Three years of missing accounts, and two trustees on the register
What happened
On 12 October 2026, the Charity Commission announced that it has opened a statutory inquiry into an education charity called Crossfields Institute. The charity is based in Stroud, Gloucestershire. It was registered in 2008, its charity number is 1124859, and its stated purpose is providing training and qualifications across a range of sectors. A statutory inquiry is the Charity Commission's most serious formal investigation. This one was opened on 7 September 2026 under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011, over possible misconduct or mismanagement in the charity's administration. The story starts with paperwork. In September 2025, the charity was placed into what the Commission calls its double defaulters class inquiry. That is a standing investigation into charities that have failed to submit their accounts for two or more years. In this case, the missing years were those ending 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024. While that inquiry was running, the charity defaulted again – this time for the 2025 financial year. Three years of accounts are now overdue. The Commission has also identified further concerns. It is looking at whether the charity has had enough trustees, and whether it has adequate financial controls to manage risk to its funds. The charity's register entry lists two trustees; the Commission generally recommends at least three. There is one more concern, and it is the most serious-sounding: the Commission says there are concerns that the charity's operations may have been moved to a non-charitable company. The inquiry will examine whether the trustees are complying with their legal duties. That includes whether there are enough trustees willing and able to manage the charity under its governing document; financial management, including statutory accounting and reporting; connected party transactions, conflicts of interest and any unauthorised private benefit; and the trustees' decision-making and record keeping, including decisions about the charity's future. The Commission says the scope may be extended if more issues emerge, and that it usually publishes a report when an inquiry concludes. One line in the announcement should be read as carefully as all the rest: "The Commission has not reached any conclusions and the opening of the inquiry is not a finding of wrongdoing."
Why this matters
Charities that award qualifications are not like charities that run a food bank. If something goes wrong, the damage lands on people's certificates – the documents they use to get jobs or places on courses. That is why governance questions about a training and qualifications charity deserve more attention than the dry language suggests. Learners, employers and other awarding bodies all rely on these organisations being stable and properly run. The missing accounts matter for a simple reason too. Charity accounts are how the public checks that money given for a charitable purpose was used for it. A charity that does not file them has, in effect, stopped answering the question. There is also a wider point for anyone who gives money or signs their child up to a course. Charitable status is not a quality mark. It is a legal structure with duties attached, and the register that records it is public and free to search. Most people never look. The concern that operations may have moved to a non-charitable company is the one to watch. Charity assets are held for charitable purposes. Moving activity out of a charity can be perfectly proper – charities do set up trading companies – but it has to be done openly, for the charity's benefit, and with conflicts of interest handled properly. That is exactly what the inquiry says it will examine.
What the evidence actually says
At this stage the evidence is a set of regulatory concerns and an open investigation. Nothing has been decided. That distinction is not a technicality, and we are going to be strict about it. The Commission opens inquiries to find out what happened. Some inquiries end with serious findings. Others end with the charity getting its paperwork in order and the regulator closing the file. What is established: three sets of accounts are overdue, for the years ending March 2023, March 2024 and the 2025 financial year. The charity entered the double defaulters class inquiry in September 2025. A separate statutory inquiry was opened on 7 September 2026. The register lists two trustees. The sector press, including Third Sector and Civil Society, reported the same facts when the announcement was published. What is alleged or being examined, not established: whether financial controls were adequate, whether there were enough trustees to run the charity properly, whether connected party transactions or conflicts of interest caused problems, and whether operations were moved to a non-charitable company. We found no published response from the charity. Sector reporting noted that it had been contacted for comment. Its side of the story may well change the picture, and it is fair to say so. It is also worth knowing how common the paperwork problem is. The double defaulters inquiry exists because late accounts are a recurring issue across the sector, not a rarity. Being a double defaulter is a serious failure of duty, but on its own it is not evidence of dishonesty.
Practical advice
If you are a learner, a parent or an employer, here is how to check an organisation yourself. Search the public register of charities at register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. It is free. Type the name or the charity number. You can see the trustees, the income, and whether accounts have been filed on time. Look at the "accounts and annual returns" section. A red overdue flag is worth asking about. One late year can be a bad year. Three is a pattern. Check the number of trustees. A charity running on one or two trustees has little ability to challenge its own decisions. If you are taking a qualification, check who regulates it rather than who awards it. In England, Ofqual's register of regulated qualifications tells you whether a qualification is recognised. That protects you even if the awarding organisation runs into trouble. If you are part-way through a course and the provider is under investigation, ask in writing: who holds my records, who would award my certificate, and what happens if the organisation closes. Keep the reply. And keep your own copies of everything – enrolment letters, assessment results, certificates. If an organisation's records become hard to reach, yours become the evidence.
What to know
The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Crossfields Institute, a Stroud-based education and training charity, charity number 1124859. The announcement was made on 12 October 2026 and the inquiry was opened on 7 September 2026. The charity has failed to file accounts for three financial years – those ending March 2023 and March 2024, and the 2025 year. It was placed in the Commission's double defaulters class inquiry in September 2025 and defaulted again during it. The Commission is also examining whether there are enough trustees, whether financial controls are adequate, connected party transactions and conflicts of interest, trustees' decision-making, and concerns that operations may have been moved to a non-charitable company. The register lists two trustees. No conclusions have been reached. The Commission states explicitly that opening an inquiry is not a finding of wrongdoing. No response from the charity has been published. You can check any charity yourself, free, on the public register of charities, and you can check whether a qualification is regulated on Ofqual's register. Sources: Charity Commission for England and Wales, "Regulator investigates education charity over concerns about its governance and financial management", GOV.UK, 12 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-investigates-education-charity-over-concerns-about-its-governance-and-financial-management; Third Sector, "Regulator investigates education charity for failing to file accounts for three years", October 2026, https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/regulator-investigates-education-charity-failing-file-accounts-three-years/governance/article/1972269; Civil Society, "Regulator investigates education charity with three sets of accounts overdue", October 2026, https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/regulator-investigates-education-charity-with-three-sets-of-accounts-overdue.html. This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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