THE Charity Commission has opened a formal investigation into a parish church in York after “serious concerns” were raised over its financial controls.
The Commission is undertaking a statutory inquiry into the PCC of Holy Trinity, Micklegate, York, after an initial investigation when the trustees at the time failed to submit their annual accounting information for the financial years ending 31 December 2022 and 2023. The Commission then received a report from the current trustees listing concerns, some of which are recorded in the trustees’ annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Issues include not having access to “any of its bank accounts for almost five months”. The report says that the current PCC “still does not have access to all of its bank accounts”, and that “the 2022 accounts remain in draft form because matters raised by the independent examiner remain unresolved. In turn, this means that the 2023 accounts can also only be provided in draft.”
It continues: “The PCC’s Independent Examiner, Guy Baragwanath of C&GB Associates, Thirsk, was unable to certify that the proposed church accounts for the year ending 31st December 2022 correctly reflected the church’s actual financial position.”
The Charity Commission requested clarification on the accounts, but “an explanation has not been provided”.
“Efforts continue to resolve these matters, and others that have subsequently become apparent, including issues relating to the legal ownership of the garages adjoining Jacob’s Well, and the status of church bank accounts to which no current PCC member has a mandate.”
In the notes to the financial statements from the same report, it states that “the land and garages at Trinity Lane have been removed from the accounts and transferred to The Micklegate Ecclesiastical Trust by previous officers of the PCC. The validity of that transfer is contested by the current PCC.”
Additionally, an “unknown expenditure” amounting to £2094 has been identified. The report says that the amount “relates to the balance in the Barclays Bank account as at 31st December 2022. The account was closed in the course of 2023 by previous officers of the PCC, and the present PCC has been unable to determine how the then balance was utilised.”
Included in the report for the annual parochial church meeting on Sunday 16 April 2023, and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022, is the Charity Commission’s independent report on the accounts, which is dated 18 March of this year.
It states that “payments have been made to PCC trustees in the year that do not appear to have been authorised and there is no paperwork to quantify these payments. These payments appear to be much larger than would be expected for any reclaim in relation to the expenditure category that they had been accounted for
through the accounts software.
“Payments have also been made to PCC trustees as a reimbursement of broadband, telephone and mobile at their home address, however, the full amount of the bill has been reimbursed, not a percentage reflective of the time spent on PCC related work.
“Payments have been made to businesses associated with PCC trustees. There does not appear to be any information within minutes of meetings or a declaration of business interests form regarding payments to businesses associated with trustees.”
In a written statement to the Church Times, the Priest-in-Charge of Holy Trinity since January 2023, the Revd Simon Askey, said: “In March of this year, the PCC submitted a report to the Charity Commission highlighting serious concerns about the charity’s previous financial management. This related to financial periods during a prolonged interregnum before the appointment of the current Priest in Charge. A new Parochial Church Council has been appointed and is fully cooperating with the Charity Commission.”