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Name of meeting and date: Cabinet 24 March 2015
Title of report:: Dewsbury Endowed Schools Foundation Trust - Approval of Working
Party Recommendations 4th March 2015
Is it likely to result in spending or saving £250k or
more, or to have a significant effect on two or more
electoral wards?
Is it in the Council’s Forward Plan?
No
Is it eligible for call in by Scrutiny?
Date signed off by Director & name
No
Alison O’Sullivan 9th March 2015
Is it signed off by the Director of Resources?
David Smith 10th March 2015
Is it signed off by the Assistant Director – Legal,
Governance and Monitoring?
Cabinet member portfolio
Julie Muscroft 12th March 2015
Yes
Cllr Shabir Pandor
Electoral wards affected and ward councillors consulted: Dewsbury East, Dewsbury
West, Dewsbury South
Public or private: Public
1. Purpose of report

To report the minutes of the meeting of the Working Party of the Dewsbury
Endowed Schools Foundation Trust Fund held on 4th March 2015 and 25th February
2015.

To request approval for the Working Party’s recommendations for
o the award of grants to an organisation.

To note that the Working Party, on behalf of the Trustees, meet the requirement to
o ensure that they carry out their charity's aims for the public benefit;
o have regard to published Charity Commission guidance on public benefit
2. Key points
The draft minutes of the Working Party meeting held on 4th March 2015 are attached as
Appendix A to this report and the minutes of the Working Party meeting held on 25th
February 2015 are attached as Appendix B.
2.1 Applications for grant funding
There was one application that was considered by the Working Party in line with the
criteria and guidelines listed in the administrative procedures document.
2015 03 24 Dewsbury Endowed Schools Foundation Trust - Working Party Report.docx
page 1
A grant allocation was recommended as recorded in the minutes (Appendix A).
2.2 Public Benefit
The working party confirmed that the recommendations for grant allocations and all
other resolutions made at the meeting support the aims of the Trust and meet the test
of public benefit
3. Implications for the Council
The Working Party that advises on the Trust’s affairs is appointed under the Council’s
Outside Bodies procedures. However, there is no delegation below the level of
Members of the Cabinet as Trustee. All of the Working Party’s recommendations need
to be submitted to the Trustee for consideration and adoption.
4. Consultees and their opinions
The Working Party which consists of Dewsbury Councillors and other local people is
the consultative body for the Trustee. Kirklees Council is the Trustee.
5. Officer recommendations and reasons
That the Council acting as Trustee:

Notes the minutes of the meeting of the Working Party held on 4th March 2015.

Approves the following recommendations from the Working Party;
o to approve the recommended grant allocation.

Confirms that it has met the requirement to ensure that the charity's aims have been
carried out for the public benefit with due regard to published Charity Commission
guidance.
6. Cabinet portfolio holder recommendation
To support the officer recommendations above
7. Contact officer
Jo-Anne Sanders, Deputy Assistant Director Learning & Skills, Directorate for
Children and Adults, Civic Centre 1, 01484 221000, [email protected]
Assistant Director responsible
Gill Ellis, Assistant Director for Learning and Skills, Civic Centre 1,
01484 221000, [email protected]
2015 03 24 Dewsbury Endowed Schools Foundation Trust - Working Party Report.docx
page 2
APPENDIX A
Kirklees Directorate for Children & Adults: Learning
THE DEWSBURY ENDOWED SCHOOLS’ FOUNDATION TRUST
Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the Working Party held at 6.00 pm at Dewsbury Town Hall on
Wednesday, 4th March 2015.
PRESENT
Mr B Firth, Councillor E Firth, Mrs M Winterburn
In Attendance
Ms J Sanders (Directorate for Children & Adults), Clerk
548
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
K Iqbal, Councillor P Kane, Councillor S Patel, Councillor M Ahmed
Whilst the meeting was not formally quorate, all of the members of the working party had
received copies of meeting papers and the chair agreed that their views could be
obtained by email in line with the in line with the criteria and guidelines listed in the
administrative procedures document.
549
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 12th November 2014 and 25th February 2015.
RESOLVED: That the minutes of both meetings be approved and signed by the Chair as
a correct record
550
MATTERS ARISING
All matters arising were considered as substantive agenda items.
551
INDIVIDUAL APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS
No applications from individuals have been received.
552
ORGANISATION APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 2013/14
RESOLVED: That the following grant be recommended to the Trust for approval:
organisation
criteria
contribution towards
Dewsbury
Collegians*
Approx
50%
current
members ie
30 meet the
criteria
 to support high quality
amateur productions
involving young people in
all aspects of theatre this
year ‘Copacabana’
 scripts, make up,
equipment, costumes,
properties, lighting
including additional costs
for Health and Safety in
relation to scenery.
 venue expenses
 publicity etc
comments
Fund raising from ticket sales,
pantomime, plays, cabaret and
social events does not cover the
true cost of productions.
The activities provide significant
learning opportunities for young
people in all aspects of
performance arts
Requested £1,000
Total of New Grants
grant
£750
£750
*B Firth declared an interest through a family member in the group.
182
APPENDIX A
The working party members present agreed to recommend the grant listed in the table
above.
2 other members responded by email, in agreement with this recommendation.
The Working Party members commented that they were disappointed with low level of
applications received for consideration. A discussion took place about how best to
promote the application process for the next round of applications. It was agreed that this
be brought forward for a further discussion at the next meeting.
553
CONSIDERATION OF DISCUSSIONS REVIEWING THE TRUST’S BENEFICIARIES
Following the discussion that took place on 25th February 2015 in relation to the review of
the beneficiaries of the Trust, further consideration was given to the matter (minute 539
refers and see Appendix B for note of meeting). There was a general opinion that
potential to change the lower age range of the beneficiaries of the Trust to age 7, whilst
leaving the upper age range as 25 would be worthy of taking forward. It was agreed to
have a further discussion at the next meeting to be arranged.
554
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Letters from Thornhill United and Dewsbury Sea Cadets, previous recipients of funding
allocations, were circulated to give an account of the use of the allocation and to express
sincere gratitude for the support. These were received with thanks.
The Working Party agreed that it would be appropriate to hold a meeting of the finance
sub-committee and invite M Swinden from the Local Authority to provide a financial
update and seek advice about the Trust’s investment position. The Clerk agreed to
organise for the meeting to take place in April 2015. This could be followed on directly by
a full meeting of the Working Party when further consideration could be given to the
matter of reviewing the Trust’s beneficiaries and a quorate decision could be taken as to
whether to apply to the Charity Commission to make amendments to the scheme (minute
553 refers).
555
DECLARATION OF PUBLIC BENEFIT
Working Party members confirmed that the recommendations for grant allocations met
the test for public benefit. All other resolutions made at the meeting support the aims of
the Trust and meet the test of public benefit
556
DATE OF NEXT MEETINGS
The following meetings were proposed to members for consideration
A meeting (to be arranged) of the Finance Committee in April, followed by a working
party to further discuss the Trust’s beneficiaries at Dewsbury Town Hall.
11th November 2015: 6.00-7.30pm at Dewsbury Town Hall
16th March 2016: 6.00-7.30pm at Dewsbury Town Hall.
183
APPENDIX B
Kirklees Directorate for Children & Adults: Learning
THE DEWSBURY ENDOWED SCHOOLS’ FOUNDATION TRUST
Draft Minutes of the additional meeting of the Working Party held at 6.00 pm at Dewsbury Town
Hall on Wednesday, 25th February 2015.
PRESENT
Councillor M Ahmed, Councillor E Firth (Chair), Mrs M Winterburn
In Attendance
Ms J Sanders (Directorate for Children & Adults), Clerk
544 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
K Iqbal, Councillor P Kane, Councillor S Patel, Mr B Firth
Whilst the meeting was not quorate, the purpose of the meeting was for a discussion to
take place to give consideration to reviewing the Trust’s beneficiaries. The discussion
took place which is recorded below and it was agreed that this could be given further
consideration at the next meeting of the working party.
545
DISCUSSION REVIEW OF THE SCHEME
At the last meeting of the working party, it was agreed that officers would seek legal
advice and the working party had agreed to meet before the scheduled March meeting to
explore ways in which the criteria for grant allocation might be adapted. A particular point
that had been raised had been to explore whether it was possible to support young
people developing business skills and encourage innovation.
An outline of the legal advice obtained about the general process for amending the
objects is summarised below;
The Trust cannot simply amend its purposes/objects itself in accordance with s 275 of
the Charities Act, and would need to liaise with the Commission to obtain a new
amended Scheme. In order to do this the Trust will need to write to Commission. This
request must include what is called a, “Strong Argument” or “Very Good Reason” for
changing the Scheme. No supporting documentation is necessary at this initial stage, but
may be requested in due course. Once it receives the Trust’s initial request, the
Commission will engage in correspondence with the Trust and commence the procedure
described within the Guidance.
The Commission already provides some general guidance on their website in relation to
amending Schemes for unincorporated bodies such as this. I’ve summarised the main
provisions of this guidance for you below, but ultimately this all hinges on what you are
proposing to amend within the attached Scheme document:
General Advice from the Charity Commission website states;
Amending the Trustee’s administrative powers and procedures

Trustees of all unincorporated charities have the freedom to make changes to their
administrative powers and procedures to improve how their charity is run. This
includes, for example, powers to change a charity’s name, to borrow or invest money and
178
APPENDIX B
to co-operate with other charities, as well as procedures relating to membership, the
appointment of officers and the management of meetings. However, this power is
subject to the following limitations:-
o Trustees cannot use it to alter their charity’s purposes (or to give themselves a
power to change the purposes).
o Trustees also cannot use it to spend capital held as permanent endowment or to
authorise payment to themselves or related parties.
o The power cannot be used to change provisions giving third parties rights to
nominate trustees (unless the third party has ceased to exist or given consent to
the change).
o The power can be used in certain circumstances to amend other powers which the
governing document states the trustees can only exercise with the consent of a
third party, but the charity trustees must have the agreement of the third party to
that amendment or the third party must have ceased to exist. Where the third
party is not willing or is unable to consent to such a change to the powers where
they have rights, the Commission is willing, if satisfied that the change is
expedient in the interests of the charity, to make a Scheme to effect the change
(see below).
Amending the purposes/objects of the charity

Trustees of unincorporated charities with incomes of more than £10,000 can
change their charity’s purposes themselves, without any further input from the
Commission, BUT ONLY if the governing scheme/trust deed document specifically
provides them with that power.

Trustees of unincorporated charities without such a power will need to ask the
Commission for a new amended Scheme.

The Charities Act 2011 sets out the circumstances in which the Commission can
change a charity’s objects by Scheme. This is normally when the current objects:o can no longer be carried out, or not in the way laid down in the governing
document;
o have been fulfilled, or adequately provided for in other ways (for example, out of
public funds);
o do not provide a use for all of the charity’s income or property;
o use outdated definitions of areas, places, or classes of people;
o have ceased to be charitable in law;
o have stopped being a useful way of using the funds or property (for example,
providing for very small payments or gifts of food or fuel to beneficiaries);or
179
APPENDIX B
o where two or more charities with similar objects want to merge but do not have the
legal power to do so.
Legal advice explains;
 In terms of general procedure:o The Council (in its role as sole corporate trustee) should first discuss their needs
with the Commission in these circumstances and request a Scheme once it is
agreed that this is the best approach.
o A formal application for a Scheme must made by the Council, and upon receipt
the Commission will decide on the terms of the new amended Scheme in
consultation with the Council and, where appropriate, other people who may be
affected by it.
o Once the Council and the Commission have agreed the contents of the new
Scheme, the Commission will sign authorise the Scheme so that it comes into
effect. Where the Commission thinks it would be helpful to seek wider views,
comments and objections the Commission will require the Scheme to be
publicised before deciding whether to authorise it.

Timescales can vary with this process. The Commission advises on their website that a
new/amended Scheme can often be completed within a few weeks of first identifying the
need for one. Where it is difficult to reach agreement and/or there are objections, the
process can take much longer (possibly several months).

In terms of costs, the Commission will not charge the Council/the Trust for this service.
The main costs will be those incurred by the Council/Charity itself, for example:o Costs for its own staff time working on the Scheme;
o Cost of any professional advice sought in connection with the Scheme;
o The cost of publishing notices if the Commission thinks they are needed (see
above); or
o Admin costs (e.g. copies of the scheme; filing/postage; etc.)
The above points only provide a brief general overview of the procedures involved, and
will of course be subject to any circumstances specific to the attached Scheme.
The working party members discussed the aims and objectives of the Trust. There was a
consensus that being able to explore whether the Trust could support a wider age range
of beneficiaries was desirable because it would enable more young people to be able to
be beneficiaries of grant allocations. It was suggested that it be proposed to change the
scheme to an age range of 7-21 years.
The working party members felt that other than the expansion of the age range, the
current scope of ‘promoting the education, including social and physical training of
persons…who are resident in the former County Borough of Dewsbury’ continued to be a
reasonable application of the income of the Charity and therefore did not require
amendment.
Ratification and the opportunity for further comments could be taken at the next meeting
of the working party.
180
APPENDIX B
546
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
None
547
DATE OF NEXT MEETINGS
4th March 2015, 6.00-7.30pm at Dewsbury Town Hall.
181