A CHARITY board is to be quizzed on why it has not spent more on good causes.

Bosses at the Chaigley Manor Trust, a charity which was set up to help Hyndburn children, have been called to a council meeting where they will face eight questions from councillors.

The move came after it has emerged that for five years running the charity has filed its accounts with the Charity Commission late.

And during this time it has been revealed that the trust has underspent by £36,000 from what it should have handed out.

Bosses of the trust said that the accounts had been filed late due to illness and pledged that the unspent cash would be used on new projects in the financial year 2009-10.

Chaigley Manor was a children’s home in the Ribble Valley that was bought by the people of Hyndburn in 1927 for use by the borough’s disadvantaged youngsters.

After being sold for £625,000 in 2001 the fund was put into the care of a trust.

A ruling was made that only the interest - around £25,000 per year - should be spent on worthy causes annually. The 2007 accounts were finally submitted in January along with those for 2006, which were 14 months late.

In 2007 the interest totalled £26,600, and yet only £11,700 was paid out – all of it spent on £10 fun days out for 1,165 children.

Hyndburn Council leader Peter Britcliffe said the trust was ‘not keeping the council up to speed on how the fund is being run’. Trustee Steve Cook said: “The underspend that has been accrued will be used to develop new projects in the new financial year.”

He will be questioned by Hyndburn’s Communities and Well-Being Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, March 18.

Some of the questions include:

  • Does the Chaigley Trust think that it would benefit from having a Hyndburn Council representative, who has the in-depth knowledge of children’s issues in the borough?
  • Why has the Chaigley Trust not spent all that it could have spent?
  • Are any of the board members paid fees and/or allowances for the services they provide to the Chaigley Trust?
  • How many times a year do the Chaigley Trustees meet to discuss projects?