A charity in memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore has been slammed by a watchdog for trying to appoint his daughter as CEO with a six-figure salary, according to reports.
The Captain Tom Foundation was blocked by the Charity's Commission from appointing the late fundraiser's daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, as CEO on a salary worth "a tenth" of the entire first year's annual income, The Independent claims.
Now the organisation is the subject of a regulatory compliance case after its accounts show it had already paid "tens of thousands of pounds" to firms run by the late veteran's daughter and son-in-law.
The broadsheet reported that in May 2020, after the former army officer raised £39m for NHS charities, the charity wanted to pay in the region of £150,000 for the role.
The figure makes up more than 13% of the total £1.15 million the Captain Tom Foundation's received in its first year as an established charity.
But the proposal to make Ms Ingram-Moore CEO was allegedly made by trustees without a recruitment competition.
The Charities Commission intervened last summer after it was contacted by the Foundation.
Now the Foundation has told The Independent Ms Ingram-Moore has taken the decision that "the CEO role was not something she wished to pursue” so she could focus on other commitments.
The £150,000 salary is comparable to the highest earner at the RSPCA, which paid out a maximum of £150,007 to one individual last year.
Industry publication, Third Sector ranked the animal rescue charity as just 98th in its list of top 100 highest-earning charities list.
But the organisation still raked in a total income of £142 million - some 3.6 times more than that of the Captain Tom Foundation.
Ms Ingram-Moore, who has spoken about setting up the foundation, was appointed a trustee of the charity on February 1, 2021, but resigned on March 15, according to accounts.
Her husband, Colin, was appointed a trustee on the same date and remains in post as the family’s representative.
At the time the couple officially sought permission for their appointments as per the rules of the Charities Commission which state that trustees or “connected” people should seek written consent from the watchdog before being employed by the charity.
When The Independent approached the Foundation for comment, the paper claims the organisation initially appeared to deny that the six-figure salary was proposed.
Stephen Jones, chair of the board of trustees, said: “The decision to make an application for consent to appoint Hannah Ingram-Moore in a temporary role as interim CEO was made by the independent trustees who undertook a benchmarking exercise to assess an appropriate salary for the role.
"Any discussions with the Charity Commission are highly confidential but your reference to a ‘six-figure salary’ is categorically denied.”
When reminded that an initial application to appoint Ms Ingram-Moore as CEO, rather than in an interim role, had already been seen, the paper asked whether Mr Jones whether the organisation was denying that they sought the Charity Commission’s permission to appoint her as CEO.
They "pointedly" refuted that claim and a further comment was released by the foundation.
It read: "In 2021, the foundation approached the commission for consent (as required in law and under the foundation’s governing document) with regard to the appointment of Hannah Ingram-Moore as CEO.
"As part of that process for consent, the trustees undertook a formal benchmarking exercise to assess an appropriate salary for the role.
“That report made recommendations to the trustees as to an appropriate salary (within a range) based on a spectrum of charities operating with equivalent financial positions and charitable activity.
"This was provided to the commission as part of the application for consent, in the interests of full disclosure, together with a proposal by the trustees as to what the salary for the CEO role should be.
“It is the commission’s responsibility to consider and challenge any application for consent, but in any event during the trustees’ discussions with the commission, Hannah Ingram-Moore took the decision that the CEO role was not something she wished to pursue as she wanted to focus on other commitments, both personally and professionally.
"However, she committed to support the trustees during an interim period, subject to commission consent being obtained.
“On that basis, the commission were supportive of and provided the trustees with formal consent for Hannah Ingram-Moore to be appointed as interim CEO from August 2021 for a defined nine-month period.
"The trustees revisited their salary considerations as part of the discussions with the commission, before making a decision on what that salary should be.
"That salary will of course be disclosed as required in the accounts for the relevant period but is categorically not six figures.
“The trustees are, as agreed with the commission, in the process of undertaking an open recruitment process to identify and recruit a CEO.
"The detail on that and on the role and salary expectations is a matter of public record.
"That process is ongoing, but regardless Hannah Ingram-Moore will step down as interim CEO at the end of April and the trustees are grateful for her support during this period.”
In December 2021 a document seen by the Independent outlines an 'appointment brief' for the role of CEO for Ms Ingram-Moore with a listed salary of £55,000-£60,000, it reports.
The Charities Commission launched its compliance case against the foundation in March last year but would not comment on the matter beyond the public statement it had given at the time.
A spokesperson for the commission said: “We have been in ongoing contact with the trustees of the Captain Tom Foundation on its set-up and governance arrangements and as part of this work will now assess the charity’s recently submitted accounts.”
Ms Ingram-Moore’s personal website – which describes her as “one of Britain’s leading businesswomen” – listed her as “founder and CEO” of the Captain Tom Foundation but this was later changed to “founder and interim CEO”.
Ms Ingram-Moore’s Linkedin profile says she is the “voice of the Captain Tom Foundation”.
