Parish Councils as Charity Trustees
Parish councils (or in Wales, community councils) can be trustees or appointors of trustees of parochial charities. Such charities can be the cause of confusion for parish councillors; first because of the failure to identify property held by them as charitable; secondly because the council might be holding property as the sole trustee or as custodian and be the appointor of managing trustees; and thirdly, because of the potential conflicts of loyalty around discharging the functions of the parish council and the fiduciary duties of charity trustees. Rettendon Parish Council v Hart [2020] is the latest in a recent spate of cases over the duties of parish councils in relation to parochial charities.
Ian Blaney and Michael Anderson have written for the Trusts and Estates Tax Journal on this case and the issues raised by it. The PDF article can be accessed on this page.