We take our public accountability obligations to our beneficiaries very seriously.
Statutory obligations
These are spelled out in our governing legislation which, as well as containing Trust specific requirements, also requires us to comply with other legislative requirements. These, for example, relate to publicly notifying Trust Board meetings so that members of the public can attend if they wish and to making publicly available information relating to the matters being considered at Board meetings and to the decisions subsequently made by the Board.
As a registered charitable trust, we are also required to comply with standards of public reporting laid down by Charities Services. These regulate the scope and type of information we should disclose to our beneficiaries in our annual financial statements which must be presented at our Annual General Meeting.
Other obligations on Trustees
Trustees are also mindful as individuals of the need to be scrupulous and transparent in their dealings particularly where these may bring them into conflict with the interests of the Trust. Such conflicts are routinely declared when Trustees take up their appointments and at Board meetings where individual Trustees can elect to excuse themselves from involvement in discussion of matters in which they may have a pecuniary interest, as defined in legislation and case law.
Voluntary commitment
Over and above our statutory obligations, and forming part of our commitment to transparency in our interaction with our beneficiaries, we aim to keep them informed as far as possible of what the Trust is planning for the future and any changes it may be contemplating to the way it goes about its business, particularly where this impacts the amount or distribution of the community dividend. We do this through our website, articles in local print media, discussions with affected parties and, where necessary, public meetings.