Families call for inquiry into residential care charity that ran up £1.6m debt

A group of families have called for an urgent inquiry into a charity caring for their highly vulnerable disabled relatives which is under threat of closure after running up debts of £1.6m in unpaid taxes and paying £1m to one of its own trustees.Earlier this month, a judge gave the charity, William Blake House, just weeks to pay off its debts to HMRC or face a winding up order. The charity’s accounts show auditors have routinely questioned whether it is a viable business.The families say the wellbeing of residents is in jeopardy and public money is at risk. They have questioned why the charity has paid more than £800,000 in strategy fees and £240,000 in consultancy fees to a company owned by the charity’s chair, despite its deteriorating finances.It now faces an investigation by the Charity Commission, which told the Guardian it had opened a regulatory compliance case into potential governance concerns. Northamptonshire-council" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="23210" data-entity-type="organization">West Northamptonshire council said it was in ongoing discussions with the charity over what it called “serious governance and financial issues”.William Blake House is a specialist residential care facility in Northamptonshire providing a therapeutic “person-centred” approach guided by the philosophical and spiritual teachings of Rudolf Steiner. Councils and the NHS spend about £3m a year on places at the charity.The charity’s 22 adult residents have learning disabilities, autism and complex care needs requiring round-the-clock support. The families have no criticism of the quality of care provided but fear the future care of their relatives has been put at risk.A statement by 17 of the families said: “Our relatives are some of the most vulnerable adults in society and entirely dependent on stable, continuous care. As parents we placed our trust in the charity to protect the welfare of our loved ones.“This trust has been shattered and serious mismanagement and lack of governance revealed. Our children’s wellbeing has been placed in jeopardy.”The charity has blamed its financial challenges on high agency staff costs and the previous failure of local authorities to raise contract fees in line with inflation.It said it plans to settle its tax debts by selling land to a developer who will build a new residential care facility and lease it back to William Blake House.The families say they have been kept in the dark by the charity’s board and management over its mounting debts relating to non-payment of staff PAYE and national insurance and the declining value of its assets, which slumped from £920,000 to £200,000 between 2022 and 2024.Over the same period, the charity has paid Van Kruger Consulting, a company solely owned by William Blake House’s chair, Bushra Hamid, £800,000 in strategy fees over three years to develop a “Steiner strategy” business selling online Steiner training courses, and a further £240,000 in unspecified consulting fees. It has yet to launch.The payments were authorised by the William Blake House board. Its current three trustees include a business associate of Hamid, Paula Allen. Hamid is also chair of the Northampton-based arts gallery charity the Shoosmith Centre, where Allen is both a fellow trustee and its £30,000-a-year interim chief executive.In a statement, William Blake House said its had resumed regular PAYE payments to HMRC in October 2024. It had made “tangible progress” towards the sale of the land in order to pay HMRC by the deadline of 30 March.It said the launch of the online courses had been delayed by the HMRC petition. It added the £800,000 investment in the strategy would be repaid by Steiner Friends, a charity chaired by Hamid and associated with William Blake House. Allen is also a trustee of Steiner Friends.A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “We are aware of potential governance concerns at William Blake House Northants and have opened a regulatory compliance case to engage with the charity’s trustees about these matters.”Northamptonshire-council" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="23210" data-entity-type="organization">West Northamptonshire council, which has a duty to step in where a local social care provider is at risk of failure, said it was “deeply concerned” and in ongoing discussions with the charity.Laura Couse, the cabinet member for adult care and public health, said: “It is our absolute priority to ensure the wellbeing of the residents – making sure they are fully supported.”