Review of safeguards to protect the charity sector from the threat of terrorist abuse (England & Wales)

10 May 2007

The Treasury and the Home Office have jointly reviewed the safeguards in place in England and Wales to protect the charity sector from being abused for the purposes of terrorist financing.

It has found that:

identified instances of terrorist exploitation of charities to date are rare;
the latent risk of terrorist exploitation inherent in some parts of the sector is significant and continued vigilance is required from all stakeholders to ensure that this risk is not realised;
the legislative framework for controlling the terrorist abuse of charities can only be effective if the sector is fully aware of and compliant with its provisions; and
the Charity Commission is a world-leader in the regulation of charities, and it is essential that it implements appropriate and proportionate measures to deal with the evolving threat of terrorist finance.

The findings and recommendations from the review have been published as a consultation document by the Home Office, in order to stimulate debate on how best practise within the sector can be improved and how more can be done by the authorities to tackle the threat of abuse in this sector. The report is available on the Home Office website at the address below:

Review of safeguards to protect the charity sector from the threat of terrorist abuse (England & Wales) (Home Office)