PRESS RELEASE : Charity regulator appoints Interim Manager to the Islamic Centre of England [May 2023]

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 10 May 2023.

The Charity Commission has appointed an interim manager to a London-based religious charity.

The Charity Commission has today announced it has appointed an interim manager to the Islamic Centre of England.

The charity has been the subject of a statutory inquiry by the regulator since November 2022. The inquiry was opened due to serious governance concerns and follows extensive engagement in recent years which includes issuing the charity with an Official Warning.

Due to the trustees’ failure to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities and their failure to protect the charity’s assets, the Commission appointed an interim manager to the charity on the 4th May 2023. Emma Moody of Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP, the appointed interim manager, will have all the powers and duties of the charity’s trustees, and is appointed to the exclusion of the current trustees. As part of the appointment, she will conduct a review of the charity’s governance and administration and make recommendations to the Commission based on her findings.

Charity Commission Chair, Orlando Fraser KC, said:

We need to act robustly where serious concerns about a charity exist, so that the public, and the charity sector itself, can have confidence in what it means to have charitable status.

The investigators leading this inquiry are assessing all information thoroughly. The appointment of an interim manager will help the Commission ensure the charity’s governance is restored and is improved to a better standard.

The Islamic Centre of England has charitable purposes which include advancing the religion of Islam and promoting education and welfare among the Muslim community.

The Commission’s inquiry remains ongoing. It is the Commission’s policy to publish a report upon concluding an inquiry to detail its findings, conclusions, and any regulatory action taken.