Charities late filing accounts to commission

THREE charities which have Wales’ leading Muslim as a trustee are seriously late in filing their accounts with the Charity Commission, we can reveal.

Saleem Kidwai is secretary general of the Muslim Council of Wales and a prominent member of Welsh civil society. In 2006 he was awarded an OBE. The Charity Commission has confirmed that three charities with Mr Kidwai as a trustee – including the Muslim Council of Wales itself – are in default because they have not filed their accounts.

In the case of one of the charities, the Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry because accounts have not been filed for three years.

When we contacted Mr Kidwai, he said the accounts were late because the organisations concerned are run by volunteers.

According to publicly available information on the Charity Commission’s website, accounts for the Muslim Council of Wales Charitable Foundation up to March 31, 2017, are more than six months overdue.

Darul Isra Muslim Community Centre Trust – another charity of which Mr Kidwai is a trustee – has not filed accounts for three years, with the accounts for the year up until August 31, 2015, more than 760 days late.

It is said to provide facilities for prayer, interfaith activities and sporting activities for young people.

A third charity which has Mr Kidwai as a trustee – The Madina House Trust – has not filed accounts for two years, with accounts for the year ending January 1, 2016, being more than 640 days overdue.

Although accounts have not been filed for The Madina House Trust, as they should have been, the charity is recorded as having spent £436,250 in the year ending January 1, 2016, with income of £203,940.

According to the description of the charity on the Charity Commission’s website, it operates in Cardiff and Essex and “provides safer environment to the distress [sic] and troubled youngsters”.

A note on the Charity Commission’s website states: “If, despite reminders, a charity’s accounts and annual return have not been received six months after the end of the 10-month period in which they are required to submit the documents, it is deemed to indicate that they are no longer operating.

“In most cases the charity will be removed from the register at this point, but in some cases the commission will need to be satisfied that there are no continuing risks to donors or beneficiaries and that the charity’s resources have been properly applied. In such cases the charity will remain on the register until the risk has been addressed.”

The note goes on to say that where the commission is actively working with a charity to resolve serious administrative difficulties, it may be temporarily excluded from the normal reminder and notice programme.

A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “Trustees are under a clear legal requirement to ensure that their charity’s accounts are submitted in full and on time, and the commission sends regular reminders to the charities who don’t. Failure to file is a serious breach and can be an indicator of wider governance failings, which is why these issues are clearly marked on our register.

“In February 2018, we opened a statutory inquiry into The Madina House Trust (registered charity number 1082055) to look into concerns after the charity failed twice to submit their accounts on time. As this investigation is ongoing we are unable to comment further so as not to prejudice the outcome of our inquiry.”

The Charity Commission confirmed that the Muslim Council of Wales Charitable Foundation (1134887) and Darul Isra Muslim Community Centre Trust (1133380) both remained in default and that it was continuing to remind the trustees of their obligations to file on time.

It explained that charities that are in default for two consecutive years or more may be entered into a “double defaulters” class inquiry.

The Charity Commission said it prioritises those charities with the largest incomes so that the highest amounts can be made accountable to the public.

Mr Kidwai said: “I acknowledge that the accounts are late. We are volunteers. The accounts for the Muslim Council for Wales should be prepared by the end of August.”

Asked about the statutory inquiry into The Madina House Trust, Mr Kidwai said: “We haven’t heard from the Charity Commission for three or four months.

“It used to run a children’s home and one of the former trustees passed away.”

Mr Kidwai confirmed that accounts for the charities were prepared by an independent examiner of accounts called Akhtar Ali Mir.

Mr Mir’s office is based in the same Cardiff building as the Muslim Council of Wales, although Mr Kidwai said he was entirely independent of it.