Members continue push for EGM at National Trust for Scotland

Governance | Gareth Jones | 22 Apr 2009

A group representing members of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has said it is “alarmed” by the rejection of its call for an EGM over the Trust’s unstable finances.

In Trust for Scotland (ITFS) has been created by members disgruntled at a lack of consultation over plans to close 11 properties in order to save money, and is attempting to gather the 2,000 signatures requested to force an EGM.

NTS governors has emphasised that it had already agreed the proposals with the Trust’s Council, which is elected by members, but in a statement the campaigners called the Council “supine” and said “poor governance by an undemocratic board” was at the heart of its concerns.

ITFS added that even if it obtains the signatures it needs, it fears constitution rules could be used to delay an EGM, as they only require the meeting to be called within 180 days.

Council being “strangulated”

Bill Fraser, co-founder of ITFS, told Charity News Alert he was “fairly confident” of obtaining the necessary signatures, and that before the group was started there were 200 members wanting to sign up.

Of the cost-cutting measures, he said: “The Council should be the guys saying you cannot do this, but it’s being strangulated. If we’ve got to save money then there must be other ways of doing so.

“With three CEOs in three years, it’s beginning to look as if something is broken. The Trust seems to have lost the plot about what it’s here for.”

Last month the Trust announced that it would be making 91 full-time posts redundant.

Kate Mavor, chief executive of the National Trust for Scotland, said: “Conserving and protecting Scotland’s heritage for future generations is the main priority of our charity.

“We will be taking difficult decisions on staffing levels and changes to 11 out of our 130 properties, in order to ensure the financial stability of the Trust as a whole.”

Directory: National Trust for Scotland
Who's Who: Gareth Jones

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.