LIST OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The Children's Society's reasons for withdrawing
from Wales
(a) The Society's reasons for deciding to withdraw
from Wales are unpersuasive in the extreme. The principal argument,
that the decision was taken in order for the Society to retain
its status as a body which is able to influence government policy,
is scarcely credible in the context of the outrage with which
the decision has been greeted in Parliament, in the National Assembly
for Wales and within the Church in Wales. The second argument,
that the Society's operations would "implode" if it
tried to continue its work in Wales, is also highly dubious. Lady
Toulson suggested that this argument was put to the Trustees by
the Society's management and that the Trustees relied heavily
on it when making their decision. However, not one of our witnesses
was able to elaborate on it or to offer any evidence in support
of it. The best the Chief Executive could manage was that it was
"the judgement of the Director for Children and Young People".
The Society's arguments about the cost of providing services in
Wales might well have a grounding in fact. Wales is, in the words
of the Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Wales, "a
variously and seriously disadvantaged country", but that
is all the more reason for the Society to continue its work there.
Witnesses told us that the Society does not expect each region
of England to break even in terms of voluntary income and expenditure,
yet the Society talks of Wales being "subsidised" by
England. Finally, it is unacceptable for the Society to use the
cost of Welsh language provision as an excuse for pulling out
of Wales and this was brought to the Trustees' attention at the
meeting on 19 October 2001. It is inconsistent with the Society's
own statement in its Welsh Language Scheme, that the cost of Welsh
language provision is a cost for the Society as a whole rather
than a cost for Wales alone. It also has worrying implications
for the Society's work with other children whose first language
is not English (paragraph 16).
Consultation
(b) It is regrettable that the Society did not
consult with, or seek assistance from, the National Assembly (or,
for that matter, any other body which might have been able to
offer assistance) before making its decision to withdraw entirely
from Wales. It is particularly disappointing that the Society's
managers in London should have recommended to the Trustees that
the Society withdraw from Wales without once consulting their
own Welsh managers. This is especially significant in view of
the management's apparent ignorance of the funding arrangements
for their operations in Wales with which Welsh staff had been
closely involved (paragraph 22).
Accuracy of the information supplied to Trustees
(c) It is difficult to understand the Chief Executive's
position in relation to the inaccurate information that was presented
to the Trustees. It is not at all clear why information about
the length of contracts and the duration of funding arrangements
should be regarded by the Trustees as being of little significance
in considering their decision. The Chief Executive's assertion
that this was the case is at odds with that of the Revd Mr Glover,
one of the Trustees. Whatever the impact of mistakes in the management's
presentation of the case on the Trustees' decision, we are concerned
that the Charity's management were unable to present the Board
with accurate, relevant and complete information and that the
Trustees have been inadvertently misled on matters of fact with
which the Charity's managers might have been expected to be more
familiar. We believe there is a strong case for the Society to
review its systems for making information available to Trustees
in order to ensure that in future major decisions are taken on
the basis of accurate information (paragraph 23).
Timing of the decision and alternative plans
(d) It seems that there were two separate and
mutually exclusive sets of plans being made by the Society in
July 2001: a plan to continue and strengthen its Welsh operation,
through the Welsh Advisory Committee, and a plan to close it down
entirely. An alternative explanation is that the decision to close
the operations in Wales was taken rather hastily, in the three-month
period between the Advisory Committee being established and the
Trustees' meeting on 19 October. Neither possibility inspires
a great deal of confidence that the decision was carefully considered
by the Society's officials before it was presented to the Trustees
for approval. It is regrettable, as the Minister pointed out,
that the newly-established Welsh Advisory Committee was excluded
from such a grave decision being taken with respect to the Charity's
operations in Wales (paragraph 25).
Responsibility for the decision
(e) It is proper for the Trustees, rather than
the Society's professional management, to take major policy and
strategic decisions such as the one in question. It is right that
in doing so they should take account of advice from management.
That does not mean that the management bear no responsibility
at all for the decisions, especially in a case where, according
to the two Trustees who gave evidence to us, they have given the
Board a strong steer towards a particular course of action. We
are concerned that a situation has arisen in which, for various
reasons, neither the Chair of the Board of Trustees nor the Chief
Executive of the Society feels able to acknowledge responsibility
for, or mount a robust defence of, such a controversial decision
(paragraph 28).
(f) It is important that the Charity's Trustees
are able to fulfil their duties fully from the outset, carefully
scrutinising proposals which emanate from the Society's management
and making informed decisions about the Society's future. To this
end, we believe that the Society should consider providing a comprehensive
programme of training and induction for new Trustees (paragraph
29).
The Assembly's response
(g) We commend the Assembly for its swift response
to the situation and we are pleased that negotiations over the
future of the Children's Society's services in Wales are making
progress. We call on the Government to monitor further developments
closely with a view to offering any assistance which it might
reasonably give (paragraph 32).
A code of practice for voluntary organisations
(h) It is important that charities and other
organisations providing services in partnership with government
at all levels understand the new political geography of the UK,
post-devolution (paragraph 33).
(i) Following the Children's Society's decision,
we believe that a code of practice which voluntary bodies operating
in more than one country of the UK could choose to adopt would
be a welcome development. A public commitment from voluntary bodies
to consult properly before withdrawing from, or significantly
reducing services in, Wales (or any other constituent part of
the UK) would help to remove some of the uncertainty surrounding
the work of the voluntary sector in Wales which has arisen in
the aftermath of the Children's Society's decision. We urge the
Government to support such a code of practice and to consider
whether its adoption should be a condition of bodies receiving
funding from the UK Government (paragraph 34).
The Children's Society's subsequent advertising
(j) Despite the publicity which has surrounded
the decision to withdraw from Wales, it is reasonable to assume
that many people will continue to believe that the Society, which
has worked in Wales for 113 years, will continue to be active
in that country. People in Wales who wish to support a children's
charity must not be given the false impression that, by donating
to the Children's Society, they will be supporting continuing
work with children locally in Wales. The Children's Society must
therefore take pains to ensure that neither the content nor the
placement of any of its advertising, or of any other publicity
or public statements issued by or on behalf of the Society, gives
the false impression that it will continue to work in Wales (paragraph
36).
The Charity Commission
(k) We will send a copy of this Report to the
Charity Commission so that they may consider what action, if any,
it would be appropriate for them to take in view of our findings
(paragraph 38).
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