The government believes firmly in the value and importance of diversity in the charity sector, including on boards and amongst trusts and foundations. I am confident that this view is shared by the sector, and that trusts and foundations will be looking at the findings of this report to identify what further action is needed and where lessons can be learned.

The UN does not have a specific trust fund for victims of sexual violence. With regard to the UN’s Trust Fund in Support of Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse was established by the Secretary General in March 2016 to provide greater support to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and related personel. We are studying the Fund’s effectiveness and whether it provides adequate support for victims of sexual violence before taking a decision on whether to contribute. The UK is committed to ending sexual exploitation and abuse by those who are entrusted with protecting some of the most vulnerable people in the world. That is why we have committed around $3m to supporting the UN’s work on this issue since 2016, and wholeheartedly support the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to tackle this issue robustly. The UK’s Safeguarding conference in October was an important milestone in advancing the international effort to eradicate sexual exploitation and abuse within the international development sector

The Trusts Registration Service was created following the implementation of the EU Fourth Money Laundering Directive to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The Service went live last year and to date there are 89,439 trusts registered.

The department does not provide specific guidance on the recruitment of members, but as members are responsible for the appointment of trustees, it is important that they understand the skills, behaviours and knowledge that trustees need to deliver effective governance.

Guidance sets out that members may be appointed by special resolution by existing members or the foundation or sponsor of the multi-academy trust (MAT).

The guidance is attached and available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-handbook.

The articles of association of each individual trust set out the specific arrangements for the appointment of members to each trust.

Companies House specify their own requirements for MATs, as companies limited by guarantee, with regard to appointments and resignations. It is for individual MATs to ensure they follow these requirements.

There is no requirement for MATs to publish the minutes of meetings of members and trustees. However, the department’s Model Articles of Association state that the trust board must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, make available for inspection by any interested person, copies of the agenda, signed minutes of every such meeting and any report or other paper considered at such meeting.

The department does not provide specific guidance on the recruitment of members, but as members are responsible for the appointment of trustees, it is important that they understand the skills, behaviours and knowledge that trustees need to deliver effective governance.

Guidance sets out that members may be appointed by special resolution by existing members or the foundation or sponsor of the multi-academy trust (MAT).

The guidance is attached and available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-handbook.

The articles of association of each individual trust set out the specific arrangements for the appointment of members to each trust.

Companies House specify their own requirements for MATs, as companies limited by guarantee, with regard to appointments and resignations. It is for individual MATs to ensure they follow these requirements.

There is no requirement for MATs to publish the minutes of meetings of members and trustees. However, the department’s Model Articles of Association state that the trust board must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, make available for inspection by any interested person, copies of the agenda, signed minutes of every such meeting and any report or other paper considered at such meeting.

HMRC undertake tax compliance activity on trusts in the same way as they do other compliance activity and come down hard where tax avoidance or evasion is discovered. Since 2010 over £160 billion in additional tax revenue has been secured and protected as a result of actions to tackle tax evasion, avoidance and non-compliance.

In 2017, HMRC established a register of trusts incurring UK tax consequences, enabling law enforcement authorities to identify beneficial owners of relevant trusts and at the Autumn Budget 2017 the Government announced it will publish a consultation in 2018 on making the taxation of trusts simpler, fairer, and more transparent.

Benefit claimants are required to inform the DWP of the income and capital that they possess, or have access to, in order to properly determine their benefit entitlement and the correct amount of payment.

The benefit regulations contain provisions that ensure that the claimant is treated as possessing any income or capital which they have deprived themselves in order to get the benefit or a higher payment, whether or not it has been placed in a trust.

Final estimates for 2016-17 indicate that 2.0% of benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud and error. The Government remains committed to tackling both over and underpayments of benefit. This includes protecting the public purse from those seeking more than their entitlement. The Government will continue to explore the role data matching can play as part of this approach.

There are currently two independent trusts established with support from this department: the Doncaster Children’s Service Trust (established in October 2014) and Slough Children’s Services Trust (established in September 2015). The department paid £2.9 million and £3.3 million towards set up costs for Doncaster and Slough respectively.

Sunderland County Council established a community interest company, Together for Children, in April 2017. The department’s contribution to the set up costs for this company was £2.5 million.

‘Achieving for Children’ (AfC) is also a community interest company that was established in 2014 to provide services for Richmond and Kingston. It was established independently from the department and we did not contribute to its set up. AfC receive money through the Partners In Practice programme and has recently expanded into a third local authority (Windsor and Maidenhead).