Now boss of Save The Children blames sex probe for lost £16m
THE embattled boss of a charity hit by sex pest claims was last night accused of making an ‘ outrageous’ attack on the official watchdog that investigated its failure to protect female staff.
A leaked memo from Kevin Watkins, chief executive of Save The Children UK, puts the blame for it losing £16million of taxpayers’ money on the Charity Commission for investigating the charity’s cover-up of sexual harassment and bullying of female staff by two former bosses.
The memo plays down the seriousness of the two-year inquiry, saying it is ‘no indication’ of the extent of wrongdoing. And it claims the Commission is struggling to cope with a series of big investigations because of a cash shortage.
It goes on to admit that despite promising to root out mistreatment of staff at SCUK, 28 per cent said they ‘ had experienced some
of workplace incivility’, with those from minorities worst affected.
The memo by Mr Watkins was disclosed on the eve of tomorrow’s publication of a damning report into SCUK by the Charity Commission.
The inquiry was ordered after former chief executive Justin Forsyth and his deputy Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, were exposed as sex pests.
Mr Forsyth, 54, who worked for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in Downing Street, quit a senior Unicef post in 2018 after he was accused of sending ‘unsuitable’ text messages to female SCUK employees.
Mr Cox, 44, who also advised Mr Brown, faced similar claims about his time at SCUK and was accused of sexually assaulting a government official in the United States.
The Commission will accuse SCUK of ‘comprehensive failures’ by letting Mr Forsyth and Mr Cox resign quietly in 2015 despite their misconduct.
It says the charity let down women employees badly.
It is expected to lead to calls for Mr Watkins, a SCUK trustee when the scandal was covered up, to resign. He has always denied any wrongdoing and says major changes have been introduced to safeguard female staff.
The leaked memo, sent yesterday, tells SCUK staff ‘how to talk about the report’ to minimise its impact and win back the £16million annual grant withdrawn by the Department for International Development because of the scandal.
It appears to blame the Commission for losing it the money – rather than Mr Forform syth and Mr Cox’s behaviour and its attempt to sweep it all under the carpet.
It adds that the inquiry has ‘taken longer than expected - but this shouldn’t be taken as an indication of what the Commission is finding out. It has publicly stated that it is struggling with a series of big investigations at the same time as it has faced major budget cuts’.
The memo bans SCUK staff from talking to the media and reveals new security checks have been ordered to stop journalists gaining access to its London HQ tomorrow.
One source said: ‘It is outrageous to point the finger of blame at the Charity Commission and demean the inquiry when SCUK only has itself to blame. Instead, they use heavy handed measures and spin to carry on covering things up. When will they learn?’
Despite downplaying the inquiry, the memo admits it failed to deal properly with Mr Forsyth and Mr Cox.
And it also reveals that, despite improvements, many staff are still unhappy with the way they are treated, particularly those from minorities.
SCUK last night said the charity had co-operated fully with the probe. A spokesman added comments in the memo about the Commission were ‘already in the public domain’.
‘Disruption and risks’