Trust reform will take another year
CONTROVERSIAL plans to reform the £200 million Shetland Charitable Trust will not take hold until December at the earliest, the charity said on Thursday.
As a result all newly elected councillors will automatically become trustees after the local government polls in May, a situation that some had hoped could be avoided.
The Scottish charity regulator OSCR has now approved a timetable agreed last month to remove councillor control for the first time in its 35 year history.
The decision came after years of wrangling, leading eventually to a threat from OSCR to take control of the trust if a referendum on reform went ahead in the isles.
It also prompted the resignation of two councillor/trustees, Sandy Cluness and Jonathan Wills, and a call from 10 trustees to fight the removal of democratic control.
The proposed new trust would have a board of 15, including seven elected councillors and eight appointed “independent” trustees, in keeping with new charity laws.
However there are many steps needed before a new structure is put in place, a timetable for which has been published on the trust’s website here.
OSCR must consult on the changes for a minimum of 28 days, while the trust provisionally engages a company to draw up the selection process for appointing trustees.
The consultation is likely to run until the end of April with OSCR having a further six months to make a final decision.
A selection committee to appoint the independent trustees could be formed as early as 30 August, though this will depend on how long it takes OSCR to make a final decision on the reform plans.
Adverts to find suitable candidates would not be published through the local media before November 2012.
In the meantime all 22 elected councillors will be joined by Shetland’s lord lieutenant Bobby Hunter and Anderson High School head Valerie Nicolson on the board in May.
Trust general manager Ann Black envisages a revised trust deed would be adopted on 15 November 2012, and that a shortlist of appointee candidates could be presented on 13 December this year.
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