Issue - meetings

The Chairman presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'D' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

He report that moving the Russell-Cotes to become a fully Independent Trust had been an issue for the last 5 years as it was a non incorporated charity in which trustees were conflicted in the role of trustees and elected members.

It was noted that this was not a problem unique to Russell-Cotes and was experienced by a number of local authorities who were administering historic charities, many of which have moved to independent charity status.

The case for becoming fully independent had been widely acknowledged and supported by the committee.  The case for independence had also secured the approval of the Charity Commission.

Support from key agencies was also in place to progress the change under the rules set out in section 73 of the Charities Act 2011. The National Lottery Heritage Fund had supported this process with a grant of £100,000 to cover legal costs.

The laying of a parliamentary order would take between 6 – 12 months.

Urgency was an issue as the Russell-Cotes sought to avoid delays due to  a parliamentary election likely to take place part way through the process.

There are a number of risks identified in the report to be noted by the authority to avoid reputational damage.

The financial settlement required resolution within this calendar year.

RESOLVED: that the Management Committee supports the continuation of the project to replace BCP Council as the sole trustee with a new corporate trustee as agreed by the Council at their meeting on 10^th January 2023 with a target date of 1^st April 2025 and requests:

1. That  every effort is applied in getting a financial settlement for the corporate trust;
2. That Senior officer time is devoted to this outcome;
3. That Senior officers communicate their commitment to deliver the project within the timeframe announced.

Voting : Unanimous