Trustees Annual Report and Accounts, 2021/22
CIO 1188791
Buddhist Society of Manchester
The committee of the Buddhist Society of Manchester (Charity number 1072411) applied to the Charity Commission in 2020 to change to a CIO. This was granted on 07/09/2020 in the same title of “Buddhist Society of Manchester” CIO 1188791.
The application had been made with the assistance of a solicitor, and they advised that the next step after the CIO was granted was the transfer of the assets from the existing charity (1072411) to the new CIO. The main asset was the terraced house property which the society owns, at 3, Grosvenor Square, Sale M33 6QU.
The solicitor made the application to the Land Registry in October 2020 to make the transfer, and advised that until the transfer was complete we should continue to operate under the existing charity (1072411) and not close it down. Due to the pandemic the Land Registry has developed a large backlog of applications and the solicitor is still awaiting a result, well over a year later. The Land Registry was in contact in January 2022 with a query, which we answered, and we hoped that the submission was being processed and would be completed soon.
However since January 2022 we have received nothing further from the Land Registry. In late 2022 we contacted the solicitor dealing with our submission, and suggested that they should email the Land Registry, urging them to grant the application, as it was holding up completion of the CIO, and this was hindering application for Gift Aid which would help off-set the increases in energy costs etc to the society. Again, to date, nothing has been received from the Land Registry.
The new CIO therefore has not been operative since its creation, and all account details and activity (including income and expenditure for 2021/22) has been recorded using the annual return process for charity number 1072411.
The Charity Commission contacted us in 2022 to ask why the annual return for the new CIO had not been made, and when the above was explained requested the submission of a nil return and annual report indicating the situation.
This document represents that return, updated now for 2021/22, as the overall situation remains unchanged. It is hoped that the Land Registry transfer will be completed soon, at which point the charity number 1072411 will be closed down and after that all necessary returns will be made under the new CIO 1188791.