Attorney general defies call to give £400m windfall to UK charities – The Guardian

Posted May 22nd, 2018 in attorney general, charities, news by sally

‘The attorney general has applied to the high court to free up at least £400m from a fund that has effectively been frozen, in order to reduce the UK’s massive national debt.’

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The Guardian, 22nd May 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Rotherham council told to apologise to abuse whistleblower – The Guardian

‘Rotherham council has been ordered to apologise to a whistleblower who helped to expose the town’s grooming scandal after council officials raided her charity without proper explanation – years after she risked imprisonment by revealing how the council, police and social services turned a blind eye to the abuse of at least 1,400 children.’

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The Guardian, 18th April 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Ex-offenders face bleak future after reforms fail, report says – The Guardian

Posted April 17th, 2018 in charities, contracting out, news, probation, reports, volunteers by tracey

‘Ex-offenders trying to turn their lives around face a bleak future, a probation inspector has warned, as ambitious government plans to boost the role of charities and volunteers in the probation service have failed to materialise.’

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The Guardian, 17th April 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Charity watchdog to launch Oxfam inquiry – BBC News

Posted February 13th, 2018 in charities, inquiries, news, prostitution, sexual offences by sally

‘The Charity Commission is to begin an investigation into Oxfam’s handling of a sex scandal in which staff hired prostitutes in Haiti in 2011.’

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BBC News, 13th February 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ministers to investigate aid sex scandal ‘cover-up’ amid claims officials ‘brushed off’ child abuse allegations – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 12th, 2018 in charities, child abuse, government departments, news, prostitution, sexual offences by tracey

‘Ministers have launched an investigation into claims that foreign aid officials brushed off allegations of child abuse committed by aid workers.’

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Daily Telegraph, 11th February 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Cafcass launches ‘ground-breaking’ pilot scheme to crack down on parental alienation – Family Law

‘The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is running a pilot scheme to bring an end to separated parents poisoning their child against the other parent. Parents who are guilty of manipulating their child in this way may have their child taken away from them and, in the most extreme cases, they may be denied contact.’

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Family Law, 27th November 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Tax scheme negligence claims fail as time limits began to run before a tribunal decision on a similar scheme, says Court – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 13th, 2017 in charities, financial advice, HM Revenue & Customs, negligence, news, taxation, time limits by tracey

‘Negligence claims against tax advisers who had given assurances about the effectiveness of tax schemes failed because the claims were not brought within the limitation period.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 10th November 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

New research supports calls for no-fault divorce – Family Law

‘A landmark report published today by the Nuffield Foundation calls for an end to fault-based divorce law in England and Wales.’

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Family Law, 30th October 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Nuffield Foundation report calls for no-fault divorce – Law & Religion UK

Posted October 30th, 2017 in charities, divorce, legislation, news, notification, reports by sally

‘Today, the Nuffield Foundation has published a report, Finding Fault, which calls for the introduction of no-fault divorce in England and Wales: there is a summary version here.’

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Law & Religion UK, 30th October 2017

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Modern slavery referrals up 300% in UK due to improved identification – The Guardian

‘There has been a 300% increase in the number of victims of modern slavery referred for support in the past six years, and a huge increase in the number of men from Vietnam trafficked to work in illegal cannabis farms.’

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The Guardian, 16th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Teignmouth undertaker jailed for stealing donations – BBC News

Posted October 13th, 2017 in charities, guilty pleas, news, sentencing, theft by tracey

‘An undertaker has been jailed for stealing £5,000 of donations that bereaved family members and friends had intended to go to charity.’

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BBC News, 12th October 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Child Protection in Sport chief says loophole must be closed – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 11th, 2017 in charities, child abuse, Ministry of Justice, news, sexual offences, sport, young persons by tracey

‘British sport’s most senior child protection officer has condemned what she branded “a lack of will” to change the law to prevent coaches having sex with 16 and 17-year-olds under their care on the back of football’s paedophile scandal.’

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Daily Telegraph, 10th October 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Ex-NHS chief backs doctors’ warning over ID checks on patients – The Guardian

Posted October 11th, 2017 in charities, health, identification, news, pilot schemes, regulations by tracey

‘A former chief executive of the NHS is among 1,000 signatories to a letter to the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, warning of the risks posed by imposing identification checks and upfront charges for NHS care. School nurses, abortion services, community-based midwifery and mental health services, as well as specialist services for homeless people and asylum seekers, will be included in the new regime. Doctors say the rules will deter sick people from seeking life-saving treatment, and patients with infectious diseases could pass undetected.’

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The Guardian, 11th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Sex abuse victims ‘failed’ by criminal payout scheme – BBC News

‘The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is to be investigated over concerns it is failing child sex abuse victims, the Victims’ Commissioner has told 5 live Investigates.’

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BBC News, 1st October 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Charity commission and fundraising websites plan crackdown on fraudulent donation pages – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 27th, 2017 in charities, Charity Commission, fraud, internet, news by tracey

‘Charity regulators are cracking down on fundrasing scammers after concerns that fraudsters had used tragedies such as Grenfell Tower and terror attacks to dupe donors.’

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Daily Telegraph, 27th September 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Aarhus costs cap challenge succeeds – UK Human Rights Blog

‘RSPB, Friends of the Earth & Client Earth v. Secretary of State for Justice [2017] EWHC 2309 (Admin), 15 September 2017, Dove J. In my March 2017 post here, I explained that amendments to the costs rules for public law environmental claims threatened to undo much of the certainty that those rules had achieved since 2013. Between 2013 and February 2017, if you, an individual, had an environmental judicial review, then you could pretty much guarantee that your liability to the other side’s costs would be capped at £5,000 (£10,000 for companies) if you lost, and your recovery of your own costs would be limited to £35,000 if you won. In this way, the rules sought to avoid the cost of such claims becoming prohibitively expensive and thus in breach of Art.9(4) of the Aarhus Convention.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 16th September 2017

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Green groups claim ‘important victory’ in challenge to legal costs rules – The Guardian

Posted September 18th, 2017 in charities, costs, environmental protection, judgments, news, privacy by tracey

‘Conservation and environmental groups have claimed an “important victory” in their high court challenge to new legal costs rules which they say make it much harder to bring cases to protect the environment.’

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The Guardian, 15th September 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Charities need right rules to run effectively – report – Law Commission

Posted September 14th, 2017 in charities, Law Commission, press releases, reports by tracey

‘Changes to the law could help charities run more effectively, according to the Law Commission. In a new report – Technical Issues in Charity Law – published today, the Commission says that problems in charity law prevent or delay legitimate charitable activities, discourage people from volunteering, and force charities to obtain professional advice that should not be necessary.’

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Law Commission, 14th September 2017

Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk/

Charity Commission issues official warning to gurdwara – Law & Religion UK

Posted August 25th, 2017 in breach of trust, charities, Charity Commission, news, Sikhism by sally

‘The Charity Commission opened a compliance case in 2015 into Gurdwara Guru Nanak Parkash in Coventry and has now issued an official warning to the trustees under s 75A(1)(a) Charities Act 2011 on the grounds that “a breach of trust or duty or other misconduct or mismanagement has been committed by or in connection with the control and management of the charity as charity trustees”. This is only the second time the Commission has used its power to issue an official warning’

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Law & Religion UK, 24th August 2017

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

How can you be sure where ‘charity’ donations go? – BBC News

Posted August 22nd, 2017 in charities, fraud, news by sally

‘Some 800 cases of charity fraud were reported in the UK last year. But with police warning that they represent just a fraction of the number actually taking place, is enough being done to deal with the scammers?’

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BBC News, 21st August 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk