Ill-informed

I suppose it’s some sort of honour to be subjected to a personal attack by Vic Thomas but if he would take the trouble to read what I have actually said and written about the future of Shetland Charitable Trust he might realise that his most recent comment was ill-informed and inappropriate (In favour of SCT elections; SN, 09/10/16).

For the record, I repeat that my preference is for a majority of trustees to be directly elected.

If that proves impossible, then I think we do have to consider winding up the trust and returning its assets to the council.

That would probably require a new Act of Parliament, to ensure that funds held by all local authorities for charitable purposes were legally separate from funds raised by local and national taxation and by charges for council services, and thus protected from raids by finance ministers.

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I do not advocate this. I merely suggest that we may have to look at the possibility, as a means to restore elected control over the community’s £220m charitable fund.

When he’s got his head around this, Mr Thomas may care to apologise for his remarks about my political integrity. Or he may not. It’s all one to me.

Jonathan Wills
Vice-chairman
Shetland Charitable Trust