roadshow2005

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Diocese of Chester
The PCC as a charity George Colville Director of
Finance
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The PCC is a charity

• Excepted from registration
• In other respects
• just like a registered charity

PCC members are charity trustees
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PCC Governing Documents

• the Parochial Church Councils
• (Powers) Measure 1956
• the Church Representation Rules

promoting in the parish the whole mission of the
Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and
ecumenical
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• Charity law brief history
• Statute of Elizabeth 1601
• -Charities Act 1993
• Charities Act 2006

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Charitable purposes

• Since 2006 Act -13 descriptions of charitable
  purposes
• Some new ones
• Public Benefit
• Advancement of religion for the public benefit

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• Charitys Act 2006
• So what has changed?
• For PCCs very little
• -Public benefit test
• -Thresholds/ Small trusts
• Registration starts gt100k

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• Trusteeship
• Leaflet produced by Church
• and Charity Commission
• Ensure compliance
• Duty of Prudence
• Duty of Care

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Report and Accounts

• Values of openness transparency and
  accountability
• Important to communicate with donors and
  community
• About 12,000 PCCs with aggregate annual income of
  over 0.75 billion.

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Report and Accounts

• Accruals limit now 250,000
• Audit 500,000
• RP accounts
• Trustees Annual report
• Independent examiners report
• Receipts and Payment Account(s)
• Statement of assets and liabilities

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Funds

• Unrestricted,
• Restricted,
• Endowment

• Must comply with donor wishes
• Watch appeal literature
• New procedures for small/outdated

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Internal Control

• Church treasurer stole cash to treat husband
• Church's treasurer stole 88,000
• Treasurer stole from church and pre-school

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Internal Control

• Put in place standard controls
• Dual cheque signatories
• No blank cheques signed
• Significant cash counted in presence of more than
  one person
• Contracts signed by more than one person
• For protection of Treasurer/ Churchwardens as
  well as protection of PCC
• Look at Charity Commission Checklist CC8

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Reserves

• Trustee duty to spend money given to them within
  a reasonable time
• Hold reserves only if in charitys best interest
• What For? How much?

• Reserve policy Charity Commission CC19

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Dont forget other law

• Health and Safety
• Employment law
• CRB

• If in doubt seek advice
• Practical Church Management James Behrens

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Liability PCC members are entitled to meet the
PCCs liabilities out of its resources. Gross
failure to act in accordance with their legal
responsibilities as trustees Will probably find
there is already some cover in PCC insurance
policy
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Private Benefit PCC members can receive payment
for services provided to the PCC, if a certain
procedure is followed. PCC members cannot
become employees of the PCC unless the Charity
Commission gives permission.
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Trusteeship You can delegate tasks not
responsibility Take it seriously Act together
and try to ensure decisions are taken as a body.
Avoid dominant trustees, or leaving task to one
of number. MOST IMPORTANTLY - Remember what the
PCC is for
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Public Benefit

• acts of public worship open to all
• provision of sacred space for personal reflection
  and contemplation

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Public Benefit

• pastoral work, including visiting the sick and
  bereaved
• teaching Christianity through sermons, courses
  and small groups.

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Public Benefit NOT Public Opinion
'Charitable status is not decided on the basis of
popularity. I am well aware that, if we held a
charity version of the X Factor, some of the most
pioneering and innovative work done by charities
would not necessarily be successful in winning
the public vote.'
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Public Benefit
Remember it is the ADVANCEMENT of religion for
the public benefit that is Charitable
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Regulator, Registrar, Adviser
To increase charities efficiency and
effectiveness and public confidence and trust in
them.
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So how should we see the Charity Commission
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Dame Suzi Leather Chair Charity Commission Church
of England Newspaper There are 25,000 charities
on the register set up for the purpose of
advancing religion, and they provide our
communities with a wealth of charitable activity
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from counselling the bereaved and helping the
homeless to providing places of worship and
promoting ethical and moral codes.
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The benefit delivered by these charities is the
very stuff of charity and no regulator in its
right mind would want to discourage this.
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So how should we see the Charity Commission Take
them seriously BUT no need to fear if acting
appropriately
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www.charity-commission.gov.uk

• Register of Charities
• Updates of Charity matters
• General advice
• -CC3 The Essential Trustee
• CC8 Internal Controls
• CC10 Hallmarks of an Effective Charity

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• Registration
• PCCs gt100k
• Others in future
• Building projects
• If limit is reduced
• Voluntary registration

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Registration
1. Preparation - gathering the necessary data for
registration 2. Opening a User Account 3.
Entering details about your PCC, about what it
does, and about the Trustees. 4. Checking that
the data is correct, and then submitting it to
the Charity Commission electronically. 5.
Returning to the Commission a signed Trustee
Declaration.
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Process overview
Preparation
Read through the Guide, print out Trusteedetails
sheets, get the Accounts.
Get Trustee Details sheets completed
It is suggested that these are done at a PCC
meeting with those PCC Members that are there
this will allow questions to be answered. Then
follow up with PCC members who were not present.
Complete and sign Trustee Declaration
Complete OLAR process and submit to Commission
Send Trustee Declaration with cover sheet
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• Registration
• Stick to standard wording
• Follow advice in the leaflet
• Legal advisers have checked
• Charity Commission have agreed
• Ring me or Nigel if questions

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• Registration
• What Changes?
• Not much
• Annual return
• Copy of accounts
• Quote registered charity number

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Parish resources Website
www.parishresources.org.uk
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Diocese of Chester
www.chester.anglican.org 01244 681973