News / OSCR threatens action on trust reform
THE SCOTTISH charity regulator OSCR is ratcheting up the pressure on Shetland Charitable Trust to remove council control from its board of trustees, saying it faces a “high risk” of breaching rules on conflict of interest.
The regulator has now told the £200 million trust that they will be closely monitoring its activities with a keen eye on councillor conduct, examining agendas and minutes and reserving the right to attend meetings directly.
If it suspects any “misconduct” has taken place it can suspend any trustee or officer or even prevent the trust from acting in a particular way.
The position is so serious that the trust’s legal advisers have warned “the practical effect of the monitoring arrangements should not be underestimated”.
The move is the latest in the long running saga to remove council control of the organisation set up in the 1970s to look after funds from the oil industry designed for community benefit.
The islands councillors have dominated the trust since it was set up in the 1970s, accounting for 21 of its 23 trustees, but a change in charity law in 2005 meant this had to end.
The trust has dragged its heels on implementing change and when it proposed last February to reduce the level of council control to eight councillors and seven independents, the trust voted to postpone reform until after the next council elections.
OSCR has told the trust this is not acceptable and reform must be implemented more urgently.
Now independent trustee John Scott, the islands’ Lord Lieutenant, has called for “common sense” to prevail and will present a new proposal for reform at Wednesday’s trust meeting.
Mr Scott is suggesting a 15 strong board of trustees comprised of just three elected councillors, with a further 10 elected and two appointed to the post. Trustees would be elected by postal vote every four years, with a maximum tenure of eight years.
Mr Scott said: “I have been unhappy about the governance of the trust for some time and I feel the situation has now moved into an area where we are probably not legal and we are also being held in disrepute, and I don’t like belonging to bodies that are in disrepute.”
He added that the critical reports from local government watchdog the Accounts Commission and OSCR were “so powerful” and the trust’s legal advice was so clear that “it would be foolish not to make quite a radical change in governance”.
Mr Scott said he had researched steps taken by other charities in the face of the new laws, including the National Trust, which had helped him formulate his proposal.
He already has the support of councillor/trustee Jonathan Wills and said he was “optimistic that common sense will prevail” at Wednesday’s meeting.
Meanwhile OSCR has rejected two anonymous complaints concerning the trust’s involvement with the Viking Energy project.
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