Kids Company: Vulnerable children 'lost out' as governments lavished money on charity, report says

Public Accounts Committee says it was 'staggering' Kids Company was given more than £40m without proper checks

Camila Batmanghelidjh’s charity received £40m from the Government over 13 years (Getty)

Vulnerable children across the country were disadvantaged because successive governments unfairly lavished public money on the Kids Company charity without having any idea whether they were getting value for money, a damning Parliamentary report has concluded.

The influential Public Accounts Committee said it was “staggering” that Kids Company, described by one official as “a Prime Minister-favoured charity”, was given more than £40m over 13 years without proper checks on where the money was spent.

The cross-party committee concluded that charities and young people across the country “lost out” because of the “special attention” Kids Company received. The report added it was “very sceptical” of the charity’s “inflated” claims of what it achieved.

A Government spokesman said: “The Government will consider the recommendations in this report. The welfare of the young people continues to be our primary concern, and we are working closely with local authorities to make sure they have access to the services they require.”