The Charity Commission has for the first time issued a local authority with an official warning for failing to properly manage its charities.
According to the charity regulator for England and Wales, Calderdale Council has failed to file annual returns and accounts for its 13 charities for several years.
The regulator also criticised the west Yorkshire authority for not complying with an action plan it issued in 2023.
It said the council must now file all accounts, provide up-to-date contact details for the charities, identify them on a local register, and review their financial controls – or face further regulatory action.
The Charity Commission’s assistant director of regulatory services, Tracy Howarth, said: ‘In failing to file accounts or take action, even after we provided advice and gave support to comply with our instructions, Calderdale Council fell below the standard we, and the public, expect of trustees.’
Deputy council leader Scott Patient said: ‘We accept that our work to file accounts for the charities for which we are trustee should have been better, and the delay does not meet our high service standards.
‘We are confident that the charitable purpose of all the charities is being fulfilled.’
