Charitable Trust, independent of Council

[james2]

I liked North's point on page 7.

 

"If the SCT board were to be run independently, I believe it would appeal to many individuals across a broad range of expertise, knowledge and commitment and attract some incredible talent that is beyond the political interests or ambitions of those currently running it. It would also attract many who simply are unable to to commit to the demands of performing the role of a councillor.

 

Shetland has some incredible brains, experience and capabilities within it's confines - and with that I include everyday people, not just highly qualified professionals. The Charitable Trust holds the foundation for sustaining change and development for the long term benefit of all Shetlanders, and I believe that these positions will attract people who share those common goals."

 

I think these two responsibilities are quite different and would attract quite different people. The council attracts people who need remunerated / paid to do that part time job and then complain that they aren't paid enough. So take away the higher level of responsibity, that of running a charity whose funds are held in trust for all the people of Shetland and let them get on with running the council.

 

Persumably elected trustees wouldn't need paid but would be public spirited folk who accept the need for the public to have some say on what was happening to their charitable funds?

[Grafter]

http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2011/04/14/qcs-opinion-on-charitable-trust-reform-meets-little-resistance-from-trustees

No surprises in this report, another £20,000 spent needlessly. Significant that Cluness didn't attend the meeting. Change at the Charitable Trust is long overdue.

[PJ of Hildisvik]

I bet there aren't any changes before the men of many hats make the financial decision on the windfarm

[Urabug]

I do'nt doubt the ability of a lot of new faces on the SCT board, to make some better decisions than has been up till now, but it presents a lot of questions.

 

1--Will these new members be volunteers or will they be greatly rewarded for there effords ?

 

2---Will we (the public) be able to vote for candidates who may want to go on the trust ?

 

3---Will this panel of experts be from Shetland or from outwith these Islands with interests not necessarly benifical to Shetland ?

 

The existing SCT could at least be voted out at election time ,I certainly hope that the Shetland public still has some authority.

[icepick239]

It's all very well for The Shetland Times and The Shetland News to report that Sandy Cluness and at least 3 Trustee Councillers boycotted the Workshop, but we want to know WHY they didn't attend and WHO they were?....

[JustMe]

It's all very well for The Shetland Times and The Shetland News to report that Sandy Cluness and at least 3 Trustee Councillers boycotted the Workshop, but we want to know WHY they didn't attend and WHO they were?....

Oh come on!. The Times report did not say that the missing people "boycotted" the meeting but just that they were not there and I do not think the News even mentioned numbers attending. This is not nit picking as to accuse people of "boycotting" a meeting is a serious accusation. Quite possible that those missing had very good reasons for not being there.

[icepick239]

It's all very well for The Shetland Times and The Shetland News to report that Sandy Cluness and at least 3 Trustee Councillers boycotted the Workshop, but we want to know WHY they didn't attend and WHO they were?....

Oh come on!. The Times report did not say that the missing people "boycotted" the meeting but just that they were not there and I do not think the News even mentioned numbers attending. This is not nit picking as to accuse people of "boycotting" a meeting is a serious accusation. Quite possible that those missing had very good reasons for not being there.

Ok - didn't attend then, but we still want to know WHY and WHO..

Now you can climb down and hopefully enjoy the rest of your Friday.....

[JustMe]

icepick239 wrote

Ok - didn't attend then, but we still want to know WHY and WHO..

Now you can climb down and hopefully enjoy the rest of your Friday.....

Are Friday's meant for enjoyment?. Oh well, I will give it a try. Meanwhile I agree we are indeed entitled to ask which of our elected representatives missed out on the meeting and why.

[EM]

Given the importance of the referendum announcement I find it quite surprising nobody has commented here yet about the options. Local governance fatigue perhaps. Unlike much of the predictable and inane soapbox posturing which goes on in Shetlink's threads, the options presented seem to me to need quite a bit of consideration. I certainly don't know how I will be voting.

 

http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2011/09/21/referendum-to-be-held-on-future-of-shetland-charitable-trust

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/index.php/news/1858-islanders-to-vote-on-trust-reform.html

[MuckleJoannie]

Bill Manson doesn't like it.

 

Mr Manson has grave doubts about the legality of asking the public to make a decision via a referendum which, if the vote was to scrap reform, could induce the trust to act illegally.

 

As I see it the trustees still have the final say. They are merely canvassing public opinion. Mind you there probably would be a riot if the referendum result was for elected trustees and the CT chose to ignore it.

[JustMe]

When we are told that one of the options in a referendum will be the status quo and the whole reason for the debate about restructuring the trust is that the charities regulators in Scotland are not prepared to accept that a trust run by councillors I am starting to wonder about the sanity of some of the current trustees. Unless they want the trust to be closed for whatever reason.

[Shoogler]

Mods - I don't know how to set up a poll so how about a Shetlink 'referendum' to test the stated Trust options?

[Shoogler]

^^^

Justme - I completely agree with this conclusion. There really is a serious lack of intellect within the body of the Trust. It is a reflection on the weakness of the officials who are tasked with the operation and governance of the Trust as well as the Trustees. A strong senior offical would surely have cautioned Trusteees about the legality of what they were considering in the light of all recent advice and actions, both by their own lawyers amd OSCR itself.

[Fjool]

Mods - I don't know how to set up a poll so how about a Shetlink 'referendum' to test the stated Trust options?

Starting a poll is reasonably straight forward, but can only be done when you start a new topic. At the bottom of the New Topic page, you'll find the interface for doing this.

 

Alternatively, the options could be added by a mod to this current topic if you let me know what they should be.

 

I'm not sure whether a new topic or augmenting this one would be best. Tinks?

[Urabug]

There is no need for a referendum, we will all have the opertunity soon to select a new council at the polling stations.

 

When I voted for my councilor I did so with the certain knowledge that he/she would be on the charitable trust .This is true democracy & does not need to be changed.

 

If we take a look at our existing council,we will find it made up of many professions--Lawyers,police,social,farmers,crofters,buisnessmen/women,fishermen ect .To me this is a fairly good selection & I doubt if after the next election the elected persons will do the job any better or different.

 

This is just another maneuver for some other body to get there greedy hands on what is Shetlands money. Let it be at least our elected councillors that decide how & where it is spent.

 

The fact is that this fund should now be frozen & no money spent for possibly 5yrs to allow it to build up a bit (difficult in this financial times) & then we should only spend what it earns. If we d'ont do this in a very short time there will simply be no charitable trust as the money will all be gone

 

There is an saying ---You cannot have your cake & eat it.

 

Another saying that comes to mind is---The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence UNTIL YOU GET THERE.

 

No change is needed with the way the charitable is set up ,just a bit more caution with the way the money is spent .

 

One other quote that comes to mind --One mans loss is another mans gain . Must be a few fat bank accounts somewhere.