Agenda and minutes

To receive any declaration of interest by any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

No declaration of interest received.

To submit, for confirmation, the minutes of the meeting held on 27 January, 2014.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 January, 2014 were confirmed.

To submit a report by the Secretary in respect of the above.

Submitted – a report by the Secretary in respect of continued discussion regarding the review of the functions and operational aspects of the Charitable Trust.

It was noted that the Charitable Trust has already resolved in principle that it needs to examine its constitution and its relationship with the County Council with a view to :-

·        Reducing the dependency on the Council in respect of administration and both strategic and professional leadership;

·        Protecting the capital held within the Trust for the benefit of Anglesey if local government structures are changed or reorganised in the future.  Professional advice from external Solicitors was given on these matters and further advice and guidance will be needed when the Trust is clear regarding the strategic direction it wishes to adopt for the future.

The Secretary gave a background report on the establishment of the Isle of Anglesey Charitable Trust since the 1990’s together with general overview in respect of its constitution, financial aspects and the objectives of the Trust.

It was noted that the full Charitable Trust has three Sub-Committees which support the decision making process.  The remit of these Committees were afforded as Appendix ‘A’  to the report :-

Investments and Contracts Committee

Regeneration Committee

General Grants Committee

The objective of the meeting was to review the work undertaken by the Committees over recent years; consider if the Committee’s structures are fit for purpose in the context of future requirements and to receive the Committee’s view regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the Trust in general.

Issues raised by the Members of the Trust :-

·        there is a need for a ‘handbook’ which outlines the purpose, rules for grant allocation, decision making powers and Charitable purpose of the Charitable Trust;

·        matters raised regarding the allocation of grants to Oriel Ynys Môn;

·        the need to investigate the future administration of the Trust.

The Members of the Trust thereafter were allocated into the 3 Sub-Committees of the Trust, of which they are members of, to discuss issues pertaining to these Committees.  Feedback from the 3 Sub-Committees were as follows :-

General Grants Committee

·        The current threshold of £6k need to be increased for grant allocation;

·        The capital funding need to be enhanced for the full Charitable Trust;

·        The contribution of 30% towards match-funding of  grants is considered too high for organisations to be able to afford.  It was considered that 15% would be more affordable;

·        The Trust Deed need to be looked upon to clarify specific issues within the deed.

Investments and Contracts Committee

·        Discussions pertaining from the Investment of the Trust with the HSBC Investment Management and the need to explore a better performance for capital receipts;

·        Discussions regarding the future investments of the potential sale of the land at Rhosgoch;

·        The possible Community Benefit from large energy projects on the Island and the feasibility of the need for a separate Trust to administer such a legacy;

·        Questions raised regarding the need to monitoring the funding and grant allocations;

·        Discussions pertaining to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

ITEM TAKEN IN PRIVATE

The Secretary updated the Charitable Trust in respect of the requirement for a Contamination Report in respect of the Rhosgoch land as was reported at the last meeting of the Trust.  He noted that guidance has been received from DTZ as to the specification of such a report and the possible cost.  He stated that as the cost is slightly over the procurement arrangements a tendering procedure will need to be undertaken and 3 tenders will need to be invited.  In consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Charitable Trust, DTZ have been requested to invite 3 tenders and the Officers of the Charitable Trust will score those tenders.

The Vice-Chair expressed that he would prefer DTZ to score the 3 tenders themselves so as to prevent any delay in the procedure.  The Legal Services Manager stated that the County Council as Trustee must adhere to its  procurement requirements and that the delegation to the private company to deal with such tenders would, more than likely, be unacceptable.  The advice therefore is that the Trust should keep to the procurement requirements of the County Council so that there is less reason to challenge the decision to appoint. 

RESOVLED to note the report.