For local authorities, councillors and those advising them on public facilities which they are responsible for as a charity trustee…. The Charity Commission for England and Wales has for the first time issued an Official Warning to a local authority for mismanagement, misconduct or breach of trust in relation to charities for which it is a charity trustee. The Official Warning was issued last month to Calderdale MBC for: *Failure to file annual accounts and annual returns for 13 charities. For most of these charities filing defaults have been ongoing for more than 15 years. *Failure to follow an Action Plan issued in May 2023 to submit all outstanding accounting information and take other steps to ensure appropriate financial controls and governance procedures. To put things right, the Official Warning requires Calderdale MBC to: *Bring filings of all accounting information for the charities up to date *Implement processes to ensure compliance with accounting responsibilities in future *Locate and identify all 13 charities on a local register and collate their details and assets *Hold regular trustee meetings, treating each charity as a separate entity *Ensure councillors are aware of their duties and responsibilities *Review financial controls for all the charities, implement and record processes to provide evidence they have done so to the Charity Commission Lawyers In Local Government
We’ve issued an Official Warning to Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council after it failed to comply with its duties as trustee of 13 charities. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ecjV6QDY
Shocking
Charities Consultant & Trainer | Charity Governance Expert
3moI have lost count of the number of cases I have come across/dealt with in which a local authority has failed to fully discharge its duties as charity trustee of public facilities. A common theme is that they don't recognise when facilities (such as recreation grounds, playing fields, public gardens, common land, allotments, car parks, concert halls, art galleries, museums, historic buildings, reading rooms, town halls, libraries and leisure centres) are held on charitable trusts. Hopefully this Official Warning will be a wake up call to all local authorities of the need to identify and properly administer the charity assets they hold.