Sixth Form Colleges - Exempt Charity Status And Trustee Responsibilities

• Published date: 20 July 2020
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Charities & Non-Profits , Compliance, Trusts
• Law Firm: Wrigleys Solicitors
• Author: Ms Claris D'Cruz

Sixth form colleges operate either under the direction of a statutory corporation or are run by an academy trust as a 16-19 academy. A common feature of all sixth form colleges though is that the legal entity operating them - the corporation or the academy trust - is an exempt charity. Operating one or more sixth form colleges and academies is the means through which the corporation or academy trust, as an exempt charity, carries out its charitable purposes.

It is therefore important for those in key roles to understand the legal requirements that come with exempt charity status.

The first point to note is that ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with charity law lies with the 'charity trustees'. For a sixth form college run by a corporation the charity trustees are those who sit on the board of the statutory corporation, usually referred to as 'governors'. For a sixth form college operated by an academy trust, the charity trustees are those who sit on the board or governing body of the academy trust, usually referred to as 'trustees'.

On a day-to-day basis operational matters are delegated to the senior leadership team of the corporation or academy trust. In the case of academy trusts which operate more than one sixth form college or other academies oversight may also be delegated to a local governing body. Therefore, although the buck stops with the governors or trustees (as charity trustees), others involved through the chain of delegation need to understand the charity law requirements to ensure compliance.

Eligibility and propriety checks

It is important to ensure that a governor or trustee is eligible to act before they take on the role. An individual cannot act as a charity trustee if they are 'disqualified' unless they are specifically authorised to do so by the Charity Commission. Disqualification reasons include being bankrupt, having an individual voluntary arrangement, being disqualified from acting as a company director, having unspent convictions for certain criminal offences and being on the sex offenders' register.

As charities, corporations and academy trusts that claim UK charity tax reliefs and exemptions must also meet management conditions in schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010, which require governors and trustees to be 'fit and proper persons': see HMRC's Guidance on the fit and proper persons test. In addition, as public office holders, governors and trustees must uphold the 'Nolan' ethical standards of integrity...