Charity Commission opens inquiry into ADAPT (North East), saying a dispute risks halting the charity

The Charity Commission for England and Wales has opened a statutory inquiry into ADAPT (North East), a disability charity, after learning of an internal dispute that, it says, is affecting the charity's ability to operate and its trustees' ability to deal with the regulator as a group. The Commission announced the inquiry on October 26, 2026. It says it opened the inquiry on October 16 under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011.

The charity works to improve the lives of people with sensory, physical and learning disabilities and people with mental health problems, along with their families and carers. It is based in the North East of England, and its services include community transport, social prescribing and wheelchair hire. The Commission said it was worried about the effect of the dispute on the people who rely on those services and on the charity's staff.

How the case escalated

What the inquiry will examine

The inquiry will look at whether the trustees, past and present, have met and can meet their legal duties in running the charity. The Commission listed four questions: whether the charity has a properly constituted board that is willing and able to manage it under its governing document; how the trustees made decisions, including whether anyone received an unauthorized personal benefit and whether there were conflicts of interest; whether the charity has adequate financial controls; and what the potential impact is on the charity's beneficiaries now.

The scope can be widened if other issues come up. The Commission has published no findings. Its guidance describes an inquiry as a way to establish the extent, if any, of misconduct or mismanagement, and says trustees are told if concerns are not substantiated or cannot be verified. Its policy is to publish a report on the issues, any action taken and the outcome once an inquiry ends. The announcement does not mention any order under the Commission's temporary protective powers, which its guidance says can be used to protect charity property while an investigation continues, for example by limiting financial transactions.

The charity's finances

The register of charities lists ADAPT (North East) as charity number 1072632, a charitable company registered on November 27, 1998, which was previously named Action by Differently Abled People in Tynedale. For the year to March 31, 2025, it reported income of £1,004,904 and spending of £1,068,346. Government contracts and grants provided about 41% of that income: £304,711 came from eight government contracts and £105,617 from six government grants, while donations and legacies brought in about £2,480. The register lists 35 employees, five trustees and 15 volunteers, and says no trustee is paid.

Spending was higher than income in each of the last two reported years, according to the register's figures.

How often the regulator takes this step

A statutory inquiry is the Commission's formal investigation power, and it is used far less often than its other casework. In April to June 2026, the Commission opened five statutory inquiries and closed 19, and had 171 ongoing, according to its casework data. Over the same three months it opened 1,552 regulatory concern cases. The same release put the number of charities on the register at 171,539 at the end of June 2026.

Two other inquiries announced this fall also centered on concerns about trustee boards. On September 29 the Commission said it had opened an inquiry into Cumbria Community Homes, citing the absence of a functioning board, and had restricted the charity's transactions. On October 12 it announced an inquiry into Crossfields Institute, an education charity, over its number of trustees and its financial controls, among other concerns.

The Commission notes that it is not a mediation service and cannot settle disputes between trustees. It gets involved only in limited circumstances, such as when other ways of resolving a dispute have been tried and have failed, or when a dispute puts the charity, its beneficiaries or public trust at risk.