MPs claim the Charity Commission is “bringing legal proceedings deliberately to prevent” them accessing a parliamentary ombudsman report into the regulator’s handling of sexual abuse cases at two charities.

The concerns have been raised by Conservative MP for North Dorset and chair of the public administration and constitutional affairs committee Simon Hoare in the House of Commons.

He claims that the Charity Commission is bringing a case against the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to prevent the laying of two reports into the regulator's handling of the cases before the House of Commons.

“That completely undermines the linkage between the ombudsman and this place," Hoare told MPs.

"It undermines our opportunity and decisions to look at any information that we deem to be of importance, or that matters to us, in order to allow us to advance policy.”

Hoare’s motion to ensure the reports are laid before the House of Commons was backed by MPs.

A spokesperson for the parliamentary ombudsman has confirmed that the reports will now be put before parliament within a week.

“We are aware of the motion approved in Parliament,” they said.

“We will comply with the motion and aim to do so next week. When we do so we will, in accordance with our usual process, give more detail about the context.”

Shadow chancellor of the Ducky of Lancaster Alex Burgart is among MPs to back Hoare’s motion.

He said: “We are deeply concerned that anyone, least of all a public body, should be seeking to prevent the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration from laying reports before this House.

“We have a long-standing and absolute right to be able to gather and examine relevant information for our inquiries and our work.”

He added: “The linkage between the ombudsman and the House is well-established and long-standing, and nothing should impede it.

“Legal proceedings should not be seeking to prevent the laying of a report before this House, so we strongly support that this House should reassert its ancient right to request and require papers and evidence.”

Parliamentary secretary to the Cabinet Office Georgia Gould thanked Hoare for raising the issue, adding “the Government recognise and value the critical role that Parliament plays in scrutinising our work”.

Charity Commission denies MPs' claims

The judicial review filed in May this year by the Charity Commission is understood to relate to the jurisdiction of the charity regulator and the parliamentary ombudsman.

The ombudsman reports into the Charity Commission’s role in handling serious safeguarding concerns relating to two cases of sexual abuse at separate charities are set to focus on whether the regulator has implemented recommendations made to improve.

A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “The Commission is challenging a PHSO decision that we have failed to implement some of its recommendations in two specific cases.

“We are concerned that PHSO's approach expects us to act beyond our legal remit, at odds with Parliament's intentions, and undermines our ability to regulate independently and effectively.

"We sought to resolve these matters without the need for legal proceedings but have been forced to put these matters beyond doubt, for the benefit of both organisations in fulfilling our respective public duties. We are therefore seeking the guidance of the High Court via a public law challenge.

The spokesperson added: "We welcome proper Parliamentary scrutiny of our role and have not asked the courts to prevent PHSO from laying any report before it.

“We had previously invited PACAC to delay its consideration of any report from PHSO related to this case, pending the outcome of these legal proceedings.

“We are mindful this matter has arisen from complaints of difficult personal experiences related to charities.

“We accepted there are some genuine lessons for the Commission to learn from these two sensitive cases, and we have made improvements to the way we communicate with complainants.”

Sexual abuse cases

The complainant in one of the sexual abuse cases, who has waived her right to anonymity, Lara Hall said last year that the regulator failed to respond to her concerns about exploitation by a trustee at the charity.

In May last year the Parliamentary Ombudsman found there were failings in the way the regulator communicated with Hall and that it could not show if it had followed its own safeguarding guidance.

“I feel institutionally betrayed by the Commission,” said Hall at the time.

“It made repeated commitments to me to deregister the charity and said it would do all it could to disable the trustee from acting in the name of charity in future, but the Commission dramatically changed regulatory course.

“This left me feeling incredibly vulnerable and confused.”

The other case involved allegations of possible concealment of child sexual abuse at a charity.

The PHSO agreed earlier this year with complainant Damian Murray that the Charity Commission had failed to properly respond to the allegations.

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