Responsibilities and duties of trustees

Trustees have overall legal responsibility for the charity. They must ensure that:

• the charity pursues its objects or purposes, as set out in its governing document
• the assets (including funds, investments and property) of the charity are protected and used exclusively to pursue its purposes
• the charity complies with the law and its governing documents
• the charity remains solvent and is not exposed to undue risk.

Trustees must act at all times in the best interests of the charity and its beneficiaries. They must avoid situations where their personal or other interests conflict with the interests of the charity and must not profit from their role unless it has been allowed.

In carrying out their duties, trustees have a duty of care to act reasonably and prudently, and a higher duty in areas of their own expertise.

The trustee board takes decisions collectively and they must meet as often as they need to in order to carry out their responsibilities.

Trustees can only take decisions independently in their role as trustee if the governing document or statutory provisions, and a decision of the trustee board, gives them the authority to do so. An individual trustee cannot bind the other trustees to a course of action unless it has been authorised by the trustees as a whole.

Trustees are not expected to be experts in every field, but they have a duty to take advice when they are not confident about taking a decision.

Trustees need to remember that duties such as that to avoid conflicts of interest, act with integrity and not obtain personal benefit are triggered not only by their own interests but also those of individuals or organisations connected to them by personal financial linking or duties.  For example, family, business partners or other trusteeships.  Such people are referred to as “connected persons” or persons “sharing a common purse”.