Charity Commission Issues Its First Official Warning To National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline

On 3 July 2017, the Charity Commission (the 'Commission') published its case report on the National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline (the 'Charity') further to its decision to issue an official warning to the Charity on 25 April 2017. The power to issue official warnings was introduced by the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 and came into force on 1 November last year, and this is the first time that the Commission has used this power. The Commission determined that an official warning was appropriate because the trustees committed a breach of trust or duty or have engaged in misconduct/ mismanagement in the administration of the Charity by:

making unauthorised payments to a connected person; entering into an informal loan agreement with a connected person; improperly delegating the administration and management of the charity; failing to keep proper minutes and other records of decision making; and failing to properly implement and manage financial controls. The Charity was randomly selected from a group of 94 charities whose accounts signalled that they may be in financial difficulty, as they included an 'emphasis of matter in relation to going concern'* relating to their financial position.

The Commission carried out a detailed study of the Charity's latest accounts and identified a number of concerns relating to the management of the Charity's finances. It then contacted the...