Report of the Head of Legal and Member Services (attached).

A report of the Head of Legal and Member Services drew the Committee’s attention to the history and current position of the Callister Youth Club of which the Council was a trustee.

The Callister Youth Club was a charity whose objects were the promotion of the welfare of girls and young women resident in the area of Birkenhead. The Council held 19 Argyle Street and land in Slatey Road, Birkenhead as trustee for the club (which no longer had any membership). The report gave details of recent correspondence with the Charity Commission on the options open to the Council in respect of updating the objects of the trust, the possible transfer of the trust to another trustee and the future use or disposal of the properties in Argyle Street and Slatey Road, Birkenhead.

The Committee was advised that any decision to be made by the Committee had to be governed solely by the interests of the beneficiaries of the trust and not those of the Council.

The Legal Adviser to the Committee informed the Committee that since the report was written the Charity Commission had advised that Council should pay the market rent for 19 Argyle Street and the Council should obtain independent valuations for Slatey Road.

Responding to Members’ comments, the Legal Adviser to the Committee informed the meeting of the timescale in that once the Charity Commission received the resolution of the Committee the decision on changes to the objects of the Trust would take effect 60 days from the date on which it was received. The independent Chartered Surveyor fees for valuations of the properties would be paid for by the Trust.

No decision would be taken yet on the sale of the Slatey Road premises and the matter would be brought back before the Committee.

The Legal Adviser to the Committee circulated revised recommendations to the Committee and on a motion by the Chair, seconded by Councillor McLaughlin, it was –

Resolved –

(1)  That this Committee amends the objects of the Callister Youth Club trust under Section 275 of the Charities Act 2011 for the reasons mentioned in the report so that they be defined as “the promotion of the welfare of persons living within the boundaries of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral who are in need because of their youth”.

(2)  The Committee agrees that the Council continue to occupy 19 Argyle Street on terms that it is used exclusively for the purposes of the amended objects of the Callister Youth Club and that the Council pays to the Club a sum equivalent to the market rent for its use of the said premises.

(3)  The Committee instructs David Armstrong, Assistant Chief Executive, to obtain independent valuations from qualified surveyors of:

(a)  The leasehold and freehold values of the property in Slatey Road, referred to in the report;

(b)  The rental value of 19 Argyle Street

(4)  Following the receipt of the valuations in paragraph (3), the Committee will consider, after receiving further advice from the Charity Commission:

(a)  The future use or disposal of Slatey Road;

(b)  The appointment of new trustees of the Club; or

(c)  The transfer of the properties referred to in paragraph (3) to another suitable charity subject to any necessary consents from the Charity Commission.