Decision details

1.1.            That the following recommendation be noted:

§   The explanation given to the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee by the Fulham Palace Trust was that their pensions' deficit of £388,000 was a recent discovery and that the Trustees had not fully explored the financial issues at the time the Trust was established nor taken independent financial advice.

§   Fulham Palace Trust has therefore suggested that the Council has an obligation to cover this cost. However under the terms of the pension scheme Admission Agreement the Council has no obligation to fund the pension scheme for Fulham Palace Trust.

§   That officers revisited the arrangements because of Fulham Palace Trust’s demand but confirmed that it is explicit in Section 4 Obligations of the Trust in the Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) that: [4.1] that The Trust will: ‘accept staff transferred on TUPE terms from the Council’ and as the Admission Agreement to the pension scheme was signed off by Fulham Palace Trust’s Chairman, Tim Ingram, it remains Fulham Palace Trust’s responsibility. 

§   That in Fulham Palace Trust’s draft accounts for 2014/15 it has netted this £388,000 liability off its unrestricted funds, suggesting it is provided for.

§   Council officers advise that in light of the Fulham Palace Trust financial expertise and management available, Fulham Palace Trust should be able to understand its liabilities and plot its income generation projections through the development of a robust business plan and fundraising strategy.

1.2.        That the Council should not pay Fulham Palace Trust the £388,000 demanded.