Public access to Charity Accounts

The request was successful.

Dear Charity Commission for England and Wales,

Can you please provide a copy of any guidance notes issued by the Charity Commission for England & Wales, to Charity Trustees, which helps to clarify their position when satisfying a request made under the Charities Act 2011 Section 172.

Conversely what information is available to members of the public which helps quantify what they might expect to receive from Charity Trustees when submitting a request under Section 172.

The provision stipulates that a person can make a request to obtain a copy of a Charity’s most recent accounts and this request is intended to help clarify exactly what action is within the scope of Section 172 para (2 ). ie the relevant format which the Trustees should present to satisfy such a request.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Brown

FOI Requests, Charity Commission for England and Wales

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RIGA FOI (Queue), Charity Commission for England and Wales

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Dear Mr Brown

Thank you for your email.  Please find your Freedom of Information request
response attached.

Yours sincerely

Mrs L Whitehust

Data Protection and Information Rights

 

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Dear RIGA FOI (Queue),
I am a little confused by the FOI response.

If I refer you to document CC15b it is evident that Section 1 thereof makes reference to the making of accounts information available upon request.

Clearly the document is available on-line, and that the CCEW has prepared this document having regard to the requirements of the Law, under which it is established as the Regulator.

But CC15b appears to be guidance to Trustees who are required to comply with the Law, which is a fact also confirmed by the Commission.

So the answer provided is a bit contradictory, suggesting that the Commission does not know what information it actually produces from within its' own resources.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Brown

FOI Requests, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Thank you for submitting your Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the
Charity Commission. We will respond within 20 working days.
 
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RIGA Casework (Queue), Charity Commission for England and Wales

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Dear Mr Brown

Please find attached the Commissions review of the decision provided in
your recent Freedom of Information request response.

Yours sincerely

Ms Jan Provost (Information Rights and Complaints Manager)

Jan Provost

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Chris Brown left an annotation ()

A very simple example where you have to show the public authority where they can actually find the information being requested.

This was not a trick FOI - it was simply to clarify the format to be used by a charity where information has bene requested. it is a breach of Charity Law not to respond to a request for copy accounts and the request was basically trying to establish what would constitute a breach of compliance, and how this might be regarded by the Court.

The Charity Commission (for E&W) has never enforced this provision even though the Charities Act 2011 prescribes an offence.