Action on late accounts

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Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your information request.

In order to identify the information you have asked for we should be
grateful if you would provide clarification on the following three points:

1) You speak only of charity accounts. Charities also have to submit an
annual return within ten months of their financial year end. Would you
like us to provide data on accounts only, or on annual returns as well?

2) You speak of accounts "late by 400 days". Charities have to submit
accounts within ten months, (306 days) of their financial year end. Are
you interested in charities who submitted their accounts 400 days or more
after their financial year end, or in charities whose accounts became
overdue by 400 days, ie they submitted their accounts 706 days or more
after their financial year end?

3) When you say “Also can you tell me how many charities were late by
over 400 days for submission in the last three accounting years”, Would
you like separate figures for each year, or are looking for charities
whose accounts were late for three consecutive years?

Once you have clarified your request, I will be able to begin to process
your request. If I do not receive clarification within three months your
request will be considered to have lapsed. (Under section 1(3) of the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a public authority need not comply with
a request unless any further information reasonably required to locate the
information is supplied).

Yours sincerely

Ms Jan Provost

------------------- Original Message

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REF JP/CRM/Information Compliance

Dear Mr Young

Thank you for your clarification. Please find below the the information as
requested for charities whose accounts were over 400 Days late in the last
three years, as of 21st January 2009.

The figures below are estimated for the last three calendar years where it
is possible for accounts to be 400 days late, (i.e. submitted more than
706 days after the charity's financial year end). They take into account
the fact that a charity's financial year may end on any date within the
calendar year. They include charities whose relevant financial year end
was more than 706 days ago and who have not yet submitted accounts.

The figures carry a slight caveat as follows :-It is actually from the
return form that the income and expenditure figures in our database are
taken. In some cases we do not know for certain what a charity's
income/expenditure was in a particular year if the form to indicate the
level has not been submitted. In these cases we would not know if the
charity was at a level whereby the submission of accounts was required.
Some charities may also have been removed from the register part way
through a period.

The below information is therefore based on those charities who have a
recorded income of over £10,000 who have not submitted required accounts
within the 400 day parameter.

The estimated figures are as follows:

Year Charities
2005 8,500
2006 11,100
2007 200

I hope this information has answered your query in full, however If you
are unhappy with our response to your FOI request, have a complaint or
wish to request a review of our FOI decision, you should write to: Charity
Commission Direct, PO Box 1227, LIVERPOOL, L69 3UG. Please state what it
is you are dissatisfied with, which will assist us when we review our
response. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any
future communications.

If after this you remain unhappy with the decision, you may apply directly
to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO
cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our complaints
procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely,

Ms Jan Provost (Compliance Manager)

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