Christ Church college spent millions in legal fees and PR costs in effort to oust dean Martyn Percy.

Christ Church College, founded in 1546 and alma mater of 13 Prime Ministers, spent close to £6.6 million in legal fees and public relations costs over a period of three-and-a-half years, in its efforts to remove the former dean. 

The handling and expenditure surrounding the controversial departure has since been criticised by the UK Charity Commission for mismanagement and misconduct. The commission said the college, which has charitable status, had not managed resources responsibly and had not been held accountable for its spending, describing the events as a “very divisive” internal dispute. 

The regulator is also critical of the trustees’ failure to ensure that the college was accountable for its expenditure on legal and public relations fees during the dispute. The Commission found that the charity’s published accounts between 2018-2021 categorised costs associated with the charity’s actions involving the former Dean as “other direct costs – teaching, research and residential.” 

The Commission says that this could be misleading to the readers of the accounts, while the trustees had previously been advised by the charity’s auditors to consider reporting on actions related to the dispute specifically, and to seek advice on its reporting. The regulator has therefore determined that these failures and omissions amounted to “misconduct and/or mismanagement in the charity’s administration.”

Helen Earner, Director of Regulatory Services at the Charity Commission, said: 

“These long and protracted disputes risked undermining the reputation of Christ Church and harming wider trust in charities. It is not for us as regulator to take sides in disputes. Our role is to ensure that charities are governed effectively and that charitable funds are properly accounted for. All trustees must demonstrate sound financial stewardship, regardless of the level of resources available to them.”

“We consider that the actions of the trustees at Christ Church amount to mismanagement and/or misconduct, after they failed to manage the charity’s resources responsibly or ensure that the charity is accountable in the context of a costly dispute.”