Politics and Economics Research Trust

The Politics and Economics Research Trust was set up in 2007 as the Taxpayers' Alliance Research Trust.Politics and Economics Research Trust, Charity framework, The Charity Commission, Accessed 11-April-2011 It is a registered charity set up 'to advance the education of the public and in particular to promote for the public benefit research into matters of public taxation, public policy, applied economics and political science and to disseminate the useful results thereof'.PERT, The Politics and Economics Research Trust, Politics and Economics Research Trust, Accessed 11-April-2011 The charity is run by members the Euro-sceptic right wing of the Conservative Party and UKIP. Former UKIP leader Malcolm Pearson is a former trustee and the point of contact for the charity is millionaire Conservative Party donor Patrick Barbour.Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Politics and Economics Research Trust Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Charity Commission, Accessed 15-April-2011Statement of Accounts Dec 2008, Politics and Economics Research Trust Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Charity Commission, Accessed 15-April-2011
==Criticism==
The Politics and Economics Research Trust gave £505,000, more than 90 per cent of its total funding, to the Taxpayers' Alliance in its first two years, according to a Charity Commission report. The report shows that, between December 2007 and December 2009, the charity made grants worth pounds 544,000, including the money paid to the pressure group that campaigns for lower taxes. 
Following complaints by The Guardian and John Prescott MP in 2011, the Charity Commission report found no evidence to support the allegation that the Taxpayers' Alliance used the charity as a vehicle to channel funds, enhanced with Gift Aid, to its own account. It says the group's founder, Matthew Elliott, was the company secretary of the charity until February 2010. The commission has issued regulatory guidance to the charity, which it says covers 'the reputational risks to the charity if its relationship with the alliance is not properly managed'.Kaye Wiggins, Charity funded anti-tax group, Third Sector, 1-March-2011 
Despite this guidance, the Trust has continued to channel large amounts of funding into the Taxpayers' Alliance. The full amounts are as follows, divided into calendar years ending 31 December:
2008: £265,000.The Politics and Economics Research Trust, Financial Statement 2008-9, p. 9.
2009: £240,000.The Politics and Economics Research Trust, Financial Statement 2008-9, p. 9.
2010: £325,000.The Politics and Economics Research Trust, Financial Statement 2009-10, p. 9.
2011: £395,000.The Politics and Economics Research Trust, Financial Statement 2010-11, p. 9.
2012: £275,000.The Politics and Economics Research Trust, Financial Statement 2011-12, p. 9.
Total: £1,500,000
==People==
Matthew Elliott - Secretary until 2010
===Trustees===
Patrick Barbour | Peter Brown | John Mills | Richard Smith | Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Resigned November 2009)
==Accounts==
centre|thumb|600px|PERT Accounts from the Charity CommissionPolitics and Economics Research Trust, [http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1121849&SubsidiaryNumber=0 Accounts], the Charity Commission, Accessed 17-April-2011
==Resources==
*Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Politics and Economics Research Trust 
*Statement of Accounts Dec 2008, Statement of Accounts Dec 2008, Politics and Economics Research Trust
*Robert Booth, Charity warned over relationship after £500,000 gift to TaxPayers' Alliance, the Guardian, 24-February-2011
*Robert Booth, Charity arm of Taxpayers' Alliance under tax investigation, the Guardian, 30-December-2009
*Regulatory Case Report of an Investigation by the Charity Commission concerning Politics and Economics Research Trust
==Contact==
:Website: http://www.pert.org.uk/index.html
==Notes==
Category: Think Tanks