Publication of Summaries of Trustee Decisions

Over the past few months, requests have been made for publication of the minutes of Slinfold Village Hall Trustee meetings: a direct request to the Trustees for the publication of their minutes, a Freedom of Information (FoI) request for such through the Parish Council, and an implicit request in an article in the December 2011 issue of the Slinfold Magazine.

As a Registered Charity, the Village Hall is not a public body and hence is not subject to the FoI Act. Additionally, constitutionally, the Parish Council has - and can have - no involvement in the running of the Village Hall, which is a Registered Charity. The Parish Council merely holds the role of Custodian Trustee, which means that the building and land is held in their name on behalf of the Managing Trustees, who cannot hold it in their own name because they do not legally constitute a Corporate Body.

The Trustees do not consider it appropriate to publish the minutes of their operational meetings - which may include sensitive or condfidential business - and as far as the current trustees are aware it has never been the practice for the Hall to do so.

Nevertheless, although the Trustees do not consider it appropriate to publish the minutes of their meetings in full, they do recognise the benefits of frequent and open communication and, in addition to regular updates in the Slinfold Magazine, their intention has been to publish a Summary of key Decisions from their meetings when volunteer time became available. The current Christmas break has finally afforded that time, and summaries of the decisions made at Trustee Meetings during 2011 have now been produced and retrospectively published in this blog. It is the Trustees intention to continue publishing such summaries, but it must be noted that they are under no legal obligation to do so, and that their continuance to do so is subject to volunteer time being available.

Slinfold Magazine item - January 2012

Slinfold Village Hall News

Hall Redecoration

By the end of January we hope to have completed a substantial redecoration programme. The outside of the Hall was repainted during the autumn, and the Entrance Hall and Main Hall in the week before Christmas. The floors are next: the carpets are to be cleaned and, for the first time since the 2000 refurbishment, the hard floors are to be stripped down, retreated and re-polished. This is planned for one day in January and it is hoped to avoid any disruption of bookings.

Governance

An item in last month’s magazine opened by commenting on “the loss of much of the 'Golden Oldie' [volunteer] support” and on the potential implications for the financial situation and the “present excellent state [of the hall]”. The article then went on to question some of the Hall’s policies – specifically on Reserves, Openness and Accountability.

The financial and legal implications of running an operational charity precludes going into much policy detail here, but more information continues to be available on the Hall’s website and in the publicly-available annual report to the Charity Commission (also available from the Hall’s website).

Reserves

• The Charity Commission and various fund-awarding bodies (eg. WSCC) require a forward plan and policy on Reserves.
• In order to maintain the excellent state of the hall, an annual allocation of funds enables major fluctuation in maintenance and replacement costs to be averaged out over several years.
• Each year, the forward plan is reassessed as part of the annual inventory audit, and then the budget, including Reserves allocation/draw-down, is discussed and agreed at the AGM – which is open to all local residents. This year’s AGM agreed a net reduction in Reserves of £3.1k, in part to fund the redecoration programme outlined at the top of this article.
• More information on Reserves and their calculation is available on the Hall’s website.

Openness

• The amount of Village Hall information readily available far exceeds that previously published, and is actively being increased when volunteer resource permits. As well as the detailed information on the website, the ‘News’ column on the home page is regularly updated; and news items are included in most issues of this magazine.
• The Village Hall is a registered charity not a public body. Charities do not normally publish minutes of their operational meetings, which may include confidential business – and as far as the current Trustees are aware it has not ever been the practice for the Hall to do so.

Accountability

• The Governing Document provides for the AGM to be the primary forum for accountability of the Trustees to local residents. The AGM is held in June each year and is open to all local residents, and the minutes and accounts are published on the Hall’s website.
• The majority of the trustees are representatives of local groups that regularly use the Hall – this provides an ongoing mechanism for communication between regular hall users and the Trustee body. There are also four trustees who are nominated and elected by public vote at each AGM.

For more information or to offer your services as a volunteer, contact Neil Peachey (Chairman), Trevor Dayneswood (Vice-chairman) or go to SlinfoldVillageHall.co.uk

Summary of Trustee Meeting Decisions - Sep 2011

1. As per previous discussions, the Village Hall is not subject to the FoI Act so minutes will not be made publically available, though decisions summaries will be produced for the web-site if and when time allows.
2. Agreement reached with all parties regarding Rent-Free use of Hall by St. Peter's Church
3. Delegated Authority limit set at £100 for Training and Documentation.
4. Slinfold Village Hall to subscribe to the new AirS Village Hall service.
5. External re-decoration to proceed at once with Adam Cheeseman. Costs to be met from Reserves.
6. Internal re-decoration and floor resurfacing to take place over winter, once competitive quotes have been received.