Council start ball rolling on community trust plan

OBAN library, the Corran Halls and other council- owned buildings across Argyll and Bute are set to be placed into a community trust and run independently of the local authority to turn around a net deficit of £7.828 million

The decision to progress plans for an Argyll and Bute community trust over the next nine to 12 months were made at a meeting of the council last Thursday.

The 247 people who are currently employed by the local authority in its leisure and library services will automatically transfer to the charitable trust with pay and conditions and pensions rights intact under an employment law scheme called TUPE, guaranteeing these ‘inherited’ rights, for two years.

Over the next year, the charitable trust will be developed under a seven-member management board to include elected members and independent people who have experience to take the scheme forward. The board will be appointed as soon as possible.

The council- owned, independent, not-for-profit, arm’s-length organisation will see VAT and non- domestic rates savings of £636,000 per year and £ 8.6 million savings over 25 years.

The charitable trust will see lease agreements between the council and the trust for each of its venues. It was unclear what would happen to properties that house council services but are not owned by the local authority, such as Oban library.

The trust would ‘purchase’ administration and support services from the council, and in the early stage this looks as though there would be no charge for the services provided by the local authority.

The council would pay for the trust through a management fee of £ 5.716 million per year.

The report claims the local authority would be able to apply for external funding that is not available to it under its current set-up. Advisers confirmed that while this was the case, rep- resentations had not been made to funders such as the National Lottery or Creative Scotland.

Organisations such as Atlantis Leisure, which occupy council buildings and are funded by the local authority to deliver services, will not be part of the scheme. Analysis by consultants Ernst and Young show the combined assets of the local authority have an income of £2.077 million and costs of £9.905 million, a net deficit of £7.828 million.

Councillor George Freeman, an opposition member from Lomond, told fellow councillors: ‘It feels as though these measures are being pushed through. We have had no members’ seminar or workshop on the subject, and there is a lot to consider. I think we should delay a decision until members have all the information.’

Councillor Vivien Dance continued: ‘These plans are mainly focused on the economics of the plan. We have not focused on the rich culture and heritage of the area and how best to take that forward within this trust.’

Councillors debated the makeup of the board membership and many shared concerns about a ‘ democratic deficit’ on the board, with only three elected members and four independent members, one of whom was the chairman being proposed.

Councillor Ellen Morton said: ‘This business case before us today is not a final product – it is a stage on the journey.’