WTC Governance

Committee Membership

1. The Committee will consist of 7 voting members who are supported by the none voting Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer (RFO). This will allow for discussion whilst helping to manage sensitive personal and financial data.

2. The Committee will consist of:

• 2 current Great Carlton Parish Councillors
• 2 current Little Carlton Parish Councillors 
• 3 members from the public: with ideally each village represented

3. Diversity and neutrality are very important: wherever possible members should not be involved with any other Carlton based organisations such as the Village Hall Trustees, Social Club Committee, Parochial Church Council or any other similar village organisations.  This should encourage a wider resident involvement and understanding of fund management.

3.1. No two members of the same household or family should serve on the committee at any one time.

4. Meetings will be held in August and February. The Committee will normally elect their chairperson and vice-chairperson at the August meeting. Committee members have to be present to vote. If necessary, the existing chairperson has the casting vote. The committee year will run from 1 August to 31 July and is linked the verification of year ending 31 March accountants in August.   

4.1. Resignations from the committee must be done in writing to the Wind Turbine Community Fund Committee’s Clerk, ideally at least 3 months prior to the next biannual grant meeting. This 3-month period will enable newly appointed Committee members to become fully conversant and compliant with the processes.

4.2. Any Parish Council member who has to resign their position will be encouraged to find their own replacement from the elected Parish Councillors who represent the same village.

4.3. The vacancy created by the resignation of a resident Committee member will be filled from responses to the vacancy notice publicised via: Parish website, village noticeboards, Parish Council Facebook page and Earburn. The vacancy will be advertised for 4 weeks.

Attendance at Meetings

1. Any meetings between the biannual meetings are for the Committee members only. There must be at least four members of the committee present for it to be quorate.

2. The biannual formal meetings in August and February, supported by the Clerk and RFO, are open to any residents of Great or Little Carlton.

3. If a committee member is unable to attend a meeting, they should inform the Clerk. Missing two consecutive meetings may lead to a member being asked to give up their place.

Application for Grants

1.  Any Committee member who has a conflict of interest will not be involved in the evaluation and decision-making process. Conflict of interest must also be declared if household/family members are applying for a grant.

2. Fully completed applications need to be sent to the Clerk by 1st August or 1st February (at least 14 days before the formal meeting) to give members time to consider the grant applications. The committee will usually sit informally on the 2nd or 3rd Thursday of August/February, depending on when the Thursday falls, to discuss the applications to see if any further information is required. The committee will usually sit on the 4th Thursday or the nearest Thursday thereafter for the biannual meeting to award the grants and set conditions as appropriate.

Post Application

1. If there are no conditions, grants will be paid once receipts showing appropriate spending or invoices for money owing have been received by RFO.

2. If there are conditions then the Chairperson and 2 other named Committee members must be happy for the grant to proceed and inform the Clerk and RFO that monies can be made available.

3. No funds will be transferred via on-line banking until:

a.  all conditions stipulated have been met

b.  all receipts are provided, or all invoices have been received (as applicable)

c. pre-part or full payments of grants can be possible if the WTC approves

4. No cash or cheques are used. If the applicant wishes to use cash or cheque payments, they must take responsibility and arrange this from the BACS awarded grant.

5. Applicants must follow the post application procedures outlined in their guidance which includes the return of any unspent monies.

Transparency and Fund Management

1. The fund is managed by the Management Committee who are residents of the Carltons for the residents of the Carltons. Bi-annual meeting notes, reports and annual accounts are published in the Great and Little Carlton Wind Turbine Community Fund section of the Parish website https://carltons.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/wind-turbine

2. The accounts are managed by the RFO and 2 Parish Councillors with annual external verification by appointed local accountants.

Date: February 2022. Scheduled review: February 2023