Charities: National Security
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to review the powers of the Charity Commission when allegations are made about links between UK charities and hostile states.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock
As the independent regulator, the Charity Commission for England and Wales has a wide range of powers to tackle misconduct or mismanagement in charities. It acts robustly to tackle those who abuse charities.
In 2023-24 the Charity Commission concluded 3,710 regulatory concern cases, 65 statutory inquiries, and exercised its legal powers on 2,189 occasions.
Concerns about links to hostile states are taken seriously. Any evidence that there is misconduct or mismanagement within a registered charity should be referred to the Charity Commission.
Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Charity Commission and I met with the Commission last week to discuss these and other matters. We keep the Charity Commission's powers under regular review and are actively considering whether further powers are required.
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