Breadcrumbs
New Management Arrangements for Millennium Greens
Earlier this year, Natural England and the Big Lottery Fund agreed a number of new management arrangements that Millennium Green Trusts may use if desired. This was subject to the signing of a formal agreement between the two bodies allowing Natural England to offer those arrangements. The Agreement has now been signed, and the range of options now available is as follows:
- Deeds of Release for individuals wishing to retire, where their trusts have not adopted any of the measures listed below. (Separate Deeds of Release have been produced for trusts which are to become Corporate Trustees or are transferring to parish councils or local authorities). Our legal advisor is exploring the possibility of introducing a Deed Poll which could provide a blanket release mechanism for trustees who have retired in the past. If this is possible, we will let you know via Natural England’s website.
- Millennium Green Trusts can become Corporate Trustees (thus reducing personal liability of individual trustees).
- Trusts can be transferred to their parish council under Section 79 of Charities Act 1993. Here, the parish council must adhere to the same terms and conditions of the original grant contract agreed between the Millennium Green Trust and Natural England’s predecessor bodies.
- Local Authorities can become sole trustees of Millennium Greens. Again, they will be required to adhere to the terms and conditions of the original grant contract.
These arrangements are available to Millennium Green Trusts which are legally compliant with the terms and conditions of their original grant offers. Trusts which are not yet fully compliant may be required to address outstanding legal issues before they are allowed to pursue any of the above options. Also, where Trusts wish to transfer to their parish council or local authority, they should be able demonstrate why they need to do this. Reasons could include the failure to recruit trustees and/or problems with raising revenue funds. It may help trustees to contact the National Millennium Greens Advisor (see below), in the first instance, for advice on this.
The Practice Notes and all other relevant documentation regarding the new arrangements can be found on this website at ‘Millennium Green Documents’.
From now on, Millennium Greens will be dealt with by Natural England’s National Programme Delivery team. Therefore, communications regarding the new arrangements and any other matters regarding Millennium Greens and their Trusts should be sent to:
Annemarie Thomas
Doorstep Greens and Millennium Greens National Adviser
c/o Clive Road
Natural England
4th Floor, Government Office for the West Midlands
5 St Philip’s Place
Colmore Row
Birmingham
B3 2PW
Email: annemarie.thomas@naturalengland.org.uk
Therefore, any legally compliant trusts which would like to adopt any of the new arrangements should follow the advice in the Practise Notes and submit a request, together with any relevant documentation to Kim
December 2007
