suebear Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Hi folk, well I think I'm going to throw sanity out the window and we'll change the structure and I'll become a charitable trustee of playgroup. The hope is this will add some security to the setting. Can anyone who's already done this give any advice? Also do you know if a member of staff can even be a trustee? Oh, meant to say we're looking at becoming a CIO with a foundation model constitution. Thank you all for your input x x x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynned55 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Sorry cant help but if you can do all of the above then I'm going to as well! We're flying by the seat of our pants at the moment - no Chair (they moved away last month) and only 2 committee members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suebear Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 (edited) Isn't your chair liable until replaced no matter where they're living? Yes, it's possible and seems straight forward. The pla do a booklet about it https://shop.pre-school.org.uk/A122/charity-essentials And there's quite a lot of information on the charity commission website. Our local authority have said they'd support us through the process. You need a minimum of three trustees then you follow the instructions in your constitution on how to dissolve. Edited February 19, 2014 by suebear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narnia Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 so, staff could be trustees?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 its not advisable to have staff as trustees because they then become 'sole partners' and could defraud the company ...you would have to set up finances very carefully to ensure this didn't happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I would certainly seek legal advice. PSLA also have information regarding incorporation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suebear Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 Https://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc11.aspx#7i, Section g explains that it's possible for staff to be trustees and the document explains a bit more how. I think my understanding so far is it depends on how you word your constitution. Lots still to learn! But interesting times ahead... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 This is something I have been asked to look into by my setting .....any advice would be great. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynned55 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Well our chair has officially resigned - so cant see how she can be held responsible and she is now living in another country anyway. I'm going to look at the psla books and see how we go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suebear Posted February 20, 2014 Author Share Posted February 20, 2014 https://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/frequently-asked-questions/faqs-about-charitable-incorporated-organisations-(cios)/ A bit of background info here too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvdbout Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Im relatively new to posting here, but wanted to chip in - we are holding our EGM next week to get parent permission to convert to CIO. Its pretty straightforward in my head now (we've been looking into this since before last summer!), so I'll let you know if it is actually straightforward in real life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 That would be good, thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suebear Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Hi cvdbout, I'm definitely interested in hearing more. How did you decide on your trustees and I'm curious if you're using committee or staff members too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suebear Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Hi, just had another question to ask. Does anyone have any idea how much money we would need for solicitors, presuming we would need one? Funds are tight! Thank you x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 We became an incorporated company with charitable status back in 2011, and we did it all ourselves, except for some guidance from PSLA. I can't say it was was always easy, but we got there in the end, and felt quite proud of our achievements. We too had limited funds. Solicitors might be willing to discount if you are going down the charity status route. Good luck with whatever you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvdbout Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 (edited) Hi cvdbout, I'm definitely interested in hearing more. How did you decide on your trustees and I'm curious if you're using committee or staff members too? The trustees of the CIO are the current trustees of the unincorporated charity, minus one who will be leaving. Luckily, everyone on the committee at the moment all have young babies so will be around for a few years! No staff will be voted in as trustees. We're converting not because of a problem with numbers - we have 8 at the moment, lowest we've been is 5 - but more to do with the fact we've had issues in the past with Chairpersons only taking the job because they were threatened with closure, and it all started after a previous Chair died very suddenly. We want to take away that threat of closure permanently - noone wants to be Chair, and the staff need some more security in their job. As for solicitors, we will only be needing one to amend our lease to transfer our premises from the holding trustees to the new charity. We have a large contingency so costs luckily aren't a concern at the moment. We have a copy of the PLA book Charity Essentials which has a fairly comprehensive downloadable section on CIOs, so we're following that. Edited March 5, 2014 by cvdbout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SazzJ Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 We were a charity then charity with I cooperated status. Cost us around £2/300 to change over. We then transferred to a community interest group which is ran by myself and a colleague as the directors as well as setting managers. We did plan to go straight to community interest group but had too much surplus cash for the charity/constitution to allow us to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suebear Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Sazzj, when you moved to a cic did you get to keep your assets we're having an interesting time with the pla? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Sazzj, when you moved to a cic did you get to keep your assets we're having an interesting time with the pla? Suebear aren't you a committee run setting at the moment? if so there shouldn't be any issue with the PSLA...as long as you are following your constitution Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suebear Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Yes, but was told today it appears we could keep assets if became cio but not cic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suebear Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 It's the phrase like for like organisation even though it would be the same organisation - confused face x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 we changed from committee charity to a company that runs on not for profit charity....we didn't do cio or cic officially because the accountant said that no one knew how they worked yet! we didn't have any issues with the psla becuase we just told them we were moving and changing the way we ran...but we initially kept the same trustees in order to smooth transition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynned55 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Nobody should have any issues or problems with PSLA. They do not govern us. Your constitution governs how you should go about dissolving your charity.If it does not say what you want it to say then change it so it does. You then have to get it ok'd by CC not by PSLA- nothing to do with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SazzJ Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 We went to CIO first for the very reason that we were told we would have to give our assests to a similar setting but if we did we couldn't keep the setting running as they were covering the shortfall in the Low numbers we had. We then converted to a CIC with 6 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SazzJ Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Not so easy to change your constitution either! We had a nightmare of a time doing ours x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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