Charity governance

[isitwineoclockyet]

I am a trustee of a charity which is not huge, but turning over roughly £50K/year. I have huge concerns about some aspects of how the charity is run. I have read around the Trustees sections of the Charity Commission website, but there are things I need answers to which are not covered (they're probably quite specific to the way this charity is doing things, so don't come under general advice)

Would it be possible for me to find someone who has specific legal expertise in this area, & if so, how?

Assuming I could, does anyone have any idea how much I should expect to pay for a consultation?

Grateful for any advice.

[DuPainDuVinDuFromage]

You will be able to get legal advice from a specialist Charities lawyer - the law firm I work at has a Charities team (let me know if you'd like me to pm you their details) and I imagine there will be plenty of others.

Hard to say what kind of fees you would be looking at without more details. Your best bet is probably to ring a charities lawyer of your choice () and explain what you would want from them, and they should then give you an estimate before you actually instruct them to do any work for you (ie no obligation if you don't agree to the estimate). Hope that helps - sorry I only have very limited knowledge of charities law myself so wouldn't be able to help!

[isitwineoclockyet]

Yes please.

[SWIMTHECHANNEL]

Why not ring the Charity Commission helpline? They are v good.

[isitwineoclockyet]

Thanks - will try that too!

[Muskey]

Is it something that you can raise with the other trustees or go to the chair and ask for an extraordinary meeting to be held

[isitwineoclockyet]

I know that some of the other trustees share my worries, but I don't think they know what to do. I think over a long period things have gradually been allowed to slide & it's taken a while for them to wake up to the fact that it's not great. I think it's a majority of trustees who are not happy, but I'm not sure just how messy it could get with the others. That's why I'd rather have some professional help, so I can go in & say categorically that it has to change, rather than it coming across as "I don't like this..."

Hope that makes sense!

Thanks for advice so far

[Muskey]

Do you have personal liability as a trustee if you do then I would advise you mention your concerns sooner rather than later and if it is as bad as you think you are right to seek legal advice

[Theincidental]

Be very careful here. Check the mem and arts and trustee information for your charity. If you are concerned about financial impropriety you might find that you as a trustee can be held accountable and can be pursued for debts incurred by the charity.

I'm afraid the charity commission can be very unhelpful in my experience and would strongly advocate that you take legal advice. You could potentially instruct a solicitor in behalf of the charity to do some governance work with you and other concerned trustees.

First thing to check is what type of status does the charity have and what kind of trustee are you?

[isitwineoclockyet]

Yes, I do believe I am liable as a trustee (hence my concern!)

Could you explain a bit more Theincidental? I am not sure what different types of trustees there might be? I had the very briefest of briefings when I became a trustee, but the person who did that is the person I have the most doubts about, so now I'm wondering if it was as comprehensive as it might have been.

I did get some legal advice today. They're going to get back to me with a rough idea of likely cost. It does seem that proper (if potentially expensive) legal advice is the way to go.

[Theincidental]

All charities must give copies of their memorandum and articles of association to the charity commission with documents concerning the structure and governance for trustees. You can obtain these for free from the CC and they will provide them usually within 10 days.

I'd start by getting those, along with copies of recent accounts (also free from cc) and any minutes so you can piece together your responsibilities and what is going on.

If you are a trustee with liability then if there are any creditors trying to claim monies from the charity which the charity cannot or will not pay then the creditor can seek to obtain them directly from any responsible trustee of any status including treasurer or chair.

[isitwineoclockyet]

Thanks for that. Creditors is not top of my list of worries (though the list feels pretty long at the minute!)

[Theincidental]

That is good. Pull together those docs though as if you do appoint a solicitor it will save time and money.

What are the issues?

[gildedlily]

Your local Council of Voluntary Service or NCVO should be able to provide useful, free advice and also possibly help resolve the situation.

[isitwineoclockyet]

I don't want to go into too much detail in case it outs me. Main concern is someone with too much autonomy & a slightly ...erm... old fashioned attitude to women. It's not so much that there is anything dodgy going on, more that the way things are currently done allows plenty of scope for it.

[Theincidental]

How does his sexism impact the running of the charity? Is he breaching the equalities act?

Or is it more that he's not sharing information like accounts or governance properly with other trustees?

Is the charity limited by guarantee?

[isitwineoclockyet]

I don't know whether the charity is limited or not. I have looked through what's on the charity commission website & it's not really helped me any.

Certainly he's not sharing information properly (not in my opinion anyway).

His sexism doesn't really impact on the running of the charity, but it impacts on delivery. In a room full of women, there's a risk of him saying something he shouldn't, or standing slightly too close to someone. I wouldn't be happy about female volunteers working with him, for example.

[crabbyoldbat]

If the charity is also limited, it will appear on the Companies House website, too, so you can look it up there.