Agenda and minutes

Councillor Helen Hollis, in attendance at the meeting only, declared a non disclosable pecuniary/other interest in relation to her current position as Chairman of the Teversal Grange Advisory Committee.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 11th July, 2016, as now submitted, be received and approved.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance) and Monitoring Officer presented the report and took the opportunity to update the Committee on progress since the previous Charities Committee meeting held on 11^th July, 2016 as follows:-

Financial Position

The cumulative deficit for the Trust to the end of March 2016 stood at just over £120k.  For 2016/17 the Council had made a further payment of £8,242 on behalf of the Trust to cover water and general maintenance works.

Progress with Leases

Football Club

The Football Club had informed the Council that it wished to enter into dialogue regarding the possibility of taking over the Trust in its entirety from the Council.  In relation to the lease, the Club had taken legal advice and had been advised to refrain from signing the lease until the discussions regarding the taking over of the Trust had been completed.  No quotes had yet been received in relation to the repair works to the kitchen.

Bowls Club

The Bowls Club had said that they were unable to enter into a lease because they could not afford to pay the rent as well as the other costs associated with taking on the lease.

The Cricket Club

The Cricket Club had informed the Council that it would not be able to accept the terms of the lease if the temporary facility was to be removed during 2017 as this would not provide sufficient time to obtain and build a permanent facility.  The Council agreed to extend the retention of the temporary facility until 2018 but further dialogue had resulted in the Cricket Club declaring that they would consider signing the lease if the temporary facility remained on the site on a rolling one year extension, negotiated on an annual basis.  The Council had provisionally acceded to this request (to submit to Council for approval) subject to being satisfied as to progress regarding the acquisition and building of the new permanent facility.

Visitors Centre

The Visitors Centre had signed and agreed to the heads of terms and the lease was now in the process of being drafted.  Once drafted, the Council would be seeking confirmation from CISWO, advertising the lease and then finally seeking permission from the Charities Commission.

Football Club – Proposal for the Trust

The Football Club had informed the Council that it would like to enter into a dialogue about the possibility of it taking over the Trust in its entirety from the Council.  The Council saw the future operation of the whole Trust site as a separate matter to the ongoing lease negotiations and believed that the future running of the Trust should be a matter for all the users of the site to be involved in.   The Council advised that they would be happy to hold discussions if all groups confirmed that they were in favour of such a proposal. Following the Teversal Grange Advisory Committee meeting held on 15^th September, 2016 at which the Clubs were represented, the Football Club advised officers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance) and Monitoring Officer presented the report and reminded Members of their previous decision to transfer funds from the William Booth Charity for the Poor to the Community Food Bank at Annesley Woodhouse once the organisation had achieved the requisite charitable status.

The Food Bank had recently confirmed that they had experienced significant difficulties with completing their submission to the Charity Commission (to achieve charitable status) due to the application forms being changed half way through the process.  However, having overcome the difficulties with the submission process, the application had now been submitted to the Charity Commission for their consideration.  Committee were therefore asked to confirm acceptance of the recommendation to Council to continue to hold the funds until the Food Bank achieve charitable status.

RESOLVED

that Council be recommended to approve that the funds from the William Booth Charity for the Poor continue to be held by the Authority until they can be transferred to the Community Food Bank once their application for charitable status has been finalised.

Reason:

The decision made previously was to transfer the funds from the William Booth Charity for the Poor to the Food Bank once they were awarded charitable status which has not yet been finalised. The Food Bank has a similar purpose to the William Booth Charity for the Poor which is why it was recommended that the Authority continued to hold these funds until the Food Bank receive charitable status.