A lack of appropriate governance structures and properly defined roles allowed the former chief executive of the refugee charity Care4Calais to dominate the organisation without challenge, the Charity Commission has reported today.
In the findings of its statutory inquiry, which concluded today, the regulator criticised the former trustees of the charity for serious historic misconduct and mismanagement.
The Charity Commission opened the inquiry into the volunteer-run charity in August 2020 because of issues that included a lack of clarity about who had been validly appointed as a trustee and how decisions were made.
Care4Calais, which supports refugees in the UK, France and Belgium, was founded by Clare Moseley in 2015. Moseley served as both a trustee and the organisation’s chief executive until May this year.
In a statement today, the commission said the charity lacked appropriate governance structures, had poor internal financial controls and that its approach to handling complaints was inadequate.
It found that for extended periods the organisation only had two trustees, and there was a question of conflicting interests because those trustees were siblings.
Care4Calais’ governance structures were also found to be lacking as “the charity placed an unhealthy reliance” on Moseley as the chief executive, which led to her “dominating the charity and going unchallenged for some time”.
The two trustees’ sibling relationship resulted in a lack of accountability for the chief executive to the trustee board, and the inquiry found little evidence that any past conflicts of interest or loyalty had been appropriately managed.
In addition, the regulator said that Care4Calais “failed to demonstrate that complaints were handled in an impartial, fair, open and transparent way and failed to maintain records of investigations.
“On at least one occasion, and in breach of the charity’s own policy, one trustee handled a complaint about another trustee to whom they were related, failing to identify or manage the conflict of interest and/or loyalty which arose.”
The commission also noted inappropriate financial controls at Care4Calais. Analysis of the charity’s bank statements found that between October 2017 and August 2020, payments amounting to £340,092.47 were made to Moseley’s personal bank account.
When asked about these payments Moseley said she had made transactions on behalf of the charity through her personal account and was later reimbursed, claiming it saved the charity about £3,000 a year in foreign exchange fees.
The inquiry found that these payments were not misapplied or misappropriated, but that there should have been independent oversight or checks on the reimbursements.
The Commission appointed additional trustees and an interim manager to Care4Calais in March 2022. It said the charity’s overall management and governance improved significantly over the course of the inquiry as a result of efforts made by the current trustees, including those appointed during the inquiry.
To ensure a more balanced distribution of decision-making power, the charity recruited Steve Smith, the former head of the charities International Refugee Trust and Action on Armed Violence, as chief executive.
Moseley stepped down from Care4Calais in May this year after a series of complaints were made about her behaviour. These related to incidents that included Moseley threatening to drag a volunteer out of a room by her hair and illegally carrying and using pepper spray in Belgium.
Steve Smith, chief executive of Care4Calais, told Third Sector he welcomed the conclusion of the inquiry.
He said: “The Charity Commission inquiry provided us with an invaluable opportunity to critically assess our practices, identify areas for improvement and overhaul our governance.
“We now have an entirely new board of trustees, who all acknowledge that the growth in our humanitarian work since 2015 vastly outpaced the development of the charity’s governance structures.
“As a charity dedicated to helping those in need, our new trustees have taken the criticisms of previous governance shortcomings seriously and are dedicated to learning from the past, embracing change and making Care4Calais a symbol of hope and compassion.
“We welcome the conclusion of the inquiry and the opportunity that brings to mould this important charity into a new and forward-looking organisation that puts refugees front and centre of our work.”
Orlando Fraser, chair of the Charity Commission, said: “Our inquiry found that, over a significant period of time, and following a rapid expansion of its operations, Care4Calais was not managed well. Its funds were put at risk, and there was serious misconduct and/or mismanagement by the former trustees.”
But he said the charity is now “in a much better position to deliver on its purposes”.
Fraser said he was “very aware” that the charity’s work had “generated attention and controversy”, but insisted the regulator would “not be influenced by political debates, nor should we stop charities from furthering their purposes in line with the law set down by Parliament”.
Moseley told the Press Association: “I am proud to have worked many long hours as an unpaid volunteer to grow Care4Calais from a grass-roots project to a charity that now has a £2m turnover and over £1m in assets.”