A TORY MSP has called for answers from troubled charity Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) after the finance chief quit.
Jon Dye’s resignation from the body follows the suspension of chief executive Margaret Lynch last year. Colleagues learned of his sudden departure in an email on Monday from the acting head of human resources.
The document thanked other members of the finance team individually for their “hard work and dedication over recent months”.
Tory MSP Alex Johnstone said he was 'seriously concerned' about the charity, the umbrella body for 61 member bureaux that advises 300,000 people a year on finance, welfare and consumer issues.
He said: “I am seriously concerned by this development and the finances of a charity that has received large funds from the UK and Scottish governments. It is time someone stepped in here to provide reassurance.
“If the Government does not know why the chief executive was suspended, or why the head of finance has quit, they should be enquiring.”
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr Dye.
The UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is the charity’s core funder and provided around £3.4 million last year.
Scottish ministers also fund the bureaux network through CAS for specific projects and handed over £2.6m in 2014/15.
In September, it emerged that Ms Lynch had been suspended. No explanation was offered for the decision. Last week it emerged a minute of the charity’s board of trustees from April last year showed questions being raised on financial management.
Board member William Mitchell queried whether funds for the charity’s Extra Help Unit and Consumer Futures team were used for a wider shake-up of the charity.
Ms Lynch replied by saying that this question had been “answered before” and explained the link between the funding and the reorganisation of the charity.
The charity’s low financial reserves were also questioned.
Picture: Margaret Lynch
The Herald approached CAS for a comment last week about the head of finance’s employment status. The charity declined to comment on “staff matters”, but just 24 hours later Mr Dye had left.
The Scottish Government, which has no concerns about the governance of the projects it has financed, has not yet finalised CAS funding levels for 2015/16.
A CAS spokesman said: “We can confirm that the head of finance has resigned. We can also confirm that he has not been suspended at any point in the last six months.
“The funds designated for consumer landscape changes included allowances for the provision of back office services and premises as detailed in our accounts for 2014/15, which have been approved by both our auditors RSM and BIS. CAS finances are in a healthy position, and there are sufficient reserves to meet the operational needs of the organisation for a significant period of time.”
Mr Dye could not be reached for comment.
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