The National Council for Christian Standards in Society has been issued with an official warning from the Charity Commission over its links to a connected, non-charitable lobbying organisation.

The charity has been handed the warning over a failure to follow the regulator’s advice over making clear that its charitable work is separate from politically lobbying carried out by the organisation Christian Voice.

The regulator had asked the National Council to ensure that Christian Voice does not carry out any charity work, and to evidence a clear division between its work and that of the charity.

But “the trustees did not take sufficient steps to act on this advice, which has led the regulator to now issue an official warning”.

The charity faces further regulator action if it does not comply with the regulator’s advice, which also includes ensuring the charity amends “its ambiguous purposes to ensure they are exclusively charitable”.

The National Council for Christian Standards in Society was set up almost 40 years ago “to re-establish biblical Christian teaching” in the UK.

“It’s clear this charity has not taken our previous advice on board and so we have issued an Official Warning with the expectation that changes are made at pace,” said Charity Commission assistant director for casework Tracy Howarth.

“When carrying out any activity, trustees must consider how it helps meet their charitable purposes and if they are acting within charity law. We, and the public, expect this of charities as a minimum.

“This intervention should serve as a reminder for all trustees to take any advice and guidance they receive from us seriously.

“As regulator, we issue guidance to help trustees ensure their charity is run well to deliver for beneficiaries. If we step in, we’re giving advice to help avoid further regulatory action.”

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