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trustee tried to act impartially).
It has long since been considered undesirable for a trustee to bring their personal interests into consideration when dealing with their duties as trustees. This is because of the risk that this would ultimately lead to the bene ciares of the charity being disadvantaged. A nineteenth century Judge puts it succinctly below:
“.....human nature being what it is, there is danger, [where interest and duty con ict], of the person holding a duciary position [i.e. the trustee] being swayed by interest rather than duty, and thus prejudicing those whom he was bound to protect.”
Lord Herschell Bray V Ford [1896]
HOW DO YOU MANAGE
A CONFLICT OF INTEREST?
You will need to follow any procedures in your governing document, and comply with the Charity Commission’s guidance. Also if the charity is structured as a company you will need to make sure you are complying with the Companies Act requirements as well. But as a general rule there are three basic steps:
Declare the con ict to the other trustees
Effective management relies on full disclosure:
– Allocate responsibility to co-ordinate
– Put in place a con icts policy
– Haveinternal/externaltrainingasneeded
Make this the rst point on every meeting agenda
Monitor whether any con icts arise during meetings
Document the con ict
Declaration form Con icts register Minutes
44 Chapter 3
