'Financial concerns' spark church charity inquiry

An investigation been launched into York-based charity linked to the Church of England over "concerns about its financial controls".

The Charity Commission said it had started a statutory inquiry into the Micklegate Ecclesiastical Trust.

The Commission said the investigation, which began on 7 January, would examine the trust's compliance with legal obligations, its financial management and "potential conflicts of interest".

The trust, which according to its website was "set up to further the religious and charitable work of the Church of England" in the parish of Holy Trinity Micklegate, said it was "fully co-operating" with the inquiry.

In a statement, the Charity Commission said the trust had failed to submit its accounts for two consecutive financial years and that transactions within records it had posted in December 2022 had "raised concerns".

The regulator said the trust had come to its "attention" following a separate investigation started last July into the parish council which oversees Holy Trinity Church, on Micklegate in York.

Both charities "had a number of trustees in common", according to a spokesperson for the Commission.

Among the scope of its inquiry will be whether or not there has been any "unauthorised personal benefit".

A spokesperson for Holy Trinity Micklegate Parochial Church Council (PCC) said it was first notified of the Charity Commission's concerns about how its finances had been "previously managed" in March 2025.

It said the "issues" related a "prolonged" period when no priest was in situ at the parish.

They added: "A new PCC is now in place and is fully co-operating with the ongoing investigation, with continued support from the Diocese of York to ensure compliance with charity law."

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