Agenda item

Consider report by Chief Financial Officer providing an update on the progress of the reorganisation of the Council’s registered Trust Fund Charities and proposes the recommended approach to governance for the new Charitable Trusts.  (Copy attached.)

         With reference to paragraph 14 of the Minute of 30 January 2015, there had been circulated copies of a report by the Chief Financial Officer providing an update on the progress of the reorganisation of the Council’s registered Trust Fund Charities and proposing the recommended approach to governance for the new Charitable Trusts.  The report explained that following the agreement to establish three new Charitable Trusts and the reorganisation and winding up of the existing Council Charity Funds, excluding the Common Good Charity Fund, into one of the new Charitable Trusts, the Council had successfully set up and registered the three new Charitable Trusts with the Office of Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) in March 2014: SBC Welfare Trust; SBC Community Enhancement Trust and SBC Educational Trust. The Council was the sole corporate trustee of each of these charities and copies of the Trust Deeds were appended to the report.  Applications for reorganisations of the individual OSCR registered funds were all put to OSCR before 31 March 2014, which had the effect of removing them from the requirement of a full audit. The Ormiston Trust, due to the presence of heritable assets, would remain as a separate charity, and work to re-organise the Thomas Howden Wildlife Trust was underway.   Appendix 3 to the report summarised the agreed outcome of these applications and discussions with OSCR and any associated agreed geographical or charitable purpose restriction. OSCR had confirmed de-registration of the 34 charities detailed in the report, and these had now been wound up.  There was continued work on the re-organisation of the combined Charitable Trust (with 76 individual funds) and the non-Charitable Trust funds and this would be reported to Council as work  progressed.  In order to efficiently manage the funds of the new Charitable Trusts, it was proposed to create area based Charitable Trusts Sub-Committees with the remit as set out in Appendix 4 to the report.  In addition, where awards were to specific individuals or families the award criteria would be established by the Sub-Committees but the individual applications would be agreed under delegated authority.  It was noted that the Sub-Committee would be expected to meet annually.  It was further noted that in Appendix 4 the Selkirkshire Ward had been omitted from the Eildon Area and this would be amended. An amended wording for recommendation (k) was tabled and accepted at the meeting.

         DECISION

          AGREED:-

          (a)    to note the establishment and registration of SBC Education Trust, SBC Welfare Trust and SBC Community Enhancement Trust as Charitable Trusts, each having all of the Elected Members of the Council as Trustees and the purposes as set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

          (b)    that the Trust Funds would start with a maximum revenue balance of 5% of the combined capital and revenue balances,  that any excess revenue balances above this level would be transferred to the capital balance and invested in accordance with the Common Good and Trust Fund Investment Strategy;

          (c)    that the budget for expenditure from the Charitable Trusts would normally be based on the income generated in the preceding year;

          (d)    to approve the appointment of the Convenor of the Scottish Borders Council as Chairman of SBC Educational Trust, SBC Welfare Trust and SBC Community Enhancement Trust;

          (e)    to approve the appointment of the Chief Financial Officer of the Scottish Borders Council as Treasurer of SBC Educational Trust, SBC Welfare Trust and SBC Community Enhancement Trust;

          (f)     to approve the creation of Charitable Trusts Sub-Committees of Council  for the management of the various Charitable Funds with the remit as set out in Appendix 4 to the report (correcting the omission of Selkirkshire from the list of Wards in Eildon Area), and amend the Scheme of Administration to include these new Sub-Committees;

          (g)    to approve the amendment to the Scheme of Delegation to add the Specific Delegated Function of “Make payments to individuals from educational trusts and SBC Education Trust according to set criteria” to the Service Director – Children and Young People and remove it from the Chief Financial Officer;

          (h)    to approve the amendment to the Scheme of Delegation to add the Specific Delegated Function of “Make payments to individuals or families SBC Welfare Trust according to set criteria” to the Services Director – Neighbourhood Services;

          (i)     to receive further reports on the re-organisation of the combined Charitable Trust and non-Charitable Trust funds as the work continued;

          (j)     that all of the Charitable Trusts administered by the Council formally adopt the Council’s Scheme of Administration, Procedural Standing Orders, Scheme of Delegation, Local Code of Corporate Governance and Financial Regulations as they were currently approved by Council and that any subsequent appropriately approved amendments would automatically apply to these Charitable Trusts, unless there were explicit exceptions approved by the Trustees; and

          (k)    that all the Charitable Trusts administered by the Council formally adopt the Council’s Policy Register as was currently approved by Council and that any subsequent approved amendments would automatically apply to these Charitable Trusts, unless there were explicit exceptions approved by the Trustees.