Watchdog launches inquiry into Plymouth charity

An inquiry has been launched into a Devon charity accused of persistently failing to submit its accounts on time.

The Charity Commission said it had opened the investigation into Plymouth Islamic Education Trust (PIETY), which aimed to provide support in the community and advance the faith of Islam across Devon and Cornwall.

The regulator said the charity had "consistently demonstrated that they are either unwilling or unable to comply with their legal duties" in regards to filing its annual documents.

PIETY said it was willing to co-operate fully with the inquiry and the charity saw it as a chance to improve its performance in the future.

The commission said the inquiry would examine the extent PIETY's trustees had complied with their legal duties on the content, preparation and filing of its accounts and annual returns.

It added the inquiry would also look into whether trustees had complied with guidance issued to them previously and also to identify if there had been any misconduct or mismanagement at the charity.

The commission said it first approached PIETY in 2014 when the charity had "repeatedly failed to comply with statutory reporting requirements".

It said before the current inquiry, PIETY had on two separate occasions been placed in its "double defaulter" inquiry for charities which failed to file their annual documents for two or more years in the previous five years.

PIETY said in 2014, it failed to file its accounts on time, but it had kept up with its legal requirements until 2020 when the Covid pandemic happened.

The charity said during the pandemic, its staffing became "disorganised" and caused it to "lag behind on two financial years".

It said the records for these years had now been submitted.

A spokesperson said: "Everything is now in place and we are willing to work closely with the Charity Commission to improve on our policies and procedures."

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