Agenda item

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 allocation of Membership of the Charitable Trust and the possibility of extending the membership to Lay-Members.

Regeneration Committee

·        An agreement that a ‘handbook’ needs to be afforded to the Members of the Charitable Trust which would be updated on an annual basis;

·        The modernisation process of the Trust needs a project plan and specific resources to move forward projects without delays;

·        The establishment of this Committee was to monitor financial allocations to Menter Môn as match-funding for their European Programmes.  It was stated that every £10 this Committee affords Menter Môn they are able to attract £90 from Europe;

·        It was considered that a representative from the Charitable Trust should be allowed on the Board of Menter Môn to monitor the financial allocation afforded by the Trust;

·        The administration of grants needs to be reviewed and to raise general investments for local projects;

·        It was suggested that the membership of the Charitable Trust should be raised to allow for lay-members to be part of the Trust;

The Secretary thanked the Members of the Trust for their comments and stated that it was obvious that the level of understanding of the policies, financial allocation needs to be enhanced with the production of a ‘hand-book’ for the Members. 

He further stated that it seemed that the Trust was satisfied with the arrangements to continue with the invitation of grants application from next month onwards.    However he realised that the Trust wishes the Officers to investigate the possibility of releasing further grant allocation, increasing the thresholds of how to deal with the match-funding of project with Menter Môn.  The Secretary stated that he would prepare a report in respect of this matter.

Furthermore he stated that the Managing Director of Menter Môn would be invited to the next meeting of the Charitable Trust to address the meeting in respect of his intentions in relation to European Schemes.

The Secretary further reported that he would invited a Solicitor from Weightmans LLP to the next meeting to guide the Members on questions pertaining to the Trust Deed.

Questions were raised regarding the possibility of  Amlwch being included for financial allocation from the Trust.  Amlwch Town Council was allocated a specific amount of money when Shell UK left the area.  Thereafter Amlwch was not allowed to forward applications for financial contribution from the Trust.  The Secretary responded that the matter would be raised during the discussion with Weightmans LLP.

Further issues raised regarding the future administration of the Charitable Trust.   The Secretary responded that a report would need to be prepared in respect of the advantages and disadvantages of an outside organisation taking over the administration of the Trust.  The Vice-Chair had made enquiries with organisations that deal with such Charitable Trust and afforded the Members with a copy of a response by one organisation.  It was AGREED to attached the response to the minutes of this Committee.

RESOLVED to accept the report and the recommendations and comments as noted above.