Homelessness charity investigated by regulator over political activity

The Charity Commission has launched an investigation into a homelessness charity amid concerns over its political activity.

The regulator has opened the statutory inquiry into Humanity Torbay over “serious concerns about the trustees’ oversight and management of the charity”.

The concerns centre around social media posts made by the charity that the Commission says “did not appear to comply” with its rules on campaigning and political activity.

The Commission has issued a formal warning to the charity about the need to keep personal political views separate from the charity but has launched the investigation after receiving futher complaints about political content posted online.

The charity’s Facebook page is mentioned by the regulator amid the concerns raised.

“The regulator is concerned that the trustees of Humanity Torbay do not have sufficient oversight or control of the charity’s social media content, which should only be used to promote the charity’s objects and services,” says the Commission in a statement.

The inquiry will look at the trustees’ management of charity resources, its compliance with legal duties, governance arrangements and finances.

Concerns around the charity’s finances have also been raised by the Commission following an independent examiner’s report into its accounts for the year ending March 2019.

These accounts show that the charity had an income of £143,107 and spent £121,867.

“The Commission may extend the scope of the scope of the inquiry if further regulatory concerns arise. It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were,” added its statement.