PRESS RELEASE : Regulator launches inquiry into disability charity the Organisation of Blind Africans and Caribbeans [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 20 January 2023.

The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into the Organisation of Blind Africans and Caribbeans to examine potential serious wrongdoing by an individual involved in the control of the charity. These regulatory concerns have been exacerbated by significant difficulties in obtaining information from the trustees.

The charity was initially registered with the Commission in 1994, and re-registered in 2011 after incorporating as a charitable company. The charity provides services, education and training to people who are blind or partially sighted in the UK, Africa and the Caribbean.

Since July 2021 the Commission has attempted to engage with the charity to explore concerns around potential wrongdoing and/or abuse by a senior employee. It has repeatedly met with difficulties in obtaining information and cooperation from the trustees and multiple instances of non-compliance, including with an Order issued under section 52 of the Charities Act.

The underlying concerns about this individual’s continued involvement in the charity and the trustees’ ongoing failures to properly engage with the regulator have resulted in the Commission’s decision to open a statutory inquiry.

The inquiry was opened on 15 December 2022 and will examine:

• The administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees.
• Whether the trustees have complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law; in particular whether they exercise sufficient oversight over the charity’s activities and executive leadership.
• Whether there has been any misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees.

The Commission may extend the scope of the inquiry if additional regulatory issues emerge.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing issues the examined, the action undertaken, and the inquiry’s outcomes.