Letter of Comfort

Trevor McKee made this Freedom of Information request to Department for Communities (Northern Ireland) Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

The request was successful.

Dear Department for Communities (Northern Ireland),

Following the McBride judgment of May 2019, the DfC issued a Letter of Comfort (LoC), to the Charity Commission confirming the Department would meet any costs which the Commission could not meet from its own resources which were incurred as a result of any claim made against the Commission in respect of decisions taken prior to
the High Court Draft Judgment handed down by Madam Justice McBride on 16 May
2019. This agreement applied to actions taken against the Commission as a whole,
individual Commissioners or any member of staff who acted in good faith on behalf of
the Commission. This was done to ensure that services to charities would not need to
be cut by the Commission in the event that the Commission, individual Commissioners
or members of the Commission staff incurred costs as a result of those proceedings.

As the department responsible for the fiscal management and oversight of any payments made pursuant to the LoC, a copy of the letter or correspondence confirming authority for such an agreement to be entered into will be in the possession of the DfC.

1. Please provide a copy of the Letter of Comfort
&
2. Please provide correspondence from the DfC to the DoF and the Executive Office advising and seeking permission to enter into such an agreement.
&
3. Please advise, if its not obvious from the LoC, to what value will the loC underwrite and the specific circumstances in which the DfC will honour it.

Yours faithfully,

Trevor McKee

DfC FOI, Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)

Thank you for contacting the Department for Communities Freedom of
Information Team. 

 

Your correspondence has been received and will be passed to the
appropriate Departmental business area for action

 

Damian O'Hara| Information Management Branch | Department for Communities

Level 5 | Nine Lanyon Place | BELFAST | BT1 3LP

Contact: * damian.o'[email address] | ( Tel: (028) 9082 9137 |
( DD: 38137

 

 

DfC Charities Branch, Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)

1 Attachment

Dear Mr McKee,

 

Please see the FOI Acknowledgement letter attached.

 

Thank you, Ciara.

 

Ciara Campbell | Voluntary and Community Division | Department for
Communities

4^TH Floor | Lanyon Place | Lanyon Quay| Belfast | BT1 3LP

Contact: * [1][email address]

 

References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Bell, Colleen, Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)

5 Attachments

Dear Mr McKee,

Please see attached response to your request for information on 15 December 2023.

Kind Regards,

Colleen Bell

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