Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED: To elect Cllr Paul Crossley as Chair of the Charitable Trust Board.

No Vice-Chair was required at this time.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Democratic Services Officer read out the emergency evacuation procedure.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Mark Roper.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair informed members that there was one item of urgent business regarding the Charity of Frances Georgina Cooke (charity no. 266101) re 4 The Circus, Bath.  The reason for urgency was the need to nominate additional trustees to support the charity as soon as possible.

Stephen Bird, Head of Heritage Services, explained that the charity requires four trustees and that three trustees are required for a quorum.  There is currently only one trustee.  The Council is not a sole corporate trustee of this charity and trustees do not have to be councillors.

The Heritage Team have now moved out of the building at 4 The Circus and the Bath Spa University fashion and design courses will be moving out in September.  There is currently no lease arrangement in place and Trustees are required to decide the future and possible disposal of the building.  A number of options for the building have already been considered and if there were an organisation willing to take it on then this could be discussed by Trustees. 

RESOLVED: To request the Head of Heritage Services to advertise the vacancies and to appoint three Trustees to the Frances Georgina Cooke charity in consultation with the Chair of the Charitable Trust Board.

Mr Graham Page submitted some questions and made a statement regarding item no. 10 on the agenda, the proposal to review an alternative delivery of the objects of the Alice Park Trust.  Mr Page raised concerns regarding the increasing separation of the Council and the Trust.  In particular he had concerns relating to officer support for technical and administrative functions, risk management, health and safety and event management.  He also highlighted the need for the Trust to generate additional funding as it became more independent.  A copy of the questions, responses and statement is attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2016.

RESOLVED:  To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 December 2016.

(Note:  None of the current members of the Charitable Trust Board were present at the previous meeting; however, a member of the public who was present stated that they were an accurate record).

To consider a proposal received by the Council from a third party in relation to transferring responsibility for the Alice Park Trust from the Council (as sole corporate trustee) to an independent community led initiative. (Report to follow).

The Board considered a report by the Director of Environmental Services.  The report gave details of a proposal which had been received from a third party in relation to transferring responsibility for the Alice Park Trust (as sole corporate trustee) to an independent community led initiative. 

It was noted that there was a risk that asset liabilities may be overlooked if the Trust/Council roles are misunderstood corporately.  It was possible that the Council may not discharge its Duty of Care liabilities if the site was not managed properly and this could become a reputational risk.

Mr Derek Swift and Mr Sam McGuire presented their proposal for the structure and management of the Alice Park Trust Charity to the Board.  The following points were raised:

·  The park is now being used more frequently and there is already community involvement.  However, the average user would feel that it is a Council park when, in fact, the park was left in trust to the people of Bath.

·  The current structure for management of the park has not fully addressed this issue.  The proposal put forward would ensure a clear separation of roles and would give clarity.  New Trustees would be identified and funds to support the park could be raised by legacies, gift-aid and sponsorship.

·  There were opportunities to obtain support from the local community who could become more involved with the management of the park.  A “Friends of Alice Park” scheme could be introduced whereby people would pay a nominal amount of money to become a “friend”.

·  The proposal would introduce a framework for taking the Alice Park back to a model that more closely resembles Mr McVicar’s original vision for the park by giving it a structure that enables it to once more be run by “The Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of Bath.”  This would offer a positive reputational gain and save officer time.

·  The intention was not to run large events or to commercialise the park.

·  The proposals were in line with the Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation which is looking at new models and approaches to managing parks and green spaces.  This would also address the pressures on public finances and all public resources. A charity is also able to access funding opportunities that the Council cannot.

·  Sam McGuire explained that he had experience of running large scale business entities and Derek Swift was a Chartered Accountant who also ran his own business.  He pointed out that local expertise could be used to push this project forward and noted that Larkhall is a strong and active community.  It was also noted that, under current arrangements, only councillors can vote rather than local people or park users.

The Board then discussed the following issues:

·  The current situation means that some people are running activities in the park but none of the money raised is going to the Alice Park Trust. 

·  Cllr Appleyard pointed out that the local expertise can still be harnessed under the current arrangements.  To avoid putting extra  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To consider constituting the Alice Park Trust Sub Committee, following the Local Government elections in May, and to agree its membership in accordance with the Terms of Reference.

The Board considered a report by the Legal Services Manager which asked members to consider the membership of the Alice Park Trust Sub-Committee in accordance with its terms of reference.

RESOLVED: To appoint Cllrs Rob Appleyard, Paul Myers and Joanna Wright to the Alice Park Trust Sub-Committee.