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“The Commission takes the view that it is not just breaches of charity law that are of concern to it, but that many other types of incident can present a real risk”
It is therefore of practical importance that governors and staff have a clear idea of: ✥ what incidents need to be reported ✥ how much information can or should be supplied to the Commission ✥ when it might be appropriate to delay the report to the Commission.
an incident through some other route. This could be because of media coverage of the incident or because someone makes a complaint to the Commission. In such cases, we have seen the Commission’s initial concern about the governors’ handling of the incident broaden into a scrutiny of the governance of the school and even of the extent to which the school is able to demonstrate public benefit.
What incidents need to be reported? The guidance defines a serious incident as one that “has resulted or could result in a significant loss of funds or a significant risk to the charity’s property, work, beneficiaries or reputation”. That extremely broad definition is supplemented with a list of maters that the Commission will always regard as a serious incident: ✥ fraud and theft ✥ other significant loss ✥ significant donations from an unknown or unverified source ✥ financial links between the charity and proscribed organisations or terrorist activities ✥ disqualified persons acting as trustees ✥ inadequate systems for veting trustees or staff ✥ inadequate safeguarding policies ✥ suspicions, allegations and incidents of abuse or mistreatment of vulnerable beneficiaries ✥ a criminal investigation or sanctions imposed by another regulator or agency.
This list is not exhaustive, and the Commission will expect to be told about any incident where: ✥ a report is made to the police or other statutory agencies (this will presumably include any report to the LADO) ✥ the police or other statutory agencies open an investigation into the charity or its personnel ✥ the trustees determine that the incident presents a serious risk to the charity, its beneficiaries, reputation or assets ✥ the trustees reasonably suspect that a serious incident has happened ✥ the charity’s professional advisers advise the trustees to notify the
Paul Ridout is a partner at leading education law firm Veale Wasbrough Vizards. T: 020 7665 0869 E:
pridout@vwv.co.uk W:
www.vwv.co.uk
Commission of the incident – and you will want your lawyers to be up to speed on this topic, as the possible repercussions of filing a report mean that it is not necessarily helpful to have someone advising you to report to the Commission just to be on the safe side.
What information needs to be provided? There are a couple of key points to bear in mind in relation to the information that is reported to the Commission: ✥ some information relating to the incident is likely to be of a sensitive nature and may include personal data. Governors and/or staff may need to seek specialist advice on the disclosure of personal data and on the steps they can take to prevent information from being disclosed by the Commission under the Freedom of Information Act ✥ our experience tells us that the Commission’s handling of the case will be influenced by any information that the school is able to provide about the measures that were already in place to manage the risk of an incident of the kind being reported and about the steps that have been taken in response to the incident that has arisen.
When does the report need to be made? The Commission recognises that, even in serious cases, time may be needed to gather information about a suspected incident or to make initial investigations into an allegation. However, the expectation is that reports will be filed as soon as reasonably possible and any unjustified delay may be seen as a cause for concern about governance in the school and as justification for a more extensive investigation of the school’s affairs. It is definitely not a good idea to leave
an incident unreported until the time comes to file an annual return; this will give the Commission the impression that, until that point, the school was unaware of the need to report the incident. Having said that, if a school handles the mater with care and can demonstrate to the Commission that, despite the technical failure to report, it has handled the incident competently and properly, it may be possible to reassure the Commission that all is well and that there is no need for them to get further involved. iE
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