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WQ.76/2022
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR CHILDREN AND EDUCTION BY DEPUTY I. GARDINER OF ST. HELIER
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 21st FEBRUARY 2022 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 28th FEBRUARY 2022
Question
In relation to the C.W.C. Stephen Fund (“the Fund”), will the Minister provide details of the following –
- when the decision was taken to transfer the management (“the transfer”) of the Fund from Student Finance to Victoria College, Jersey College and Hautlieu Schools (“the schools”);
- what consultation, if any, was undertaken and with whom prior to the transfer taking place;
- the reasons behind the transfer decision;
- who was advised of the transfer and on what date(s);
- what training and/or guidelines were provided to the schools to ensure that all and any bursaries awarded followed the appropriate procedures and criteria; and
- whether all bursaries were distributed for the current academic year?
Answer
- The transfer of thirty-one Education-themed funds to various school Foundations/Charities and/or the Library was approved by the Royal Court on 1 April 2021 following representation on 18 September 2020, as amended 6 January 2021. The Royal Court Judgement was dated 26 May 2021.
- In the course of making the Royal Court application, the Treasurer of the States, as the identified trustee of the funds, published the proposals in the Jersey Gazette Charitable trusts for educational purposes held by the Treasurer of the States (gov.je) on 30September 2020. In response a written submission was received from the Jersey Charity Commissioner on 7 December 2020. Notice of the application was also given to beneficiary schools and the proposals put to the Royal Court had approval from the Charitable Funds Oversight Board.
- To ensure that the funds could be better employed for educational charitable ends and the benefactors’ original specific purposes or the spirit of their intentions.
- Please see (a) and (b) above
- The Judgement specified that the funds must be used for charitable purposes and the recipients signed memoranda of understanding that the funds would be used (as far as reasonably possible) consistently with the spirit of the original gift. To ensure that the funds would be used appropriately and to provide public accountability, it was agreed that the recipient bodies would report annually to the Charities Commissioner and the Attorney General on how funds have been spent. The funds were not directly transferred to beneficiary schools but rather their foundations/ charities so that they would come closer to the supervision of the Charities Commissioner (and control would be less proximate to the Treasurer, and thereby more transparently independent).
- The Judgement confirmed that the bequests ceased to exist, and the Treasurer was discharged from office and the duties of trusteeship, on transfer of the funds. For CWC Stevens, this was completed on 2 June 2021. In the case of the CWC Stevens fund, a third of the fund was distributed to the Jersey College for Girls Foundation; a third to the Victoria College Foundation Limited and a third to the Hautlieu School Trust for their onward award making.