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The Charity Commission have an online register of removed trustees which provides details of anyone who has been removed as a trustee by the High court or the Charity Commission, which you can check online (see website details in the appendices)
http://forms.charitycommission.gov.uk/about-charities/register-of-removed- trustees
The Charity Commission recommends that all new trustees should be asked to complete a declaration of eligibility and responsibility form (there is a similar one for OSCR. These can be found in our appendices.):
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ le/581249/Trustee_declaration.pdf
Furthermore, HMRC recommends that where a charity claims tax reliefs, all the charity trustees should sign up to their model declaration:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ le/392977/model-dec-ff-persons.pdf
While there is overlap between these forms, it is recommended that you have all which are relevant completed and hold them on le, as they offer some protection to the charity (showing that they asked the questions) should any convictions etc. later come to light.
HOW IS A TRUSTEE LEGALLY APPOINTED?
It is crucial that all new trustees are legally appointed and all retiring trustees are legally removed. This is because if they are not there can be uncertainty over who is in charge, how assets are held (particularly in trusts), and important decisions taken could be invalid.
The rst step is to look at your governing document and see if it contains provisions as to how to appoint and remove trustees. We explore some of the more common structures for catholic religious charities on the next few pages:
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