The Charity Commission has issued an Official Warning.
The Charity Commission, the regulator of charities in England and Wales, has issued the Oxford Initiative for British Islam with an Official Warning after the charity failed to file accounting records on time for five consecutive years.
The charity - a think tank and research institute - was 397 days late filing its 2019 accounts, 32 days late filing its 2020 accounts, 367 days late filing its 2021 accounts, 282 days late filing its 2022 accounts, and 74 days late filing its most recent accounts (and other records), for the financial year ended 31 December 2023.
Charities are given 10 months after the end of their financial year to file. The charity's failures to do so amount a breach of trust or duty, or misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity. The Official Warning notes that the charity is to take steps to ensure all future annual accounting records are submitted to the Commission within the statutory deadline, and that failure to do so may lead to further regulatory action.
The regulator opened a regulatory compliance case involving the charity in April 2024, after concerns were raised that the charity's Chair made a number of concerning comments in an interview, including drawing a comparison between Zionism and Nazism and saying politicians should be "identified" if they have family links to Judaism or Zionism because "the public should know that [they] are not objective and unbiased."
The trustees told the Commission that the Chair made the comments in a personal capacity, not on behalf of the charity. The Commission recognises the importance of freedom of expression for those leading charities but also expects trustees to be aware of the potential impact of comments on their charity's reputation.
In this case the Commission concluded that the trustees failed to take sufficient action to distinguish the charity's identity from the Chair's comments in a personal capacity, in order to protect the charity's reputation. The Chair's name is often publicly associated with the charity, as it was in reporting of these comments. The Commission has therefore issued regulatory guidance requiring the trustees to implement effective written policies and procedures to manage situations in future.
The Commission is also critical of the trustees' cooperation with its officials during the compliance case. The regulator expended considerable resources chasing the trustees and its delegates for responses, in pursuit of crucial information. This resulted in the Commission having to exercise its powers on two occasions to compel the trustees, by way of a legal order, to provide both answers to questions and certain documents.
Steve Roake, Assistant Director of Investigations and Compliance at the Charity Commission said:
The law requires all trustees to meet core duties and responsibilities, including to prepare and submit financial reporting documents on time, to protect their charity's reputation and good name, and to cooperate with the Commission's enquiries.
Sadly, our case involving the Oxford Initiative for British Islam found that the trustees repeatedly failed to meet their legal duties and responsibilities, putting the charity at risk of harm. We also found that the trustees did not take sufficient steps to distance their charity from comments made by its Chair, and are critical of the trustees for this failure.
We hope the trustees will learn lessons from these incidents to improve the charity's governance for the future.
The Charity Commission's case opened in April 2024 and concluded in April 2025.
