Moss Side and Hulme charity chairman was wrongly paid £56,000

A trustee at Moss Side and Hulme Community Development Trust did not have authority to make payments to the chairman, a report said.

A charity wrongly paid its chairman £56,000 and could provide no evidence of its activities, an inquiry found.

Accounts for the Moss Side and Hulme Community Development Trust in Manchester claimed it helped some 400 people at a cost of £60,000 per year.

But its ITC Learning Centre had been closed since 2015 and trustees held no records of charitable work, the charity commission found.

Chairman Hartley Hanley said the trust had not received any public funds.

The charity told the inquiry it trained and empowered unemployed people and assisted those affected by the Windrush scandal.

It has two registered trustees, Mike Bisson and chairman Hartley Hanley, according to charity commission records.

Unauthorised payments totalling £56,000 had been made to Mr Hanley for acting as the charity's CEO, the commission found.

Accounts show he was paid £17,500 in 2013, £18,500 in 2014 and £20,000 in 2015.

The commission had told Mr Bisson he did not have the power to make these payments in 2013.

"The charity's governing document explicitly prohibits trustee remuneration for the supply of work or goods to the charity," the report stated.

The commission told the BBC it was not pursuing the charity or individuals to pay the money back.

'No records'

The organisation's annual report for 2015 said its ITC Learning Centre had "assisted over 400 local people at a cost in excess of £60,000 per annum".

But Mr Bisson told the commission during an interview in 2018 that "the centre may have been closed since 2015".

Mr Hanley confirmed in an interview in 2019 that "the centre had not been used since 2015 or 2016".

The men "were not able to evidence the £60,000 expenditure for the centre," the report said.

In addition, "the charity held no records to evidence its charitable activities".

'Held to account'

Trustees had failed to file all of the charity's annual accounts on time since August 2014, it said.

"A failure to submit accounts to the commission is a criminal offence," the report said.

The commission told the BBC: "We did not make a referral to the police, as on this occasion we took action to remedy the governance shortcomings at the charity and hold the trustees to account on the delivery of these actions. We are continuing to monitor the charity."

Mr Hanley said he did not wish to make a comment other than to state that it did not receive public funds.

The BBC was unable to contact Mr Bisson for a comment.