Pulse.Assent

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into The Dorset Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder Support Group (1067658). The inquiry was opened on 13 August 2018.

The charity’s objects include offering help, advice and support to parents and carers of children with AD/HD, to promote and raise the awareness of AD/HD among professionals and the community.

In September 2016, the charity was included in the Commission’s class statutory inquiry, which looked into charities that had defaulted on their annual reporting obligations two or more times in the last five years. The charity filed its outstanding financial information and was removed from the class statutory inquiry on 15 January 2018. The fact that the charity has yet again failed to meet its statutory requirement to file its financial accounting documents on time is a serious regulatory concern to the Commission and evidence of misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of charity.

As a result of the charity’s repeated failure to adhere to its statutory duty to file accounting information, the inquiry will look at:

• the extent to which the trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect of their administration, governance and management of the charity, and in particular;
  • the extent to which a properly appointed board of trustees is exercising proper and adequate oversight over the charity’s affairs,
  • financial management including the charity’s financial controls,
  • compliance with legal obligations for the preparation and filing of the charity’s accounts and other information or returns.
• the extent to which the trustees have complied with previously issued regulatory guidance.

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

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Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work see the about us page on GOV.UK.
2. Search for charities on our check charity tool.
3. 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.

• Smart Data Review launched as research published today suggests customers who stay loyal to essential service providers are losing out on £4 billion a year
• the review will look at how we can use technology such as comparison tools and open banking to ensure markets work for consumers, as part of our modern Industrial Strategy

Consumer Minister Kelly Tolhurst has today (Friday 28 September) published details of a new review which will make it easier for consumers to get good deals on essential services like broadband and banking, and put an end to consumers paying unjustifiable ‘loyalty penalties’.

The Smart Data Review will look at speeding up the development of innovative new services such as automatic switching apps to make bills cheaper.

Government wants to ensure that all consumers can benefit from these types of innovative new services, not just those who are digitally savvy and regularly look to switch providers.

The Review will report to the newly established Consumer Forum, chaired by Consumer Minister Kelly Tolhurst, which brings together ministers and CEOs of sector regulators. The government will consult with stakeholders including developers, regulated companies, consumer organisations and charities throughout the review.

Consumer Minister Kelly Tolhurst said:

Britain has long been a world leader in ensuring that markets work in the interests of consumers, but many loyal customers are still paying more than they need to.

The Smart Data Review will enable the development of new technologies to make it easier to access the best deals, and follows tough action we have taken in the energy market through our price cap which will protect over 11 million households from poor value default tariffs this winter.

It is our modern Industrial Strategy in action, ensuring markets provide consumers with keen prices and quality products and services through cutting-edge innovation.

The government’s Modernising Consumer Markets Green Paper highlighted the challenges that consumers face in regulated markets such as financial services, energy and telecoms. For example, consumers can struggle to stay on top of their essential service contracts and find it difficult to identify the best deal, and those that do not switch sometimes pay considerably more.

Today Citizens Advice revealed that customers who stay loyal to their providers are losing out on over £4 billion a year. The Competition and Markets Authority, the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority, is investigating the concerns raised by Citizens Advice.

Citizens Advice research shows the loyalty penalty is disproportionately paid by vulnerable consumers, such as older people and people with mental health issues. These groups are particularly likely to struggle with switching.

In addition to the Smart Data Review, the government is working with regulators to ensure vulnerable consumers are protected by identifying and sharing best practice policies and approaches to vulnerable consumers from across all sectors of the economy.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will now investigate concerns raised that people who stay with their provider – often on default or roll over contracts – can end up paying significantly more than new customers. Citizens Advice refers to this as a ‘loyalty penalty’.

The super-complaint identifies five ‘essential’ markets where Citizens Advice has concerns about such penalties:

• savings accounts
• mortgages
• household insurance
• mobile
• broadband

Citizens Advice has also asked the CMA to focus on vulnerable customers, who it fears can be hardest hit.

The CMA will now consider the concerns raised, and what should be done about them. This will include engagement with relevant regulators such as the FCA and Ofcom.

It will publish a response within 90 days and possible outcomes include:

• making recommendations to government to change legislation
• action by sectoral regulators
• taking competition or consumer enforcement action
• launching a market investigation or market study
• deciding there is no action required

This list is not exhaustive and there could be more than one outcome depending on the results of the investigation.

Daniel Gordon, Senior Director at the CMA said:

We will now carefully consider the concerns raised by Citizens Advice, and any further evidence on this issue. Our response will set out the CMA’s views on this important issue and any next steps we think are needed to make sure businesses don’t take unfair advantage of their long-standing customers.

The CMA is inviting interested parties to provide any evidence which may be useful to its assessment.

Find out more on the loyalty penalty super-complaint page.

Notes for editors

1. The Enterprise Act 2002 (the Act) makes provision for designated consumer bodies to make super-complaints. A super-complaint, as defined by section 11(1) of the Act, is a complaint submitted by a designated consumer body that ‘any feature, or combination of features, of a market in the United Kingdom for goods or services is or appears to be significantly harming the interests of consumers’. Citizens Advice is a designated consumer body. Within 90 days after the day on which a super-complaint is received, the CMA must say publicly how it proposes to deal with it.
2. In its super-complaint Citizens Advice defines vulnerable consumers as those on low incomes, older people, people with health problems and those with lower levels of formal education.
3. Enquiries should be directed to the CMA’s press team: press@cma.gov.uk, or 020 3738 6460.