Save the Children to be investigated over handling of misconduct allegations
The Charity Commission will look at how Save the Children handled allegations of misconduct against two employees.
Wednesday 11 April 2018 09:01, UK
Save the Children is to face questions over how it handed allegations of misconduct made against its former chief executive.
The Charity Commission has announced an investigation into three complaints of misconduct against Justin Forsyth, the former CEO, and Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox.
The regulator will look at how Save the Children dealt with the allegations and will find out if they were fully disclosed.
The commission says it is concerned with whether Save the Children adequately reported the full extent and nature of the allegations, made between 2012 and 2015, by the end of 2016, when it demanded to see an independent review which trustees said was acted upon.
Michelle Russell, director of investigations and enforcement at the Charity Commission, said: "This inquiry centres specifically on how the charity handled complaints in 2012 and 2015 about senior members of staff, and how the charity responded to and managed public and media scrutiny of those events in 2018.
"We have questions that must be answered, and we need to hold the charity formally accountable for providing them in a clear and timely manner.
"Opening a formal investigation does not necessarily mean that we have concluded that there has been wrongdoing by the trustees of The Save the Children Fund.
"However, we do have questions that must be answered, and we need to hold the charity formally accountable for providing them in a clear and timely manner."
It emerged earlier this year that Save the Children had 31 allegations of sexual misconduct between April 2016 and March 2017, 10 of which were referred to police.
A leaked report from 2015 suggested the charity's chairman Sir Alan Parker's "very close" relationship with Mr Forsyth may have affected how allegations were handled.
Mr Forsyth left the charity in 2016, having previously apologised unreservedly to the three women who made complaints.
He quit as UNICEFf's deputy executive director this year when the allegations resurfaced after the Oxfam scandal.
Mr Cox, who was Save the Children's chief strategist, admitted he had "made mistakes" which caused some women "hurt and offence". He had quit in 2015 amid the allegations, but denied it was why he left.
He also quit two charities he set up in memory of his wife when the allegations were published earlier this year.
A report will be published by the commission after the inquiry is completed.