The collapse of the Kids Company charity was a result of an “extraordinary catalogue of failures”, a committee of MPs has said.
The Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) also criticised the charity’s trustees and the Charity Commission.
Kids Company closed in August after questions over management and finances.
Camila Batmanghelidjh, who founded the charity in 1996, said the report “is a product of bias and rumour”.
She added: “The only place we got a rigorous fact-based investigation was with the police.”
Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin, who chairs the committee, said its inquiry had heard “an extraordinary catalogue of failures of governance and control at every level – trustees, auditors, inspectors, regulators and government”.
‘Tragic failure’
He did say that the committee had heard positive accounts of valuable work by Kids Company, and of “inspired and motivated employees”, which made the trustee board’s failure to ensure the charity’s sustainability “all the more tragic”.
He added: “There has been a litany of allegations of inappropriate ‘therapies’, lavish spending and abuse of power within the organisation, and we hope that this episode highlights to all trustees that protecting the reputation of an organisation is a core element of good governance.”
The charity supported deprived and vulnerable inner-city children and young people in London, Liverpool and Bristol.
Source:https://www.bbc.com
