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Kids Company trustees hit back after damning report

Former trustees of Kids Company have condemned a report by a committee of MPs into the charity's demise as "inaccurate, unbalanced and irresponsible".

The report alleged an "extraordinary catalogue of failures" which led the collapse of the charity days after it was handed £3 million in government money in a last-ditch bid to keep it open.

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Kids Company concerns raised in report '10 years ago'

The charity Kids Company had become too politicised and trustees were "in thrall" of its controversial founder Camila Batmanghelidjh, according to a report by a committee of MPs into the organisation's collapse last year.

ITV News has obtained an internal report that warned about the charity's problems ten years ago.

Video report by ITV News' Social Affairs Editor Penny Marshall

Ex-Kids Company trustees condemn MPs' 'unbalanced' report

Former trustees of Kids Company have condemned a report by the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee into the charity's demise as "inaccurate, unbalanced and irresponsible".

They said that the conclusion by MPs that the "trustees, auditors, care experts, inspectors, regulators and the government all failed 'at every level' is astonishing".

Kids Company closed last year following questions about its finances and management. Credit: PA

Instead of basing its findings on a thorough investigation of the evidence, the committee has naively accepted allegations made in the media and by a small number of individuals, some with vested interests in damaging Kids Company and its much praised model of loving care and practical support.

Practically no weight has been given to the evidence presented to the committee by numerous witnesses who were closer to the work of the charity. The committee interviewed only one of the eight former trustees and has ignored nearly all the evidence he gave. It has also simply dismissed the reports of leading accountancy firms, clinicians and other specialists who expertly analysed the governance, operations and finances of the charity.

– Extract of statement by former Kids Company trustees

The statement went on: "It is a regrettable feature of British democracy that the committee can use the curtain of parliamentary privilege to produce what is an irresponsible report, immune from the defamation claims that would inevitably follow without this privilege."

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