Cathedral dean dismissed official after appeal row
THE Dean of Llandaff dismissed one voluntary official at the cathedral and banned another from undertaking voluntary duties again after they raised concerns with the Charity Commission about a £1m organ appeal, it has emerged.
Now one of the affected men – who acted as secretary to the organ appeal committee – has distributed a letter to key figures in the Diocese of Llandaff explaining why he remains troubled about the matter, despite the Charity Commission’s finding that there was no evidence of financial irregularity.
In his letter, businessman David Jones reveals that both he and David Lambert – a retired former legal adviser to the Welsh Office and then Lord Elis-Thomas when he was Presiding Officer at the National Assembly – were removed from positions of influence at Llandaff Cathedral by Dean Gerwyn Capon.
Mr Lambert was sacked as deputy Chapter clerk and Mr Jones was told he could no longer undertake voluntary duties.
Mr Jones says in the letter he resigned as secretary of the organ appeal because of the absence of separate audited accounts for the appeal. Later, he and Mr Lambert took their concerns to the Charity Commission, which later said there was no cause for concern, despite guidance from the highly respected Christian fundraising charity, Stewardship, that large appeal funds should have separate accounts.
A spokeswoman for the Church in Wales’ Diocese of Llandaff said: “All the complaints raised by David Jones in his letter were fully investigated, both by the Church in Wales and the Charity Commission, when they were first raised a number of years ago. The investigations concluded that the accusations were unfounded and that there was no case to answer. Moreover, the cathedral auditors have given all its accounts a clean audit report every year.”
Meanwhile, the Dean and Chapter of Llandaff have commissioned a new independent review of the cathedral’s structures and governance in response to the Church in Wales’ Provincial Review of the six Welsh cathedrals.
Launching it, Dean Capon said: “Cathedrals are challenging organisations to run because of their wide-ranging responsibilities and their relatively meagre resources. They need to be realistic and clear in their strategic aims. Their structures of governance and financial management need to keep pace with best practice and legislation.
“In 2016, the Church in Wales commissioned a review of the six Welsh cathedrals, to set out a possible framework to help them meet the ever more complex challenges of their management and governance, especially as registered charities. The implementation of this work is ongoing.
“As part of their own response to that Provincial Review of the Welsh cathedrals, the Dean and Chapter of Llandaff, with the strong encouragement and support of the Bishop of Llandaff, have commissioned an independent review of its structures and governance. The Chapter is keen to ensure it has an attractive vision for its future alongside the best possible model of governance and fiscal discipline that will enable the cathedral to deliver on its strategic aims and to guarantee its sustainability for the future.”