CONNECTED PERSONS

Question

Does anyone have any experience of Charities Act S185?  Things have kicked off regarding a large grant we pay to a Charity whose chair is a Councillor .  The trustees of that Charity use the grant to fund an SLA with a CIC which has two directors one of which is  the Councillors wife.  Publicly available reports show that a large proportion of  the fee paid is drawn as Directors remuneration.  Whilst the interest is always declared some Councillors are uncomfortable with the model used and whether VFM is being delivered.  Thoughts?

Answer 1

The question is too vague:

On what basis / authority is the "grant" provided?
What is "large" - as a proportion of the whole precept or as a cash amount in relation to how many people might potentially benefit?

Probably OK if the Cllr declares an interest but what is the originating history and current basis for continuation?

Fund an SLA with a CIC where the major liability is director renumeration - that sounds like money laundering to me.

What is the charity?  What benefit does it bestow upon the community?  What is the basis / authority for PC grant support?

Don't worry about Cllrs feeling "uncomfortable" for asking questions - its the ones that are NOT asking questions that should be felling uncomfortable!

Answer 2

Jamie   I do not see that this is primarily a charity 'connected person' issue.  It is a Value for Money issue as the councillors note.   On the facts presented (as noted by round again) a council giving a grant to a charity the bulk of which ends up in the pocket of the councillors wife does not sound like good value for money and is a pecuniary interest.

The resolution is in the hands of the councillors who have no need to vote the grant though if they think it is dodgy.   At a stretch the council can say what the grant is used for - in detail, and ask for the return of any not so used.