---
title: "What is a Charity Commission statutory inquiry?"
description: "A statutory inquiry is the Charity Commission"
source: https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/answers/what-is-a-statutory-inquiry
retrieved: 2026-08-18T01:26:12.754Z
license: "Charity data © Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0"
---

Charity finances

# What is a Charity Commission statutory inquiry?

**In short:** A statutory inquiry is the Charity Commission's most serious formal investigation, opened where there are concerns about misconduct, mismanagement or risk to charitable funds. It is public information. On CharityCompare an open inquiry sets the charity's Clarity Score to 0 automatically and displays a regulatory warning, because strong financial reporting cannot offset an active investigation.

Data from [CharityCompare editorial](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/), last updated 12 August 2026.

A statutory inquiry is the Charity Commission’s most serious formal power, used under section 46 of the Charities Act where there are concerns about misconduct, mismanagement or risk to charitable funds. During one the Commission can freeze bank accounts, appoint an interim manager, or remove and replace trustees.

Inquiries are **public**. Because an active investigation is a more important fact about a charity than any ratio, an open inquiry sets its Clarity Score to **0 out of 100** automatically and displays a regulatory warning banner on the profile — no pillar arithmetic is applied.

An inquiry is not a criminal conviction, and some conclude with no wrongdoing found. It does mean the regulator considers the risk serious enough to investigate formally.

## Related questions

- [→ Are charity CEO salaries too high?](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/answers/charity-ceo-pay)
- [→ What is a good admin cost ratio for a charity?](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/answers/good-admin-ratio)
- [→ What is a good spending ratio for a charity?](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/answers/good-spending-ratio)
- [→ How much should I donate to charity?](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/answers/how-much-should-i-donate)

Look up any UK charity's free Clarity Score from regulator filings.

[Search charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity-directory) [Read the guides](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/guides)

**Information only** — see [guides](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/guides) for more detail.