Category: Gov Press Releases

The Charity Commission has today confirmed that it has opened a statutory inquiry into the Lantern of Knowledge Educational Trust (1111331). The inquiry was opened on 17 February 2018.

The Commission’s inquiry is examining the charity’s general administration, governance and management by the trustees, including the management and supervision of staff at the school with access to children or young people. It will also examine the charity’s policies and procedures, including those relating to safeguarding.

In a report into the school published by Ofsted in January 2018, the inspectorate concludes that “governors have not held school leaders to account for the decline in standards”, and “have too readily accepted information from school leaders without insisting that it is rigorously analysed”.

The opening of the inquiry follows engagement with the trustees and a compliance visit to the school’s premises in November 2017.

The Commission has exercised its powers, under sections 47 and 52 of the Charities Act 2011, to compel the provision of information and records.

It is the Commission’s intention, in accordance with its policy, to publish a report after it has concluded the inquiries, detailing what issues the inquiries looked at, what actions were undertaken and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.

If there has been misconduct or mismanagement in a charity or the charity’s beneficiaries, staff, property or assets are at risk, the Commission will take robust action to both protect these and deal with the failings either of its own motion and/or in collaboration with other agencies.

The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool.

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Notes to editors

1. Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online register.
3. The Commission’s role is as charity regulator to oversee charity trustees’ compliance with charity law duties and responsibilities.
4. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.
5. The Commission does not investigate matters relating to education standards in schools; this is a matter for the DfE, Ofsted and/or other authorities.

The Charity Commission has today confirmed that a statutory inquiry into the Essex Islamic Academy (also known as Ripple Road Mosque) (1131755) is underway, having started in October 2017. The announcement, which confirms the Commission has been in regulatory engagement with the charity since 2017, follows the conclusion of the criminal trial today of Umar Ahmed Haque, a former religious teacher at the charity.

The Commission did not previously make the opening of the inquiry or its prior regulatory engagement with the charity public to avoid prejudicing the police investigation and subsequent criminal trial.

At the start of the trial, Mr Haque pleaded guilty to disseminating terrorist material to children at the Essex Islamic Academy. Following a 6 week trial at the London Central Criminal Court, Mr Haque has today been convicted of further offences, including the preparation of terrorist acts also relating to the Essex Islamic Academy.

Now the criminal proceedings are over, the regulator will resume its investigation in full. Once the Commission has completed its investigatory enquiries, it will deal with any failings or evidence of misconduct or mismanagement by taking appropriate regulatory action.

As part of the inquiry into the Essex Islamic Academy, the Commission will consider how Mr Haque was able to attempt to radicalise children, and what the trustees and others at the charity knew about this. The regulator will examine the level of supervision, due diligence and oversight the charity had over Mr Haque, and its adherence to safeguarding policies and procedures.

The Commission has liaised closely with multiple agencies including the police, educational regulators and the local authority on this matter since information was shared with the regulator by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command about Mr Haque in 2017.

Michelle Russell, Director of Investigations, Monitoring, and Enforcement at the Charity Commission said:

The crimes that Mr Haque has been convicted of today are horrendous, and are likely to have a devastating effect on many of the young people exposed to this harm.

This is one of the worst cases we have seen with children, as young as 11, being exposed to harm through attempted radicalisation and terrorist material by this man. The welfare of these children is of utmost importance to all agencies involved. Mr Haque’s abhorrent actions don’t just affect these children, but their families and the community as a whole. It is important that those affected have the appropriate support made available to them, and the Commission will continue to do all it can to support the statutory agencies to ensure that this is the case.

The vast majority of mosques and supplementary schools including madrassahs do good work and are an important resource in local communities. What happened clearly damages the trust and confidence the children’s parents had in the charity he was employed at, as well as wider public confidence. We and the public expect charities, particularly those working with children and young people, to be safe places, free from abuse or harm. This was not the case here, where Mr Haque grossly abused the trust placed in him because of his position and teaching role.

Today’s conviction will reassure the public that such abuse is not tolerated, and that those responsible will be held accountable for their actions. We will continue to work closely with the police and other authorities to tackle the threat terrorism and extremism poses to charities, their beneficiaries and their work.

Essex Islamic Academy

The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the Essex Islamic Academy on 2 October 2017 to investigate serious regulatory concerns relating to Mr Haque’s time at the charity and the charity’s safeguarding practices. The inquiry is examining the administration, governance and management of the charity, including the management and supervision of staff with access to children or young people and the charity’s adherence to its policies and procedures including its Child Protection Policies. The inquiry is also examining the charity’s financial controls. The regulator’s engagement with the Essex Islamic Academy prior to opening the inquiry included corresponding with the trustees and conducting a compliance visit to the charity’s premises in September 2017.

In January 2018, as part of the inquiry, the Commission exercised its temporary and protective powers and issued an order under section 84A of the Charities Act 2011 to direct the trustees of the Essex Islamic Academy not to provide educational classes or any recreational activities which involved regulated activity with those under the age of 18. This restriction and order will apply until the trustees are able to demonstrate that they have complied with a number of urgent actions required by the regulator.

The trustees gave assurances that they had voluntarily stopped regulated activity at the charity. However, given the seriousness of what happened, the regulator exercised its powers and issue an order in any event especially in light of its role to act in the public interest and the need to protect the charity’s beneficiaries.

Further information

The Commission has also exercised its powers, under sections 47 and 52 of the Charities Act 2011, to compel the provision of information and records relating to Mr Haque, and the general governance of the charity more generally.

No complaints were previously raised with the Commission regarding Mr Haque or his roles or employment at any charity.

The Commission is not a prosecuting authority. The investigation of criminal offences is a matter for the police and/or other authorities.

The lead on protecting children at risk are Children’s Services and law enforcement agencies. The Commission is encouraging anyone who may be affected by this case to contact Children’s Services for further advice on 020 8227 3811 in Barking and Dagenham. Social services, supported by the police, are delivering a comprehensive and long-term safeguarding plan to protect and support them.

It is the Commission’s intention, in accordance with its policy, to publish a report after it has concluded the inquiry, detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken and what the outcome was. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.

If there has been misconduct or mismanagement in a charity or the charity’s beneficiaries, staff, property or assets are at risk, the Commission will take robust action to both protect these and deal with the failings either of its own motion and/or in collaboration with other agencies.

The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool: Essex Islamic Academy.

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Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online register.
3. The Commission’s role is as charity regulator to oversee charity trustees’ compliance with charity law duties and responsibilities. Regulation of the standards of education in supplementary schools is not within the Commission’s legal remit. In 2015, the Department for Education ran a consultation on registration and inspection of out-of-school educational settings providing intensive tuition, training or instruction to children outside of school.
4. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.
5. Mr Haque was employed at the Essex Islamic Academy from 2014 to the date of his arrest (May 2017).
6. The Commission issued the order under section 84A of the Charites Act 2011 on 19 January 2018.
7. Regulated activity is work which involves close and unsupervised contact with vulnerable groups including children. The full legal definition of regulated activity is set out in Schedule 4 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 as amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

Paul Newby and Fiona Dickie have today published statutory advice to provide clarity on the terms of Market Rent Only (MRO) tenancies following recent arbitration awards.

The PCA and Deputy PCA have reiterated the important point that a MRO proposal does not have to be by way of a new agreement. The advice stresses that it is the content rather than the form that is important.

Whatever the form of the individual MRO proposal, the terms have to be reasonable and consistent with the core principles of the Pubs Code; that there should be fair and lawful dealing and tied pub tenants should be no worse off than they would be if they remained tied.

“MRO is not the same as a negotiation on the open market and the pub-owning business should not take advantage of the fact that a tied pub tenant has limited negotiating power.

“The PCA will be likely to find it unreasonable for the pub-owning business to offer unattractive MRO tenancy terms if the intention is to persuade the tenant to stay tied,” the advice states.

The PCA expects pub-owning businesses to have meaningful negotiations with their tenants seeking a MRO tenancy. Tenants should not need to rely on arbitration by the PCA to get their Code MRO rights. Referrals for arbitration should be the exception and not the norm in the future.

Paul Newby, Pubs Code Adjudicator, said: “I understand that both sides of the industry have been looking for clarity on this issue and I am very pleased that following arbitration awards made by the Deputy PCA and myself we can now provide this statutory advice.

“The ability for a tied tenant to go free of tie is an important right introduced by the Pubs Code. Tenants have been facing high costs in pursuing MRO and we need to ensure these unnecessary barriers are eliminated.

“This advice gives a strong yet simple steer on what pub-owning businesses can reasonably ask from their tenants in a MRO-compliant tenancy and is a major step forward in delivering the MRO rights that Parliament has given tenants. I expect it to lead to meaningful negotiations that mean arbitration becomes the exception in the future.”

Fiona Dickie, Deputy Pubs Code Adjudicator, said: “The Code is legally complex and uncertainty surrounding the meaning of the MRO process has caused frustration. This advice will be a useful tool in clarifying for the benefit of all what the Code requires and how its two core principles should be applied in practice to the MRO proposal.

“It is designed to support effective, balanced negotiation between tenants and pub-owning businesses, and reduce the number of cases that are referred for arbitration. I am confident that the arbitration process will now more efficiently and proportionately resolve any remaining MRO disputes where the parties cannot reach an agreement.”

Note to editors
The full statutory advice is available on the PCA website www.gov.uk/pca

FCO Minister Mark Field will meet Angel Gurria, Secretary General of OECD on Monday (5 March) for discussions on their work on the Asia region.

Mr Field will also meet representatives today (2 March) from the French Government for talks on UK-French cooperation on the current challenges in the Asia region, including Burma and North Korea, and will attend a meeting at the British Embassy with Ambassadors and representatives from ASEAN countries. Minister Field will also discuss international energy priorities with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol.

Speaking ahead of the visit to Paris, Minister for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field said;

I look forward to productive meetings in Paris, including with Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, to explore how their work can support UK priorities in the Asia region. The UK is already a strong supporters of the OECD’s South East Asia Regional Programme and my visit will be an opportunity to strengthen our work further.

I am also looking forward to discussing important issues across the Asia region with my French counterparts. There is increasing convergence with our French colleagues on many of these issues and we deeply value the work we do together.

Further information

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CPL and Fuel Express are 2 of the main suppliers of bagged household fuels, including coal and firelogs, and charcoal for barbecues, to large national supermarkets and petrol stations.

They have agreed to pay the fines for breaking competition law after a CMA investigation led them to admit rigging competitive tenders to supply Tesco and Sainsbury’s. For each of the tenders concerned, they agreed that one of them would submit a higher bid that was designed to lose – so that the existing supplier could retain ‘its’ customer. This is a form of bid-rigging under which competitors share out the market between them. They also exchanged competitively-sensitive confidential pricing information.

The CMA’s investigation started after intelligence work following a tip off to the CMA’s cartels hotline led the authority to carry out surprise inspections at the premises of the 2 suppliers.

The investigation revealed that the companies had engaged in this illegal market sharing arrangement from June 2010 to February 2011.

Stephen Blake, CMA Senior Director for Cartels, said:

Millions of people buy these products to help keep their homes warm in winter and to fire up their barbecues in summer, so it’s important that shoppers are offered the best price. This will only happen when companies compete fairly.

Market sharing and bid rigging are illegal. They skew the market so businesses don’t have to compete for customers, who in turn are cheated out of a fair deal and can end up paying higher prices or having to make do with poorer quality products or services.

Today’s announcement shows how seriously we take this type of activity. It’s important that all businesses play by the rules and the CMA will pursue those who break the law.

The CMA has a dedicated reporting hotline for cartels (0203 738 6888) and recently launched a new campaign to encourage more people to come forward with information that will help it stamp out illegal cartel activity.

Notes to Editor

1. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law.
2. CPL (CPL Distribution Limited and CPL Industries Holdings Limited together ‘CPL’) has agreed to pay a penalty of £2,816,514.
3. Fuel Express Limited, Fuel Express (Bagnalls) Limited (previously known as Bagnalls Haulage Limited), Carbo (UK) Limited and G.N. Grosvenor Limited (together ‘Fuel Express’) will pay a penalty of £627,867.
4. These penalty figures are after a 20% reduction for settlement to reflect the fact that the companies have admitted breaking competition law and have agreed to follow a streamlined procedure for the remainder of the case.
5. The penalties will not become payable until after the CMA has issued a formal infringement decision imposing the penalties and setting out the CMA’s findings in full, together with the basis for the calculation of the penalties. The CMA is today issuing a formal statement of objections with a view to issuing a final decision shortly afterwards.
6. Enquiries should be directed to the CMA press team at press@cma.gsi.gov.uk or 020 3738 6191.

The Foreign Secretary will meet Mr Szijjártó to discuss the close relationship between the UK and Hungary and shared foreign policy challenge.

On arrival, the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

The UK and Hungary are close allies and friends. As we leave the EU, we will increase our trade, work even more closely together on European security, and increase links between our two peoples.

Foreign Minister Szijjártó and I will discuss how we can strengthen our existing friendship as we leave the European Union, and the many shared interests in our strong and modern alliance.

All the latest news is available on the Foreign Office page of the gov.uk website at www.gov.uk/fco.

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Theresa May and Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns welcomed people from all parts of the UK including figures from Welsh business, politics, sport, charities and the media.

Guests included Welsh Red Arrows Pilot Flight Lieutenant Mike Bowden; Welsh TV personality Matt Johnson; former Welsh rugby international Richard Parks; Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson; and London marathon runner Matthew Rees, who was made famous last year when he helped a struggling runner get across the finish line.

A number of Welsh companies attended to showcase their produce, including Penderyn Distillery, who produce award-winning single malt whiskies and spirits in Brecon Beacons, South Wales; Cwm Farm Charcuterie, who were awarded first place at the Great British Farm Produce Awards and a gold star from the Great Taste Awards for their laverbread sausage; and Ridiculously Rich By Alana – a company created by winner of BBC One’s The Apprentice, Alana, who started to sell her luxury chocolate to friends and family before attracting the interest of shops in Aberystwyth.

The Culinary Association of Wales also served up a selection of Welsh canapés, and a Welsh choir from Côr y Boro and harpist Rhys Wardhaugh played traditional Welsh tunes.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

It is always a privilege to celebrate Wales’ national day alongside Welsh people from every walk of life and every part of the country.

Many of the companies who were represented here today are exporting across Europe and around the globe – showing just how much Wales has to offer at home and to the world.

From sport, business, to entertainment and music, the Welsh make their indelible mark in every possible sphere of society.
Thank you to everyone who came here today, despite the bad weather, to celebrate the very best of Welsh life and for Wales making the UK the country it is. The nations of the UK each have their own unique characters, cultures and needs – but when we come together as one, we are all the better for it.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

Today was an extremely important day for the whole of Wales. Despite the snow, it was wonderful to see so many people from all walks of Welsh life coming together to celebrate, underline and show our respect to our Welsh language, history and culture.

I’d like to thank the Prime Minister for the special emphasis and respect she shows to all four nations of our precious Union, as well as all the guests who made it to Number 10 even with the adverse conditions today.

Alana Spencer, of Ridiculously Rich by Alana, said:

It was a real honour to come to Downing Street today, and the day was made even more special by the fact that it is to celebrate Welsh food on St David’s day. I feel proud to be a food producer based in Wales and it’s lovely to be recognised alongside other incredible food producers from Wales.

Stephen Davies, of Penderyn Distillery, said:

We were thrilled to showcase Penderyn Single Malt at Downing Street on St David’s Day, which is the anniversary of the launch of our Penderyn brand back in 2004. As we are currently targeting a range of new export markets, events like this help give focus to our business and brand in the eyes of our export partners.

Ruth Davies, of Cwm Farm Charcuterie, said:

It was an absolute honour and privilege to be here today and to meet the Prime Minister, and I met some wonderful people who tried our produce. To be given this opportunity as a small producer was just what we needed!

Upon arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Minster of State Mark Field said:

We are obviously very interested in playing our part today in the Venezuelan situation which is a dreadful humanitarian, political and diplomatic situation. We are obviously very keen to be supporting the Spanish who are leading on this and we need to move towards a united front to ensure there is a fully participatory, free and fair election in Venezuela.

We are going to talk about the Middle East Peace Plan… I hope that we are going to have an agreement that we need to move ahead and ensure that there is a two-state solution but also above all that America has to be part and parcel of this process.

We are also going to talk a little bit about Moldova. Many of you know obviously in Moldova there is a programme of economic and political reform being supported by all elements of the European Union.

Minister Mark Field at the FAC

Further information

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A Downing Street spokesperson said:

Prime Minister Theresa May today held a positive and constructive meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk in Downing Street.

The two leaders discussed the significant progress that has been made in the Brexit negotiations so far, and looked forward to the European Council in March.

The PM said good progress had been made in reaching agreement on an implementation period and that further discussions would take place between UK and EU officials next week.

The PM was clear that the UK is fully committed to turning the Joint Report agreed in December into legal text as soon as possible. In particular the government remains steadfast in its commitment to avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

However, the PM said that the draft text put forward by the European Commission yesterday was unacceptable to the UK as it would, if implemented, undermine the UK common market and constitutional integrity of the UK. The PM reiterated that both she and the Taoiseach have said that their priority is to resolve the border question through the overall relationship between the UK and the EU.

The Prime Minister briefed the President on the speech she will deliver tomorrow on the ambitious economic partnership that she hopes to agree with the European Union. This will sit alongside the deep security partnership that she argued for in her Munich speech last month.

The PM said that she hoped that European leaders would engage with this thinking constructively.

Two Sheffield men who seriously assaulted and imprisoned a vulnerable victim have had their sentences increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, appealed them for being too low.

Matthew Ward, aged 22 at the time and Marcus Cullumbine, then aged 20, befriended the 40-year-old vulnerable victim first and took increasing advantage of him. In 2017 they moved in with him, and gradually asserted their control. One of the offences involved Ward punching the victim in the face after alleging he owed him money for disposing of a box of latex gloves. In a later incident, the victim was kept in a cupboard for five hours while Ward’s friends visited the home. The victim feared being assaulted again if he didn’t comply by staying in the cupboard.

The most serious of the attacks on the victim started when he was locked in the cupboard again – this time the offenders put bolts on the outside of the cupboard to stop him getting out. He was later punched in the face, kicked in the head, attacked with a Stanley knife and burnt with various weapons. The victim was then locked in the cupboard overnight. He managed to escape the next day after claiming he had to collect a prescription and not doing so would raise suspicions. The offenders let him leave to go to the chemist but threated to hurt his brother if he reported the attacks. The chemist called the emergency services who found that the victim had serious wounds including broken ribs and extensive burns.

Ward was originally sentenced to 16 years, Cullumbine to 11 years. Today, after the Solicitor General’s action, the Court of Appeal increased Ward’s sentence to 19 years, and Cullumbine’s to 13 and a half years.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General said:

I am pleased that the Court of Appeal has increased the sentences today. The offenders exploited the victim’s vulnerability and subjected him to a series of brutal assaults while imprisoning him in his own home. I hope that their sentences send a clear message to anyone despicable enough to consider abusing a vulnerable member of their community – you will not escape justice.