Can Parish Councils dump large sums of money into Charitable Trusts and is this lawful?

Question

Parish council set up a charitable trust but can they dump large sums of money from the LA money they levy from the precept and if not but have already done so, what happens next?

Answer 1

I think you need to help us by providing the history/context for the question.

Comments

History, context and detail…

Answer 2

If the Parish Council have the general power of competence (gives councils the power to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation) then the answer is probably yes.  By the way, precept money comes from paritioners not the Principal Authority who merely collect on behalf of the parish Council.

Comments

Conversely, if the council lacks the General Power, the sums of money would be limited by the annual limit on S137 donations. I presume that the council is aware that it can't get the money back and that if they're using the charitable trust to deliver the council's work, it doesn't have a VAT exemption?