Roots HR Community Interest Company describe themselves as the UK’s specialist consultancy for human resources in the social sector.

They have been advertising a number of free toolkits.

Their recent one is aimed at helping small social sector organisations to:

• Design and deliver effective probation procedures and practices tailored to individual organisations
• Guide managers in delivering effective probation processes to maximise the potential and success of new employees in their roles
• Keep records of probation reviews
  Understand and meet minimum legislative requirements at the start of employment and beyond
• Treat new employees fairly, in line with equality of opportunity, the principles of diversity and inclusion and with transparency and accountability
• Evaluate probation procedures that have taken place and use this information to improve recruitment, selection, induction and probation outcomes in
  the future
• Maintain the minimum possible cost and administrative burden balanced against the direct and indirect financial costs of failing to use probation
  effectively.

You can sign up for this free toolkit and more here.

Manor Building Preservation Trust (“the charity”) was incorporated with Companies House on 24 June 1999 and registered with the Commission on 14 June 2004. It was struck off the Register of Companies and removed from the Register of Charities (“the Register”) on 5 January 2021. At the time the inquiry was opened there were four trustees in office and three of them were family members. The scope of the inquiry included whether the charity’s objects were being met and that the charity was operating for the public benefit in particular due to the apparent extent of private benefit issues.

As part of the inquiry process, the charity commission looks at whether this case has highlighted any wider learning for the charity sector.

The commission reminds us that trustees have a legal duty to ensure that their charity’s funds are applied solely and reasonably in furtherance of its objects. To comply with their legal duties, trustees must keep records and an adequate audit trail to show that the charity’s money has been properly spent on furthering the charity’s purposes for the public benefit.

Trustees cannot receive any benefit from their charity in return for any service they provide to it or enter into any self-dealing transactions unless they have the legal authority to do so. This may come from the charity’s governing document or, if there is no such provision in the governing document, the Commission or the Courts.
Further information is available in the trustee expenses and payments (CC11) guidance, which can be accessed here.

In addition, the commission causes us to remember that trustees have a legal duty to act in the charity’s best interests when making decisions as a trustee.

If there is a decision to be made where a trustee has a personal interest or other interest, this is a conflict of interest and trustees won’t be able to comply with their duty unless you follow certain steps.

For example, if you are a trustee, you would have a conflict of interest if the charity is thinking of making a decision that would mean:

• You could benefit financially or otherwise from your charity, either directly or indirectly through someone you are connected to
• Your duty to your charity competes with a duty or loyalty you have to another organisation or person

Where a charity trustee has a conflict of interest they should follow the basic checklist set out in the Commission publication Conflicts of interest: a guide for charity trustees (CC29) and where necessary or appropriate take professional advice.
The guidance can be accessed here.

Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council and Rutland County Council are participating in the Link Programme.

The programme is delivered by the Anna Freud Centre, funded by the Department for Education, and will bring together local leaders in education and mental health to identify the support required by children and young people in our area.

As part of the programme the Anna Freud Centre will convene and facilitate three tailored support sessions, which two are now available to book on.

The sessions will take place over Zoom and will include stakeholders from across the local authority in education and mental health.

The content of the tailored support sessions is based on the CASCADE framework and on the current challenges and priorities for this locality:

The first session titled structures to support shared planning and collaborative working is being held on 12 November 2021 9.30am-12.30pm.

The session will include:

• How to establish a collaborative working environment between education and mental health
• Local area presentation on structures that are currently in place
• Development of a plan to create an environment which supports shared planning
• How to set up a multi-agency steering group
• How to develop a whole-school approach to mental health

You can book to attend here.

The second session titled evidence-based approach to interventions and clarity on roles, remit and responsibilities of partners involved in supporting CYP mental health is being held on 26 November 2021 9.30am-12.30pm.

The session will include:

• Local area presentation outlining current interventions and examples of good practice.
• How to develop a reflective space for school/ FE college staff
• How to develop a staff wellbeing survey
• Developing a training plan to up-skill staff on evidence-based interventions
• Improving multi-agency communication – mapping and signposting offers of support

You can book to attend here.

Further information about the programme can be found here.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Youth Employment have launched their latest inquiry ‘The Impact Of Vocational Qualifications On Young People’s Employability and Labour Market Outcomes’. This inquiry will run from October 2021 – January 2022.

Following a series of consultations, the Department for Education has proposed the streamlining of post-16 qualifications by removing funding for some vocational and technical qualifications, including BTECs.

T Levels, Apprenticeships and A Levels will be the main options for post-16 qualifications.

This inquiry seeks to understand how the removal of funding for some vocational qualifications, including BTECs, will impact the choices available to young people and what that will mean for their employment prospects and outcomes.

The APPG for Youth Employment will bring together experts across the education, training and employment space, young people and employers to explore the impacts on the choices available to young people and how this may impact the labour market.

There is a second meeting on 23 November 2021 9.30am to 11am which you can join to find out more.

It may be of interest to VCSE organisations who support young people with qualifications and entry to employment.

The Charities Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 26 May 2021.

NCVO submitted a joint sector written submission with the ACF, Charity Finance Group, Charity Retail Association, Directory of Social Change, Locality and WCVA, which can be accessed here.

On 19 October 2021 members of the University of Liverpool Charity Law & Policy Unit amongst others gave evidence before the Charities Bill [HL] Special Public Bill Committee. You can watch the recording of the session here.

Bates Wells is the UK’s first B Corp law firm and their Charities Bill blog series untangles the key issues of the bill such as amending a governing document, changes around legacies etc. The blog series can be accessed here.

The Law Commission wrote a report back in 2017 called Technical Issues in Charity Law and received a reply from the government in 2021.

During the special public bill committee reference is made to the thoughts of the Law Commission and Bates Wells, which is why you may find this additional information of interest.

On 4 June 2019 the Commission opened a compliance case. During the compliance case the Commission identified a number of regulatory concerns, including that the charity was not being administered correctly by its trustees and that two separate entities (the charity and the limited company) had become merged to some extent.  The conclusion of the review included  evidence of misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity by the trustees at the time.

As part of the conclusion of a compliance case, the Charity Commission establish whether issues encountered including re-providing advice to the wider VCSE.

In this case the commission felt it appropriate to remind us that trustees are representatives of the charity they govern or the charitable funds they are responsible for, in the charity sector. Trustees must be aware of and act in accordance with their legal duties.

They remind us that  making decisions is one of the most important parts of the trustees’ role.

Trustees must:

• Act within their powers
• Act in good faith and only in the interests of the charity
• Make sure they are sufficiently informed
• Take account of all relevant factors
• Ignore any irrelevant factors
• Manage conflicts of interest
• Make decisions that are within the range of decisions that a reasonable trustee body could make

It is important that charity trustees apply these 7 principles when making significant or strategic decisions, such as those affecting the charity’s beneficiaries, assets or future direction.

Further information can be found in the Commission’s guidance:

The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do (CC3)

It’s your decision: charity trustees and decision making (CC27)

In addition , the commission prompts us to ensure tht the trustee board have a conflicts of interest policy in place to ensure that they are fully aware of their responsibilities and that any conflicts that do arise are appropriately managed.

Where a charity trustee has a conflict of interest they should follow the basic checklist set out in the Commission publication Conflicts of interest: a guide for charity trustees (CC29) and where necessary or appropriate take professional advice.

The law states that trustees cannot receive any benefit from their charity in return for any service they provide to it or enter into any self-dealing transactions unless they have the legal authority to do so. This may come from the charity’s governing document or, if there is no such provision in the governing document, the Commission or the Courts. Further information is available from Trustee expenses and payments (CC11). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trustee-expenses-and-payments-cc11

Trustees who receive an unauthorised payment or benefit from their charity have a duty to account for (i.e. repay) it. The Commission cannot relieve trustees from this duty.

Further details of this charity inquiry can be found here.

This report, published by the Charity Commission on 28 October 2021,  presents the findings of independent research into the impact of COVID-19 on charities.

As a regulator, they needed concrete data to help them understand how the pandemic has shaped charities so far, and, crucially, to gain a picture of the risks that may lie ahead.

Whilst the charity sector is immensely diverse, the research does allow them to draw a few clear conclusions.

Nearly all charities were impacted by the pandemic – over 90% told them that they have experienced some negative impact from Covid-19, whether on their service delivery, finances, staff, or indeed on staff morale, resulting from the months of frustration and uncertainty.

The majority (60%) saw a loss of income, and a third (32%) said they experienced a shortage of volunteers. However, they haven’t seen a significant number of charities fold since March 2021.

Last year, 97 charities reported to them that they were insolvent, as part of their annual return to the Commission. That is up by a third on the previous year, but still a relatively small number when compared to the 170,000 charities on the register.  Overall, the number of charities closing did not vary significantly compared to the previous year.

Of the 91% who were affected by the pandemic, nearly half (45%) say they took some action to adapt their services to restrictions caused by the pandemic.  Some changed the way they delivered services, moving them online, refocusing on core projects, taking difficult decisions to cut staffing or spend on things like research.  Around 40% say they dipped into their reserves.

One in four charities with incomes of less than £10k paused their activities completely during the first lockdown. It’s also clear that government support, including the furlough scheme, helped bolster many charities’ resilience.

For the future, over half (62%) of those asked anticipate some level of threat to their charity’s financial viability in the next 12 months. But only 1% foresee that threat being critical to the charity’s survival.

The picture is not all gloomy. Nearly half of those asked (49%) say their staff and/ or volunteers have learnt to make better use of digital technology over the past year or so, and a significant minority (18%) say communication between trustees has improved since the beginning of the pandemic

You can read more about the findings in their blog here.

And in the survey report here.

De Montfort University (DMU) are hosting a free online workshop on 11 November 2021 12pm to 1.30pm looking at how community organisations in Leicester can play their part in addressing the climate crisis.

DMU staff have been working with Leicester City Council over the past six months to pilot and develop a self-service toolkit that aims to help Leicester-based community organisations to know what steps to take to make a difference.

The toolkit highlights how to measure your emissions, key steps to reduce your carbon footprint and how to find further guidance and support.

The City Council is aiming for Leicester to be a carbon neutral city by 2030 which means people and organisations across Leicester all playing their part.

Community organisations such as faith centres, sports clubs, neighbourhood centres and charities all have a key role to play – not just through understanding and reducing their own emissions, but also through starting conversations and taking action with their members and supporters.

Joining this virtual event provides a chance to hear top tips for reducing carbon emissions and to explore collaborative opportunities with other organisations that can help make Leicester’s carbon neutrality target a reality.

You can find out more and book to attend the event here.

If this subject is of interest to you but you cannot attend, email Dr Andrew Reeves on areeves@dmu.ac.uk to express interest in piloting the draft toolkit within your organisation over the coming six months.

People wanted to steer the future of Local Charity Voluntary Action Leicester (VAL).  This well-known and respected local Charity is seeking to add to its Board of Trustees to help it navigate the coming years.

We are  seeking three  new trustees to help strengthen the Board, who share our vision and demonstrate a deep commitment  to  providing a range of essential support to people in need. 

VAL has played a huge and influential role in the City and County over recent years both helping the development of community groups and volunteers.

This has been especially vital during the last 18 months of the pandemic when VAL supported many ‘on the ground’ community and mutual-aid groups as well as recruiting over 5,000 local volunteers.  These volunteers helped in local communities, supported the street by street testing at the height of the pandemic, and still support the vaccination programme today.

VAL is  committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion in all that we do, which must be reflected across the organisation and at Board level. We actively welcome applicants from underrepresented and diverse communities and backgrounds to help us achieve our strategy.

Chair of VAL, Linda Jones, said

“It is appropriate that in National Trustees Week we are launching a recruitment for new Trustees at VAL.  We are look for people to join our Board who have a passion for what we do and want to take us forward”.