Trustee Roles and Responsibilities January 2016

What is a trustee? Trustees have the overall legal responsibility for a charity. The law describes charity trustees as ‘the persons having the general control and management of the administration of a charity’ (Section 177 Charities Act 2011) The Role is defined within the Articles and Memorandum of Association (the governing document)

Summary of responsibilities Responsibilities relate to duties of care, prudence and compliance Responsibility to exercise prudence to use good judgment and plan ahead – including establishing clear financial management. Duty of Care ‘to exercise such care and skill as is reasonable in the circumstance’. (Trustee Act 2000). Work together as a body of trustees. Seek advice as needed. Duty of Compliance with Charity Law and other legislation, regulators (e.g. Charity Commission), reporting and accounting requirements, governing document and objects of the charity.

Trustees’ Duties Ensure you are eligible to be a trustee Ensure your charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit Comply with your governing document and the law Act in your charity’s best interest Manage your charity’s resources responsibly Act with reasonable care and skill Ensure your charity is accountable CC3 Charity Commission The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do

Trustees’ Duties Public Benefit ensure you understand the charity’s purposes (Memorandum and Articles of Association) responsible for deciding and planning how your charity will carry out its purposes periodically review what the charity is achieving avoid conflicts of interest

Trustees’ Duties: Comply with your charity’s governing document and the law Trustees must: make sure that the charity complies with its governing document comply with charity law requirements and other laws that apply to your charity Manage your charity’s resources responsibly Trustees must: avoid exposing the charity’s assets, benefits or reputation to undue risk not over-commit the charity.

Trustees’ Duties Act in your charity’s best interest do what you and your co-Trustees (and no-one else) decide will best enable the charity to carry out its purposes; with your co-Trustees, make balanced and adequately informed decisions, thinking about the long-term as well as the short term Decisions don’t usually have to be unanimous (depending on your governing document) but once Trustees have made a decision, they must all comply with it, including any who disagree. If you strongly disagree with your fellow Trustees’ decision, you can ask for your disagreement to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting

On-going key areas of responsibility 1.Governance 2.Accountability 3.Policy/Strategy 4.Finance 5.Reputational Management 6.Risk Management 7.Regulatory Issues

7. Regulatory Considerations Ensure you comply with legalisation and regulatory considerations a.Conflicts of Interest b.Remuneration c.Employment d.Breach of Trust or Ultra Vires e.Insurance f.Health and Safety g.Data Protection

If you have any questions or need any further assistance please contact CommUNITY Barnet at: Tel: