Preschool Committee

[Alwaysachoice]

Can anyone give me some advice for our preschool?

We are committee run. We are not registered as a charity. We have a chair, treasurer and secretary and 2 other members, both of whom are staff.

As we are not a charity, do we have to have parent members? I've looked everywhere I can think of and can't find an answer to this!

Thanks in advance!

[EskSmith]

Your local council should have a department who can help you. Pre- school learning alliance may be helpful too. www.pre-school.org.uk/providers/support-and-advice

[Alwaysachoice]

Thanks for that EskSmith. I'll try the council. This came up at a PLA run training course but they won't talk to us as we're not members. The website doesn't answer the question unfortunately.

[SocksRock]

As you are not a charity, you are effectively a private company. As such, I would assume you can do what you like. Doesn't sound like a great set up though, and who do you have insurance with if not the PLA?

I was the chair of a preschool committee for 3 years and the advice from our council was to set up as a Charitable Incorporated Organaiation with the standard PLA constitution. This gives the committee limited liability in case you are sued. At the moment, you may have unlimited personal liability unless you are already a limited company.

[Alwaysachoice]

Eek! No, that doesn't sound good! I know we have insurance but will need to check this out asap. Thanks for your input.

[SocksRock]

Setting up as a CIO is not hard. There are quite a few stages to it and a lot of paperwork, but it can be done in a few months if you are on the ball.

One more thing, as you are an employer, have you considered your responsibilities regarding auto enrolment into pensions for your employees? Even if they both wish to opt out, you still have to set up, enrol them and then let them opt out. The deadline is soon.

[Alwaysachoice]

Thanks SocksRock, yes, pensions are on our to do list. Will look at the CIO in more detail.

[moonriverandme]

Im am manager of aPre School. Are you a ltd company? Are you registered with hmrc for wages etc.Iwould join PLA if I were in your position for advice . Charity Commission are also very helpful. You must protect yourself and committee as if you are not properly set up you are all personally liable.

[moonriverandme]

Pm me if you think I can help.

[moonriverandme]

You can check on the Companies House website to see if you have been registered as a company. How long has your setting been going ? perhaps this information is in old records. You can be a charity and not a company, but you need to run with a constitution. What type of setting does it say with Ofsted, they ask about this at inspection as they sometimes ask to speak to the registered person ie you as chair, as well as your manager/ leader who is in day to day charge. Pm me if I can help further

[Alwaysachoice]

Hi moonriverandme
We've been running for 11 years, have a constitution and are not a limited company. I think we're going to join PLA and get advice. We also may become a CIO though having spoken to other committees at other preschools this opens up a new can of worms regarding parents on committee, which was my original point.
Thank you everyone for your advice. I'm brand new to mumsnet and I'm impressed with the speed and helpfulness of other members!

[moonriverandme]

Hope you get it sorted. It would be interesting to see which constitution you are governed by. Good luck.

[SocksRock]

Do you not want parents on the committee then? Ours was a parent run one so all our committee members were parents. We were able to have staff on the committee as well, as long as they weren't a majority.