Minutes and meetings

Having worked on charity committees in the past, the charity has no legal obligation to provide minutes of meetings. What legalities the ex British Waterways had, no longer exist, since it became a charitable organisation, writes Peter Ponting.

Regarding the National Association of Boat Owners (NABO) questioning the procedure for producing minutes of meetings.

For next meeting

Any organisation holding a Board or committee meeting, will have the meeting minuted by a secretary or other elected individual. The minutes will be circulated with any other relevant documentation for the next scheduled meeting.

On the agenda of the subsequent meeting will be. 'Approval of the minutes of the last meeting'. Until such time that the minutes are approved, they can not be produced, as they do not represent the true facts of the previous meeting, until approved.

Documents provided

However, with a charitable organisation, the only documents that have to be provided annually, are a statement of accounts and an annual statement.

Having not seen the governing document for Canal & River Trust, which can be obtained through the Charities Commission, CaRT is doing nothing wrong.