Governance review results in commission criticising trustees

Britain’s’ best known animal charity has been rebuked for giving its former chief executive a huge payoff.

Trustees at the RSPCA have been given an official warning by the Charity Commission saying the decision to pay Michael Ward (pictured) in excess of £150,000 amounted to mismanagement.

Former chief executive Jeremy Cooper left the charity in June 2017 with Michael Ward taking over as acting chief executive. The cash was paid after Ward claimed he had been rejected for the permanent role because of his age.

Chris Sherwood was appointed as RSPCA’s permanent chief executive last year.

The charity’s latest accounts (December 2017) show an unexplained expenditure of £199,000.

David Holdsworth, registrar of charities for England and Wales and deputy chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: “The RSPCA is a much-loved national institution performing a crucial role in animal protection, with its staff and volunteers undertaking vital work. The public, and the RSPCA’s many members and supporters, need it to succeed and to deliver important benefits for society.

“They rightly expect that it should be run by its trustees to the highest standards.

“Unfortunately, that has not been the case and the charity’s governance has fallen short which has led to people asking legitimate questions about the pay-out to the former executive.

It was also noted by the commission that the RSPCA had an “unusually high turnover among its chief executives” and significant periods without executives in post.

A spokesperson from the RSPCA said: “The RSPCA ruling council is fully committed to the very highest standards of governance. Council continues to implement the recommendations of the governance review, with more than 90% of them completed, and is working hard with our new chief executive on the outstanding items.”