News / Trustees angry with OSCR’s threat
A MOOD of defiance is setting in within Shetland Charitable Trust after the Scottish charity regulator OSCR threatened to take it to court unless it speeds up reform.
Trustees are holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday 7 December to debate their response to OSCR’s letter, which accuses them of “misconduct” and gives them less than two weeks to dump plans for a referendum.
Several trustees are angry that the regulator is denying the Shetland public the chance to have any say on how the £200 million trust is governed.
“What the hell does OSCR have to fear from democracy and public opinion?” asked one.
However an OSCR spokeswoman said two of the three options in the proposed referendum are against charity law and therefore it would be a waste of charitable funds.
OSCR has lost patience with the trust after three years of discussion on how to remove the control of Shetland Islands Council, which appoints all its 22 members to the trust’s 24 strong board.
They believe the current structure creates “a systemic risk of conflict of interest”.
In September trustees threw out proposals to remove the council’s control, despite it being based on expert legal opinion. Instead they called for a referendum to consult the Shetland public.
On 24 November, newly appointed OSCR chief executive David Robb threatened to take trustees to the Court of Session over their failure to reform, adding that he would bar the trust from spending any money on holding a referendum.
He gave the trust until 8 December to give an undertaking that they would abandon the referendum plan and submit a timetable for reform by 22 December.
However the majority of trustees who voted for a referendum appear unmoved by OSCR’s threat.
SIC convener Sandy Cluness, who proposed the public vote, said that OSCR was trying to deny the Shetland public a say in how their trust is run.
“I think it’s a great pity that they are not prepared to let the people of Shetland decide who should govern their funds,” he said.
Fellow trustee Gussie Angus added: “Shetland Charitable Trust should be held up as an example of a well run trust. It’s transparently run, subject to public governance, its agendas and minutes are published and meetings are open to the public. I don’t know what this is about?”
Several other trustees voiced similar annoyance that OSCR was interfering in the way Shetland’s money is controlled and denying the democratic process.
Trustee Jonathan Wills has written to OSCR accusing them of defamation by accusing him of misconduct when he has argued persistently for a reformed trust with elected trustees. His letter can be read here.
However trust chairman Bill Manson said the trust should forget about holding a referendum, adding that he did not believe most Shetland people were interested in the way the trust is controlled.
Mr Manson, who believes a majority of trustees should be appointed rather than elected, said: “No one talks to me about governance, they talk about what the trust actually does and Viking Energy,” he said.
The proposed referendum proposed three options: maintaining the status quo, changing to seven councillors and eight independent trustees or having a completely elected, independent trust.
An OSCR spokeswoman said that two of these options – the status quo and a completely elected trust – were against charity law and therefore a referendum would be a waste of money.
“Two of the proposed options are contrary to charity law, therefore whatever happened in the referendum it would have no bearing on the key issue, and we feel the proposed referendum would therefore be an unacceptable use of charitable funds,” she said.
OSCR’s letter to the trustees can be read here.
Councillors who voted for a referendum in September were Sandy Cluness, Alastair Cooper, Addie Doull, Allison Duncan, Florence Grains, Robert Henderson, Andrew Hughson, Rick Nickerson, Gary Robinson, Cecil Smith and Gussie Angus.
Voting against were Betty Fullerton, Jim Henry, Bill Manson, Caroline Miller, Valerie Nicolson, Frank Robertson, Sir John Scott, Josie Simpson and Jim Budge.
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