Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Charity Commission on regulatory compliance cases into (a) Dar Alhekma and (b) the Abrar Islamic Foundation.

Ministers and officials regularly meet with the Charity Commission to discuss a range of issues relating to charity regulation. As the Charity Commission is independent from the Government in its regulatory decision making, it will be for the Charity Commission to assess these matters further.

The Charity Commission has live regulatory compliance cases into Dar Alhekma Trust and Abrar Islamic Foundation. These cases were temporarily paused at the request of the Metropolitan Police Service, to avoid prejudicing the police’s assessment of the concerns raised. The Charity Commission is now engaging with the trustees of both charities to assess the allegations.