Charity Commission Inquiry: Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre

Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre (the 'Charity') has objects for the advancement of the Islamic religion in Brighton and Hove by providing facilities for congregational prayers and educational programmes, operating a mosque and a madrassah in Brighton.

In July 2021 the Charity Commission engaged with the Charity to assess concerns after a former trustee was charged with encouraging terrorism during a speech made at the Charity's premises in November 2020, in breach of section 1(2) of the Terrorism Act 2006. The trustee, having also served as the Charity's Imam before his resignation in 2018, was later convicted of this offence in April 2022 and received a custodial sentence. 

In November 2021 the Charity Commission held a meeting with some of the Charity's trustees and a representative of the individuals who claimed to be the Charity's new trustees, with the aim of discussing the incident and the Charity's governance.  The Commission identified several regulatory concerns and issued an Official Warning in May 2022, determining that the Charity trustees knew or ought to have known the risk posed by the former trustees, and set out actions to be taken to protect the Charity and its beneficiaries from abuse.  The Commission then opened a Statutory Inquiry on 3 August 2022. The Inquiry considered,

• whether the trustees had been properly appointed and/or removed;
• whether the arrangements with the Charity's members reflected the requirements of its governing document;
• whether the trustees had learnt from the issues which led to the Official Warning and were willing, and able, to further the charity's objects in an appropriate manner;
• whether the Charity's income and expenditure could be properly accounted for; and
• whether the Charity's expenditure had been used to carry out activities that exclusively furthered a charitable purpose.

The Inquiry found that the Charity had been poorly managed and not properly administered, at the relevant times, by its former trustees.  It was revealed that several trustees had not been properly appointed or removed since the dispute began, with individuals inconsistently added or removed from both the Register of Charities and Companies House.

The Inquiry further found that the process set out in the Charity's governing document for removing trustees was not followed, with (for example) removed trustees not given the opportunity afforded to them in the governing document to make representations before their removal.  This led to dispute and disruption of the Charity's administration, necessitating the appointment of an interim manager.

It was also found that there had also been a disregard or lack of understanding for the proper financial management of the Charity.  Further, the Charity's Annual Returns, Trustee Annual Reports and accounts for the financial years ending 30 April of 2018 through to 2021 were all filed late.  The Inquiry found that the conduct of the trustees fell below the standard expected by the Charity Commission, however it did not find that any charitable funds had been misapplied.

One of the Charity's trustees was disqualified for a period of four years and 6 months following the Inquiry.  Further, the former trustee who was convicted under the Terrorism Act 2006 was automatically disqualified from serving as a trustee or senior manager of any charity in England and Wales.

Conclusions

While in some ways the circumstances in this case were extreme, the Inquiry report is a useful reminder of the scope of trustees' legal duties, the Commission's current areas and regulatory interest and the scope of its powers.  In terms of the nexus with terrorism, trustees must not engage in or allow conduct which would lead a reasonable member of the public to infer that the charity or its trustees are associated with or support a proscribed organisation, or terrorism generally, including allow a charity's premises to be used to facilitate or commit terrorism-related or other criminal offences.

Failure to ensure the timely filing of a charity's annual accounting documents is a breach of statutory duties and may constitute misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of a charity. It may also be an offence under the Charities Act. 

Finally, trustees must always bear in mind that they are jointly and severally liable for the management of their charity.  

Authored in collaboration with Ethan Lees, a trainee at the time of writing.