January 2012 - Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals

preparation of the annual report should be aligned to that of the preparation for
the annual accounts.
13 Update from the meeting of the Charitable Funds Committee held on 1
December 2011
SWBTB (12/11) 263
Verbal
Dr Sahota reported that at the meeting of the Charitable Funds Committee on 1
December 2011, a proposal had been received concerning the Management of
Inactive Funds, whereby an escalation process would be implemented and funds
transferred into general funds if not spent within a certain time.
It was reported that the Committee had adopted the Charitable Funds annual
accounts and had approved the annual report for submission to the Charities
Commission in January 2012.
In terms of the ISA260, the Board was pleased to learn that the Trust’s auditors
intended to issue an unqualified opinion. A recommendation to seek formal
spending plans from fund managers had been proposed, therefore it had been
agreed that managers holding funds in excess of £5000 would be asked for
spending plans.
The Board was advised that an update on investment markets had been provided
from the Barclays Wealth adviser, who had highlighted the current volatility in
markets and the recent plans to make better access to the US dollar. An
agreement was reported to have been made to change the proportion of
investment into different asset classes to include a greater number of bonds,
thereby reducing the risk of the portfolio.
Dr Sahota reported that the Committee had received the quarterly finance
update, which presented the detail of income received via donations and
charitable funds spent. It had been noted that expenditure was greater than
income received at the present, therefore plans to progress with establishing the
fundraising function were highlighted to be critical. The Committee had agreed
that there was a need to take extra measures in terms of promoting the means by
which the people may donate.
A list of funds with a balance in excess of £50k was reviewed, as requested at the
previous meeting of the Committee and an explanation given as to how the
various funds were categorised historically into categories set by NHS Charities
Commission. The total value of funds with a balance in excess of £50k was
reported to be £2.4m.
14 Any other business Verbal
There was none.
15 Schedule of meetings 2012 SWBTB (12/11) 255
The Board received and noted the schedule of meetings for 2012.
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