MPs call Kids Company’s grip on government “staggering” and warn it “must never happen again”
An influential parliamentary committee has slammed the government over its relationship with Kids Company and warned that similar cases “must never happen again”.
In a new report out today, the Public Accounts Committee says it is “staggering” that the government gave over £40m to the charity over the past 13 years and “still has no idea what it was getting for taxpayers’ money”.
“All the warning sides of a failed and expensive experiment had long been there,” the MPs added.
Meg Hillier, a Labour MP who chairs the committee, said today: “The charity was passed around Whitehall like a hot potato, with no one willing to call time on spending millions of tax pounds for uncertain outcomes.
“The lack of scrutiny over its funding was staggering. Fairness and value for money – fundamental values when considering public spending – appear to have been forgotten in repeated and ultimately doomed attempts to keep Kids Company afloat,” she added.