| Time: | 6.30pm | Place: | Committee Room 3, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City |
| PRESENT: | Councillor Bernard Lovewell (Chairman), Councillor P.C.W. Burt and Councillor David Levett. |
| IN ATTENDANCE: | Head of Finance, Performance & Asset Management, Senior Estates Surveyor, Acting Senior Lawyer and Committee & Member Services Manager. |
| ALSO PRESENT: |
| Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
| PART I | ||||
| 1 |
ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN RESOLVED: That Councillor Bernard Lovewell be elected as Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the remainder of the 2013/14 Civic Year. |
Agreed | ||
| 2 |
NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS There was no notification of other business. |
Noted | ||
| 3 |
CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS The Chairman reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question. |
Noted | ||
| 4 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION There was no public participation. |
Noted | ||
| 5 |
2012/13 ANNUAL REPORT AND STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR HITCHIN TOWN HALL GYMNASIUM AND WORKMANS HALL TRUST Report Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 The Head of Finance, Performance and Asset Management presented a report in respect of the outcome of the independent examination of the Trust's Statement of Accounts for 2012/13. The following appendices were submitted with the report: Appendix 1 - Independent Examiner's report. Appendix 2 - Statement of Accounts 2012/13; Appendix 3 - Annual Report 2012/13; The Head of Finance, Performance and Asset Management advised that, for the year ended 31 March 2012, there was a net outflow of resources of £2,672. Income from the hire of the hall was £4,276 (£16,301 in 2011/12) which, together with the contribution from the Council of £31,500 (£24,696 in 2011/12), nearly covered all expenditure. The facility was closed in October 2012 for redevelopment, which explained the reduction, year on year, of income from the hire of hall. There was a small overall compensating reduction of £2,388 in gross expenditure, year on year, but the Trust continued to incur some running expenditure even when the building was closed. The Head of Finance, Performance and Asset Management advised that the examination of the Trust accounts had been completed by the appointed auditor, Gursh Bains CPFA, an Audit Manager in the Shared Internal Audit Service, who had experience of auditing Charity Accounts in previous roles at the Audit Commission. This was the fourth year that Mr Bains had completed the examination. The examination did not identify any issues which needed to be bought to the attention to the Trustees and the examiner's report was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. The Sub-Committee was pleased to note that the cost of the independent examination had amounted to £250, the same as the amount paid in 2011/12. RESOLVED: (1) That the independent examination report, as attached at Appendix 1 to the report, be noted; (2) That the 2012/13 Statement of Accounts, as attached at Appendix 2 to the report, be approved; and (3) That the 2012/13 Annual Report, as attached at Appendix 3 to the report, and as amended, be approved. REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with the requirements of the Charity Commission. |
Agreed | ||
| 6 |
KING GEORGE V PLAYING FIELDS CHARITABLE TRUST, HITCHIN - ANNUAL RETURN TO CHARITY COMMISSION Cover Sheet Annual Return The Sub-Committee was presented with the 2012/13 Annual Return to the Charity Commission in respect of the King George V Playing Fields Charitable Trust, Hitchin, as submitted on 15 October 2013. Head of Finance, Performance and Asset Management advised that the 2012/13 income figure of £3,177 related to rental income form the bungalow on the site, and the £13,887 expenditure figure was primarily in respect of grass cutting and hedge maintenance. RESOLVED: That the Annual Return to the Charity Commission in respect of the King George V Playing Fields Charitable Trust, Hitchin, as presented to the Sub-Committee, be noted. REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with the requirements of the Charity Commission. |
Noted | ||
| 7 |
KING GEORGE V PLAYING FIELDS, HITCHIN CHARITABLE TRUST - LEASE TO HITCHIN RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED Report The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Head of Finance, Performance and Asset Management in respect of the progress of lease negotiations and a number of issues raised by Hitchin Rugby Football Club relating to the King George V Playing Fields, Hitchin. The Senior Estates Surveyor advised that, at a previous meeting held on 14 May 2013, Members of the former Cabinet Sub-Committee (King George V Playing Fields Charitable Trust) considered a number of issues relating to the ongoing management of the King George V Playing Fields, Hitchin. This included further consideration of the proposed heads of terms put forward by the Rugby Club. The Sub-Committee resolved that the Council's Senior Estates Surveyor be delegated to continue negotiations with the Hitchin Rugby Football Club regarding the terms of a proposed new lease of the clubhouse. At that time, there were a number of issues to be negotiated with the Club, an update on which were detailed in the report. Since the 14 May 2013 meeting, additional issues relating to the Rugby Club's occupation of the trust land had required consideration, namely the management of the playing pitches and public events. The Senior Estates Surveyor stated that he had been in contact with the Chairman of Hitchin Rugby Football Club to progress lease negotiations. The Rugby Club required more land and buildings for their redevelopment than held under their existing ground lease of the club house. The Rugby Club were therefore requested to provide a formal plan showing the exact area they required. This plan was necessary to enable appropriate terms to be identified and incorporated into draft heads of terms, and ultimately the draft lease. Unfortunately, it had taken some time for the plan to be provided, resulting in a delay in producing the heads of terms. However, terms were produced in late August 2013 and on 2 September 2013 a draft lease was sent to the Rugby Club's solicitor for comment. The Sub-Committee was informed that, in response to the draft lease, the Rugby Club's solicitor indicated initially that there were some fundamental issues of dispute but did not provide any details of what these were. However, the Club's solicitor had subsequently responded regarding the proposed Head of Terms, details of which had been e-mailed to Members of the Sub-Committee, and which were tabled at the meeting. It appeared that there were still a number of areas of dispute. The Sub-Committee was advised that, in accordance with the Charities Act 2011, it must appoint an independent surveyor to recommend approval of the lease. Jim Wilcock, FRICS of Brown and Lee was previously appointed to fulfil this function prior to the Sub-Committee meeting in May 2013. The earlier proposals put forward by the Rugby Club in respect of the lease were not terms that an independent surveyor could agree to recommend to the Trustees. Given the current impasse in negotiations with the Rugby Club, Jim Wilcock had been re-appointed to proceed with the negotiations, rather than the Council's Senior Estates Surveyor. The effect of this appointment would be to help minimise the risk of delay at a later stage. The Sub-Committee was requested to note this development. The Sub-Committee further noted that one of the remaining uncertainties was how Fields in Trust (formerly the National Playing Fields Association), who had the final say as to whether or not the lease should be granted on the terms proposed, would deal with their decision making. It was understood that the Rugby Club had been in direct contact with Fields in Trust. Details of this contact had been requested by the Senior Estates Surveyor, but had not yet been provided by the Rugby Club. It was hoped that the approval of the Independent Surveyor might be sufficient to satisfy Fields in Trust, but this was not certain. In respect of management of the playing pitches, the Senior Estates Surveyor explained that, for a number of years, the Rugby Club had managed the Trust's playing fields, together with the adjoining St Michael's Pitches owned by Hertfordshire County Council. Under this arrangement, the Rugby Club took bookings for pitches and rooms, collected hire charges and provided use of the Trust's changing rooms to the hirers. The Rugby Club was now aware that revised arrangements needed to be set up for the management of the playing fields to comply with Charity Law and to account properly for all income and expenditure from the King George V Playing Fields. The pitches were outside the Rugby Club's existing and proposed future lease. The Rugby Club had indicated that they would be willing to continue to manage the bookings and provision of the facilities. This would incur administrative costs for the Rugby Club, which could be offset against the income that the Club received from hire charges. The Senior Estates Surveyor commented that, currently, the Trust's changing rooms were subject to an existing management agreement (between the Rugby Club and the Council). When the management agreement was put in place in 2002, it created a management committee comprising Members of the Rugby Club and other users, NHDC Councillors and Officers. Whether or not a new lease was granted to the Rugby Club, it wais recommended that in the best interests of the Trust these arrangements would need to be reviewed to bring them in line with the objectives of the Trust. An appropriate mechanism for achieving this would be to put a new management arrangement in place which simply governed use of the pitches and removed the need for a management committee. The agreement could operate alongside the existing or new lease, and the current function of the management committee could be replaced by creating a user group for the premises and pitches. The Sub-Committee noted that proposed terms for a new management agreement were partially included in the heads of terms drawn up in August 2013. However, given that the Rugby Club had confirmed that there were fundamental points of dispute in respect of those terms, a draft management agreement had not yet been prepared. In respect of public events, the Senior Estates Surveyor explained that, earlier in the year, the Rugby Club had held a beer festival at the King George V Playing Fields. It was understood that tickets and drinks were sold from both a marquee on the playing fields and the club house. This was a special event outside the Club's normal use of the pitches for rugby and other sports, which was the use envisaged and permitted by the existing lease and management agreement. It appeared that, although the Rugby Club obtained an events licence, they did not request consent from the Trustees as landowner to use the land for the beer festival. As the event was carried out on the Trust's land and was not specifically permitted by the existing legal documentation, the Rugby Club should have obtained prior consent from the Trust and accounted for all income and expenditure. The Club had been asked to provide details of income and expenditure from the beer festival, but this had not yet been received. The Senior Estates Surveyor advised that it would be possible for the proposed new lease and management agreement to permit use of the trust land for special events. However, any such use would have to be consistent with the trust objectives. The Senior Estates Surveyor had enquired from the Rugby Club what aspirations they had in this regard, to establish whether the Council acting as trustee, rather than licensing authority, could accommodate the Club's future plans. These discussions had taken place alongside the lease negotiations, but Officers remained mindful that a new lease was the primary focus. Any proposals to allow the Rugby Club to hold further public events would form part of a future report to the Sub-Committee. The Sub-Committee was supportive of the appointment of an independent surveyor, and hoped that negotiations would proceed swiftly. The Sub-Committee noted the situations with regard to the management of the playing pitches and special events, and considered that these matters (including the potential for the Trust to perhaps be represented on the Rugby Club Management Committee) should be addressed through further discussions with the Rugby Club and, if possible, the outcome being reported to the next meeting. RESOLVED: (1) That the update on the progress of lease negotiations, as set out in the report, be noted, and specifically that an independent chartered surveyor has been appointed to negotiate on behalf of the Council as Trustee, in order to expedite compliance with charity law requirements; (2) That it be noted that a report will be presented to a future meeting of the Sub-Committee confirming the outcome of the independent surveyor's negotiations, including proposals for future management of the trust property and playing fields; and (3) That the additional issues that have arisen in respect of the Rugby Club's occupation of the land relating to the management of the playing pitches and special events, as set out in the report, be noted. REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the prospective transfer of trust land to proceed and to ensure the Charitable Trust complies with its statutory duties. |
Agreed | ||
| 8 |
DATE OF NEXT MEETING RESOLVED: That the next meeting of the Sub-Committee takes place at 6.30pm on Tuesday, 14 January 2014 at the Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City. |
Agreed | ||