The Charity Commission has issued an official warning to a Christian charity after it failed to separate its charitable work from the political lobbying activities of a connected, non-charitable organisation.

The National Council for Christian Standards in Society, which was set up in 1986 to promote religion and religious education, was previously told by the regulator to separate its charitable work from the political lobbying activities of Christian Voice, a connected non-charitable body.

According to its website, Christian Voice “is a ministry for those Christians who have had enough of secularist politicians imposing wickedness on the rest of us”.

It was set up in 1994 by Christian activists who were “concerned about the rise of the homosexual lobby”, according to a blog post published on its website in April last year.

The same blog claims that the organisation merged with NCCSS in 2009, but the charity’s accounts make no mention of the organisation.

The Charity Commission said that NCCSS’ trustees did not take sufficient steps to follow its advice and separate its charitable work from Christian Voice’s political lobbying.

This led the regulator to issue an official warning to the charity on 30 September, which sets out actions the trustees must take to rectify their misconduct and mismanagement, including acting on the regulator’s previous advice.

The regulator has also urged the charity to amend its charitable purposes, which the commission said are “ambiguous”, to ensure they are “exclusively charitable”. 

According to the latest information available on the charity register, the NCCSS’ purposes are the “promotion of the principles of historical biblical christianity and the information and education of the national public and of responsible authorities based on these principles”.

The commission has warned that if the charity fails to address these issues, it may face further regulatory action.

Tracy Hayworth, assistant director for casework at the Charity Commission, said: “It’s clear this charity has not taken our previous advice on board and so we have issued an official warning with the expectation that changes are made at pace. 

“When carrying out any activity, trustees must consider how it helps meet their charitable purposes and if they are acting within charity law. We, and the public, expect this of charities as a minimum.”

Hayworth said this intervention should “serve as a reminder” for all trustees to take any advice and guidance they receive from the commission seriously. 

She said: “As regulator, we issue guidance to help trustees ensure their charity is run well to deliver for beneficiaries. If we step in, we’re giving advice to help avoid further regulatory action.”

According to the charity’s latest accounts filed with the regulator, it recorded a total income of £80,416 and expenditure of £49,942 in the year to the end of December 2022.

The NCCSS has been contacted for comment.