The Charity Commission today moved to silence “false and misleading” claims about the ongoing closure of the Islamic Centre of England’s London headquarters.
The regulator released a statement saying the mosque could not be reopened because the charity had “problems in securing the necessary insurance”.
It added: “The commission is aware of various reports and allegations relating to the causes of the temporary closure of the charity’s premises.
“Until insurance policies are secured, it is not legal for the charity to reopen for public use. Suggestions that the temporary closure resulted from factors other than the insurance matter are entirely false and misleading.”
ICE is currently the subject of a statutory inquiry by the commission, which has appointed Emma Moody as interim manager.
The commission said Moody, from Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP, had “worked hard with the trustees” to secure the necessary insurance to reopen the mosque, a process that was “ongoing”.
It added that the insurance problems predated Moody’s appointment in May.
“The trustees were aware from April 2023 that the charity’s then-insurers had decided not to renew some of its insurance policies. They therefore decided to temporarily cease some of the charity’s activities.
“The IM was appointed on 4 May 2023. On 23 May 2023, in consultation with the IM, the trustees took the difficult decision to temporarily close the mosque.”
The regulator will publish a report setting out its findings on the conclusion of the investigation.
The regulator opened a statutory inquiry into the Islamic Centre of England last year amid serious governance concerns, then appointed Moody this May “due to the trustees’ failure to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities and their failure to protect the charity’s assets”, it said.
Moody is conducting a review of the charity’s governance and administration and will make recommendations to the commission based on her findings, the regulator said.
ICE, which has charitable purposes including advancing the religion of Islam and promoting education and welfare among the Muslim community, runs an Islamic centre in Maida Vale, north-west London. It had an income of £486,000 in 2021.
In March, the charity was labelled a “vile threat” by Tom Tugendhat, the security minister.
The commission said last year its decision to open an inquiry followed “extensive engagement with the charity over recent years”.
That included an official warning after two events held at the charity’s premises in 2020 that honoured Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was subject to UK sanctions.
A follow-up case in 2021 concluded that the charity was only partially compliant with the actions in the official warning and identified further regulatory concerns.
These included the content of the charity’s website and the trustees’ management of conflicts of interest, leading to an action plan from the commission.
The regulator said in October it was assessing a speech made by Seyed Moosavi, one of the charity’s trustees, in which he described protesters in Iran as “soldiers of Satan”.