% of GDP target this year.

To enable the UK’s contribution to NATO Southern Air Policing, RAF Typhoons from RAF Coningsby will be based at Mihail Kogălniceanu Airbase for up to four months in 2017, the Defence Secretary said at the end of last year.

Additionally, as part of multinational NATO exercises, British land forces will deploy to Romania for various exercises this summer, demonstrating the Alliance’s commitments on the south-eastern flank. Defence Engagement in 2017 will also include a Royal Navy Type 45 Destroyer visit to a Romanian port.

Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach added:

Our deployments this year by land, in the air, and at sea, underline the UK’s commitment to working within NATO alongside our Romanian friends.

The UK-Romania relationship was further strengthened by a visit last year by then Romanian Minister of National Defence Mihnea Motoc, who was hosted by the Defence Secretary.

During his visit General Ciucă is also due to visit the Northwood Headquarters, where he will meet senior UK military personnel from the Joint Forces Command and speak to Romanian officers based at the NATO Allied Maritime Command.

The Charity Commission has today concluded its inquiry into Apostolic Faith Mission International Ministries UK (registered charity number 1096543). The Commission investigated the charity after it repeatedly failed to file its accounts (see endnote 1). The investigation concluded that the trustees had been responsible for mismanagement and misconduct. As result of the inquiry the charity is now in compliance with its legal duty to file accounts and £872,238 is now transparently and publicly accounted for on the register of charities.

The charity was ordered by the Commission to file its accounts (see endnote 2). A Commission accountant scrutinised the accounts and identified that they were not compliant with the charity accounting regulations and identified issues with the charity’s internal financial controls. The inquiry found that the financial governance of the charity was inadequate, particularly in relation to how cash was handled.

The Commission ordered the trustees to implement recommended actions by way of a formal action plan to resolve the issues identified (see endnote 3). The Commission monitored the charity, and it submitted its 2014 and 2015 accounting information on time (for the first time in 10 years). To ensure the charity had complied with its order, The Commission met with the trustees in February 2016 and found that they had completed the actions set out in the action plan and were discharging their duties in relation to the governance of the charity including its financial controls by properly managing the charity’s funds.

As a result of the Commission’s engagement the financial governance of the charity has been improved.

The inquiry concluded that there had been mismanagement and misconduct by the trustees, due to their failures to file annual accounting information for 2013, and mismanagement by the trustees due to the failures in financial governance at the charity.

Carl Mehta, Head of Investigations, Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said:

Charities enjoy a range of benefits as a result of their status, but they also have a duty to the public, as well as a legal duty, to be transparent regarding their finances and submit accounts to be displayed on the register of charities.

The Commission takes this responsibility seriously and regards it as mismanagement and misconduct in the administration of the charity when a charity fails to submit their accounts. Trustees must also ensure that their accounts comply with the relevant accounting standards and that their charity has robust financial controls in place.

The Commission has produced guidance to assist trustees in implementing robust internal financial controls that are appropriate to their charity. Internal financial controls for charities (CC8) is available on GOV.UK. There is also a self checklist for trustees available.

The full report is available on GOV.UK.

Ends

PR 03/17

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.

Endnotes

1. The inquiry was opened on the 4 February 2014. The charity was previously part of the class inquiry in September 2013 for failing to submitting accounting information for the financial years ending 31 March 2011 and 2012.
2. On 12 February 2014, the inquiry exercised powers under section 84 of the Charities Act 2011 to direct the trustees to submit the relevant missing annual accounts, reports and returns for the charity for financial year ending 31 March 2013 to the Commission.
3. On 23 September 2014, the inquiry exercised power under section 84 of the Charities Act 2011 to direct the trustees to implement the Commission’s recommendations.

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home
Secretary, speaking in response to reports that plans by councils to
settle refugees have stalled without Government resources, said: 

“Many councils across the country are willing to step up and take
their share of refugees. But they cannot provide the housing and services these
incredibly vulnerable people need without adequate support from the Home
Office.

“This Tory Government needs to live up to its moral and legal
obligation to help people fleeing persecution and war.”