Sheffield City Council has been warned by the Charity Commission over potentially unlawful decisions it has made about a charity-owned park in the city.
The Charity Commission said it has opened a compliance case reviewing concerns raised about Graves Park, owned by a charity of the same name.
Currently, the council is the sole trustee for the charity that owns the city park and its charity trustee sub-committee acts on its behalf in decision-making.
According to council documentation regarding the charity, the Commission told the council it has been acting in breach of the Charities Act.
It reads that the Commission “has asked several questions regarding how the council is using the land at Norton Nurseries and what steps have been taken to regularise these arrangements”.
The regulator has advised that “because the council has not regularised these arrangements, the trustee has in effect, been acting in breach of the 2009 scheme and the Charities Act 2011”.
Compliance case
A Commission spokesperson said: “We have an open compliance case reviewing concerns raised about Graves Park, and as part of our case we have actively engaged with Sheffield Council about these concerns.
“We await the council’s response and will consider the next appropriate steps in line with our statutory role.”
Another charity called Friends of Graves Park said it was pleased that the Commission was looking into this, as it has “been campaigning for over 26 years now to protect parts of the park from sale or disposal and is hopeful that these latest developments will start to protect the park as it should be protected”,
“It is also encouraging that the councillors are finally starting to recognise what charitable status means,” it said in a statement.
Charity trustee sub-committee
Councillor Richard Williams, chair of the charity trustee sub-committee, said: “As the sole trustee of the Graves Park charity, we are committed to working with the Charity Commission to answer any questions they may have and reassure them that all of the decisions made regarding all charitable land in the city are for the benefit of the charity and the people of Sheffield.”
In recent years, Sheffield City Council has engaged with the Commission regarding Graves Park charity about the use of Norton Nurseries, a small part of the park, which is currently being used for operational purposes.
In a letter from June of this year, the Commission asked the council about the amount of charitable land that is being used operationally – including to store equipment, for refuse collection and staff welfare.
Civil Society understands the council has assured the Commission that the Norton Nurseries area of the park amounts to around 2% of the total land of Graves Park.
In a report to the charity trustee sub-committee, which met on 16 July, it is proposed that Sheffield Council should seek approval for a licence to use this land operationally, in an official capacity.
Data for the financial year ending 31 March 2023, filed with the Commission, puts Graves Park’s income at £655,000 and expenditure at £740,000.
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