The Charity Commission has criticised three former trustees of an educational charity after the husband of the charity’s founder was given money to pay for hairdressing appointments, concerts and weekend trips away.
The regulator has published a report into its inquiry into Hope House School, which runs a small independent school near Newark, Nottinghamshire, for children with conditions including autistic spectrum disorders and dyspraxia.
The commission opened an inquiry into the charity in October 2017 after receiving an anonymous complaint that the charity’s founder, who was also one of its three trustees and acted as principal of the school, was receiving personal benefit from the charity including designer handbags and holidays to New York and Belgium.
The founder is not named in the report and instead referred to as trustee A, but the school was founded in 2003 by Terri Westmoreland and she was principal when Third Sector reported in January 2018 that the regulator had opened an inquiry into the charity.
The regulator’s latest report says the commission had secured voluntary undertakings from three former trustees of the charity not to act as trustees or senior managers at a charity for eight years.
The report says the inquiry identified payments to the husband of trustee A for repayment of a purported loan of £121,000, said to have been made by him to the charity between 2003 and 2009.
“The inquiry found very few supporting historical records to evidence that a loan had been made,” the inquiry report says.
It goes on to say: “The inquiry found that payments had been made to the husband of trustee A for expenditure including hairdressing appointments, concerts and weekend trips away incurred by trustee A.”
It says the three trustees at the time said they were satisfied that such expenditure could be paid for directly from the charity’s bank account and be offset against the repayment of the purported loan.
“The inquiry identified a number of transactions recorded as direct repayments of the purported loan to the husband of trustee A,” it says.
“The inquiry was not satisfied with the trustees’ explanations that all repayments of the purported loan could not be made directly and recorded as such.”
It also says: “The inquiry found the trustees had recorded some expenditure including hairdressing appointments and the purchase of suitcases for trustee A as being funded by the husband of trustee A.
“The trustees’ record keeping was inadequate and could not clearly explain this expenditure, raising concerns that there had been unauthorised personal benefit/misapplication of the charity’s funds.”
The inquiry concluded that there had been multiple instances of misconduct and/or mismanagement, including that trustee A was able to breach internal financial controls and make payments to her husband, and that trips to New York and Belgium, made by trustee A’s family members to accompany pupils, and the purchase of personal luxury items constituted personal benefit.
It also found that the trustees did not act to adequately address concerns identified by the education regulator Ofsted, and did not take all the appropriate steps to improve the school’s safeguarding practices and training, risk assessments or health and safety.
The charity said in a statement: “We, the new trustees, welcome the publication of the Charity Commission report, which has clarified the school’s past and actions undertaken by the previous trustees. This allows the new school leadership to move the school forward.
“We are currently investing in projects which will improve the mental health, wellbeing and learning experiences of our fantastic pupils.
“We would like to thank our staff, parents, local authority colleagues and the local community for their continued support, as we make Hope House School the very best it can be.”