Investigators check charity group's $9m cash pile

The publicly-funded disabled care provider, Focus 2000, is sitting on a cash pile of more than $9 million, the Weekend Herald has discovered.

Ministry of Health deputy director-general of disability services Geraldine Woods says while it is prudent for provider organisations to have reserves to manage unexpected financial shocks, the ministry is concerned at the amount Focus 2000 has put aside.

"Focus does have a very large buffer and it does surprise me that it has so much."

The company owned by the Cerebral Palsy Society is the subject of ministry-ordered audits of its quality of care, its finances and its organisational and governance structure.

An investigation by The Weekend Herald was refused access to Cerebral Palsy Society's accounts for last year but obtained accounts for 2004 which show a cash surplus of $3.96 million plus $5.21 million in term deposits, managed funds and government securities. Focus also owns Coyle Developments, which purchases and sells properties.

Woods said she expected the funding provided to Focus - $15.18 million in 2004 and $42.96 million in the four years since 2001 - to be used "for services that we're purchasing from them".

She said the audits would look at what Focus wanted its $9 million buffer for. "They certainly couldn't provide it to shareholders."

The 100 per cent shareholder of Focus is the Cerebral Palsy Society which has been trying to get access to the surplus to serve the needs of people with cerebral palsy.

Attempts to access the money at the last year's annual general meeting were thwarted by Focus board members, and hampered by an out-of-date and ambiguous constitution.

"Many of the problems and concerns that we witnessed at the AGM last year were a direct result of a constitution that has not kept up with the needs of a modern-day society", said society president Karl Sangster.

The society wants a special general meeting in May to change the constitution.

"Our challenge as a board now is to develop a criterion policy on how we're going to use that money going forward," said society board member Peter Ferguson.

"I suppose the downside is that money has sat there for some considerable time. The upside is that it hasn't been siphoned off anywhere or fraudulently used, that I'm aware of."

The Society, Focus 2000 and another subsidiary, Focus Norwest, all have charitable status.

Focus 2000 chief executive Anne Murphy declined to be interviewed.