When a concern isn't heard: how to escalate — and what the Commission's contempt finding tells us

In the summer of 2026, the House of Commons Committee of Privileges found that the Charity Commission had committed a contempt of Parliament — by trying to prevent two Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman reports, into how it had handled complaints about two faith-based charities, being laid before the Commons. The Commission’s chair apologised unreservedly, and an independent review of its complaint-handling is due to report in autumn 2026. This article is not about piling in on the regulator. It is about a more useful question for trustees, staff and volunteers: if you raise a serious concern and it doesn’t get the response it should, what then? It is general information, not advice.

Safeguarding first — always

Before anything else: if a child or adult is at immediate risk of harm, this is not a “governance” question. Follow your safeguarding procedures and statutory guidance now — contact the police, your local authority designated officer or the relevant statutory service. Regulatory routes come after, and never instead of, protecting the person at risk. (Our note on keeping safeguarding robust covers the basics.)

The escalation ladder

For concerns about how a charity is being run — including how a safeguarding matter has been handled — there is a recognised order in which to raise things. Knowing the whole ladder matters, because the case above shows that even the regulator can get it wrong.

1. Internally first. Raise it with your safeguarding lead, the trustees, or through your charity’s whistleblowing policy. A good charity makes it safe and simple to do this — and takes it seriously.
2. The statutory safeguarding bodies, where a person is or may be at risk — as above.
3. The Charity Commission. Trustees have a duty to report a serious incident to the Commission; anyone can also raise a concern with it about how a charity is run. This is the main regulatory route.
4. The Ombudsman, if the Commission itself falls short. If you believe the Commission has maladministered its handling of a complaint, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman can investigate — usually via your MP. This is the route that led, ultimately, to the parliamentary finding described above. It exists precisely so the regulator is not the last word.
5. Whistleblowing protections. Workers — and in many circumstances volunteers — who raise genuine concerns in the public interest have legal protections against being penalised for it. Fear of reprisal should not silence a legitimate concern.

What trustees should take from this

Two things, pulling in the same direction:

• The oversight system worked — eventually. Parliament held the regulator to account, and an independent review is now under way. So don’t conclude that raising concerns is pointless; conclude that persistence, and knowing the next rung of the ladder, matters.
• Your own duties are unchanged. A regulator’s failure in one set of cases does not dilute your responsibilities. Robust safeguarding, a culture where people can speak up, prompt serious-incident reporting, and acting on concerns rather than managing them away — these remain squarely the trustees’ job.

Make “speaking up” work inside your charity

The best protection is that concerns rarely need to climb the ladder at all, because they are heard at step one. Practical basics:

• A whistleblowing / speaking-up policy that people actually know about, with more than one person a concern can be taken to.
• A safeguarding lead and trustee who are approachable and visibly take concerns seriously.
• A record that a concern was raised, what was done, and by when — the same contemporaneous evidence that protects a charity everywhere else.
• No defensiveness. The instinct to protect the institution’s reputation is exactly what these cases warn against.

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This article is general information, not advice. Where a specific safeguarding concern or allegation has arisen, follow your safeguarding procedures and statutory guidance immediately, and take professional advice on your own situation. If you’d like help strengthening your governance and speaking-up arrangements, talk to us.