OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE
ORDERS AND SCHEMES
ACTION TO TAKE AFTER A SCHEME IS ESTABLISHED
OG 1 B5 – 27 February 2007
| Purpose |
To explain what action has to be taken by the Commission and the charity after a Scheme is established. |
Contents
1. Effective date of Scheme
2. Review Process
3. Publication
4. Posting the sealed Scheme on the website
5. Corrections and clerical errors
Glossary of Terms used in this Guidance
Index to further related information
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| The Law |
Refer to a lawyer |
Refer to an accountant |
1. Effective date of Scheme |
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A Scheme is dated from the date the seal is applied. |
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It comes into force when it is sealed and signed by an authorised Assistant Commissioner. Who may seal a Scheme varies with the kind of Scheme it is. |
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It operates from the date it comes into force unless the Scheme itself says otherwise. |
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The trustees can act in accordance with the provisions of the Scheme immediately it is sealed. However, further public notice is required and rights of appeal then exist. |
2. Review Process |
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The Scheme can be appealed against and although the trustees can rely on the Scheme immediately, they should bear in mind the possibility of an appeal. If an appeal is made then it will be for the courts to rule on its long term effectiveness. |
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Expressions of dissatisfaction in response to public notice of our having made a Scheme (or Order, where applicable) (under ss.20(5) and 20(6) of the 1993 Act) should be dealt with under the formal review process – see OG 94. |
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3. Publication |
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3.1 The law
3.2 Action to comply with the law if we decide that publicity for a scheme for a local charity is necessary
3.3 Informing the charity
3.4 Other notifications |
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3.1 The law |
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After a scheme is made it must be displayed publicly for at least a month in the Commission’s office. |
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If the charity in question is a local charity, the Commission also has discretion to decide to display the scheme publicly at a convenient place in the charity’s area. |
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We would usually only decide to display the scheme in the area of a local charity, if we had published it in draft and there had been objections – see B4 2.1.2 of this OG. |
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3.2 Action to comply with the law if we decide that publicity for a scheme for a local charity is necessary |
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Where we decide to give public notice of the scheme’s publication in the area of a local charity, we must arrange for the notice to be displayed at some convenient place in the area of the charity in order to comply with the law:- |
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it is likely that notices can be restricted to public notice boards and all should be displayed for one month. |
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But where notice of the proposed Scheme was by newspaper or other publication only, notice of the established Scheme should be published in the same way unless a senior officer in payband 4/5 agrees that in all the circumstances this is not appropriate. |
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For not less than a month after it is published a copy of the Scheme must be available for public inspection: |
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at one of our offices (in practice at the office which dealt with it and, by arrangement, at any of the four offices); and |
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in the case of a local charity, in the area of the charity. |
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3.3 Informing the charity |
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Immediately after sealing the sealed Scheme, copies should be sent to the charity correspondent. We normally send one for each trustee plus one extra. Unless it is clearly unnecessary, we should remind the trustees that the Scheme is an important and permanent document which should be kept with the governing document of the charity. (Some model Schemes and model clauses include a requirement to this effect. Where one of these is used, this clause should be drawn to the attention of the trustees.) |
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3.4 Other notifications |
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We may need to send a copy of the established Scheme to other interested people or organisations or to any body having the power to appoint trustees. For instance: |
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in the case of a registered social landlord, a copy must be sent to the Housing Corporation or the Welsh Assembly; |
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the local authority should be sent a copy where it has been given a power to appoint trustees. |
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Unless there are other issues arising out of the provisions of the Scheme or associated correspondence, the Scheme procedure will then be complete. |
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4. Posting the sealed Scheme on the website |
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As we must make a copy of the scheme available in our office, for at least a month after it is sealed, it is also useful to publish the scheme on our website in addition to having a hard copy available for public inspection. |
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An application is available on Connect which enables caseworkers to publish their own Schemes. A caseworker needs to apply to the IS Service Desk for initial permission, which once given, does not lapse. The system allows the user to enter the details of the Scheme into the database, which then automatically converts the Scheme to a pdf document ,which is available to the public on the website the following day. The caseworker will need to supply the following information: |
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(a) |
the charity name; |
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(b) |
the charity number; |
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(c) |
the location of the charity, ie county; |
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(d) |
the publication date of the Scheme; |
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(e) |
the type of Scheme, ie sealed; |
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(f) |
the purpose of the Scheme; |
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(g) |
the case number; and |
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(h) |
the name of office handling the case. |
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The Scheme and other details will automatically be removed after the statutory three month period in which an appeal may be made to the courts (see s.16(12) of the 1993 Act. |
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5. Corrections and clerical errors |
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No changes of substance can be made to a Scheme once it has been sealed except, within twelve months of making it, by an Order discharging the whole or part of it where we are satisfied that it was made: |
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by mistake; |
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on misrepresentation; or |
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not in accordance with the Act (s.89(1)). |
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However, we can treat minor typographical errors in the body of the Scheme as a clerical error and amend them in manuscript. (It should be noted that this procedure cannot be used to correct errors of substance.) Caseworkers should make every effort to avoid this but, if a correction is necessary, all copies of the Scheme must be changed. (The original sealed version of the Scheme will have been sent to the charity correspondent.) The manuscript amendment must be supported by an initialled stamp impression in the margin. The sealed copy must be initialled by the officer who made the Scheme (where this is possible). |
Go to: Index to further related information