Reporting of serious safeguarding incidents by charities continues to increase, according to the Charity Commission. The regulator has published an update on the work of its interim safeguarding taskforce, and has confirmed that it received 620 safeguarding related reports in April and May 2018, compared to 196 during the same period in 2017.

In total, since February, the Commission has received and been responding to 1,152 reports of serious incidents (RSIs) about safeguarding (to end May 2018).

The Commission established a temporary safeguarding taskforce in February, which has been managing and handling increased serious incident reports, and undertaking a review of historic serious incident and whistleblowing reports on safeguarding issues.

New reports of serious safeguarding incidents

• 1,152 reports of serious safeguarding incidents received between February 2018 and May 2018, compared to 1,210 during the whole of 2016-17, and 1,580 during 2017-28
• 734 new cases have been opened relating to safeguarding concerns

As set out in previous updates, the reports cover a wide spectrum; some relate to risks of harm that a charity has identified, rather than to incidents of harm – for example internal audits showing that safeguarding procedures were not followed in certain situations.

The Commission has previously raised concerns about under-reporting of serious incidents by charities.

Among the reports are those from some of the 179 charities to which the Secretary of State for International Development wrote in February to seek reassurances that all appropriate incidents had been reported to the Commission. Of the 179 charities DFID issued the assurance request letter to, 34 charities have submitted incident reports to the Commission. In total, these 34 charities have reported 298 incidents. Of these, 218 related to historic incidents.

The Commission has also opened 734 cases relating to safeguarding concerns raised in serious incident reports from charities, or complaints and whistleblowing reports. These have been prioritised according to risk.

Review of historic reports of serious safeguarding incidents

• 5,501 incidents received between 1 April 2014 and 20 February 2018 were selected for review
• 5,238 incidents (95%) have now been analysed

The taskforce has been undertaking a ‘deep dive’ of its records of serious incident reports on safeguarding matters to identify any gaps in full and frank disclosure by charities, and to establish whether appropriate follow-up actions were taken by charities, including whether incidents were reported to other primary regulators or agencies. This has required the team to analyse a total of 5,501 serious incidents reported to the Commission between 1 April 2014 and 20 February 2018. 5,238 or 95% of the relevant records reports have now been analysed. Analysis so far has not identified any cases where the Commission has serious and urgent concerns that require it to take immediate action, or where it has had to engage with the authorities about any ongoing risk or unreported criminality.

Of these incidents, 3,000 involved allegations of potential criminal behaviour; the Commission’s analysis has identified that in only one of those incidents was it unclear from its records whether it was reported to the authorities at the time. The Commission has now followed this up and verified that this incident was reported appropriately.

Once the work of the taskforce has concluded, the Commission will publish a report setting out the key findings and lessons for charities.

Ends

Notes to editors

1. Of the 179 charities to which the Secretary of State for International Development wrote in February, 158 are registered with the Commission, the remainder are registered with Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) or are exempt charities

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has today (2 July 2018) announced that Magnox Ltd will become a subsidiary of the NDA from 1 September 2019.

The NDA’s Chief Executive, David Peattie, said:

This decision marks a new approach to managing the 12 Magnox sites but is consistent with a similar change we made at Sellafield in 2016, where the simplified approach is resulting in more efficient decommissioning progress.

The decision follows the announcement, made in March 2017, of the NDA’s intention to terminate its contract with Cavendish Fluor Partnership to decommission the Magnox sites.

In line with a recent change to the way Sellafield (the NDA’s largest and most complex site) is managed, expertise from the private sector will be engaged through multiple smaller contracts, rather than through a single large Parent Body Organisation (PBO).

Mr Peattie added:

Cavendish Fluor Partnership will continue to manage Magnox Ltd until September 2019 and I would like to thank them for their continued commitment in delivering the Magnox decommissioning programme. We will continue to work together to ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements.

Magnox Ltd is responsible for operations at the sites of 10 former Magnox nuclear power stations, 2 nuclear research sites and 1 hydroelectric plant in the UK.

The new arrangements were approved by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The UK has joined forces with Canada, the Netherlands, the United States and Australia to launch the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) – a new alliance dedicated to tackling international tax crime and money laundering.

The group will build on existing international cooperation by sharing intelligence and expertise, and will work together on joint operations to crack down on those who make a living out of enabling tax crime.

At their first meeting, the J5 brought together leading experts in tax and other financial crimes from each of the 5 member countries. Together they developed tactical plans and identified opportunities to pursue cyber criminals and enablers of international tax crime.

The new alliance will help HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) build on work that has secured more than £2.8 billion from offshore tax evaders since 2010. That money has been used to fund our vital public services like the NHS.

Simon York, Director HMRC Fraud Investigation Service, said:

Tax crime and money laundering are becoming increasingly global and sophisticated, so it’s crucial we continue to work with international partners to tackle these threats.

The formation of the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) shows our commitment to leading that fight.

Working together, we are broadening the horizon of tax crime enforcement, making the world smaller for those seeking to exploit our systems and ensuring no one is beyond our reach.

This J5 has formed in response to a call to action from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for countries to do more to tackle the enablers of tax crime. All 5 countries face similar threats – organised crime groups and wealthy offshore tax evaders who are well resourced and have access to professional enablers to hide income and assets using the global financial system.

By having a small number of partners, it will allow the group to be more agile and flexible to develop new approaches and carry out joint operations. Any results and benefits will be shared with wider international partners to develop a global understanding of offshore crime.

Membership of the J5 includes the heads of tax crime and senior officials from The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD), HMRC, and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

Will Day, Deputy Commissioner, Australian Taxation Office, said:

Recognising that tax crime crosses international borders, by participating in the J5, the ATO and ACIC can work with like-minded international tax administrations and law enforcement agency partners to build on our domestic activity and develop strategies to disrupt crime and better position Australia against emerging threats.

Col Blanch, Executive Director Intelligence Operations, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, said:

Financial crime occurs on a global scale with proceeds of crime transferred between jurisdictions. This is why we are committed to working with our domestic and international partners to proactively target offshore service providers and cybercriminals who specialise in targeting the financial sector.

Johanne Charbonneau, Director General, Canada Revenue Agency, said:

The formation of the J5 demonstrates the serious commitment of governments around the globe in enhancing international cooperation in fighting serious international tax and financial crimes, money laundering, and cybercrime through the use of cryptocurrencies.

The J5 complements the important international work of the OECD through operational collaboration. Our collective efforts and experience will be shared to jointly identify and address the increasingly sophisticated and global schemes and the professional enablers that facilitate such schemes.

Hans van der Vlist, General Director FIOD, said:

The unique thing about the J5 is the operational collaboration between 5 countries on tackling professional enablers that facilitate offshore tax crime, cybercrime and the threat of cryptocurrencies to tax administrations, as well as making best use of internationally available data and technology.

Don Fort, Chief of IRS-CI, said:

We cannot continue to operate in the same ways we have in the past, siloing our information from the rest of the world while organised criminals and tax cheats manipulate the system and exploit vulnerabilities for their personal gain.

The J5 aims to break down those walls, build on individual best practices, and become an operational group that is forward-thinking and can pressurise the global criminal community in ways we could not achieve on our own.