Stuart is absolutely right. The Commission has brought the sector into disrepute. The defensive response of the Commission chair in his letter to The Times demonstrates they have not learnt the lessons of their lamentable handling of the Cup Trust. For Shawcross to try and excuse inaction by "waiting for HMRC" is simply not good enough.
People want to know that there is a regulator that is
fearless in pursuit of wrongdoing. Not one that hides behind legalisms and
process. The problem with the Cup Trust case is that we don't know how many
others there are, where the Commission is inactive.
Will the arrival of new people on the Board help? Looking at the names I think not. Apart from
Orlando Fraser, who I like, these are not inspiring appointments. But you never
know; they may provide the much needed impetus for a more aggressive Commission
that looks to exercise its powers in a way that inspires confidence, not
looking over their shoulder to lawyers and making excuses for lack of action about
patently obvious abuse.
As Joe Irvin said about this, “The commission needs to
admit it got this wrong, dust itself down and then look at how it can better
tackle rogue charities."
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