MORE than £2 million that's sitting in trust funds across the Kingdom and not being used could be transferred to local charities and good causes.
Fife Council are trying to cut through the red tape but missing deeds mean they can't tell who the beneficiaries are supposed to be, while others have purposes that "no longer make sense", such as money to be used only for the provision of coal to the poor.
OSCR (Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator) and Audit Scotland have raised concerns about the "lack of utilisation" and trusts with charitable status could lose it due to the funds they hold not being disbursed.
Accountant Eleanor Hodgson told the Cowdenbeath area committee: "Across Fife there are 80 individual trusts and funds holding a combined balance of £2.52m.
"During the financial year 2024-25 only 24 of these funds were active, disbursing a total of £105,000, demonstrating continued low levels of utilisation, highlighted by external audit and OSCR .
"The interest returns on those investments have remained low over the past decade, limiting annual disbursements and constraining the ability of many trusts to meet their charitable purposes.
"Several trust funds also face challenges such as outdated or impractical purposes, missing trust deeds and low fund values."
She added: "Conversely, a number of funds remain active and continue to support local community priorities through regular awards.
"We seek to improve the efficient use of trust resources by identifying opportunities for amalgamation, modernisation of purposes or transfer to a suitable third sector organisation."
Some of the trust funds, such as one to provide "Christmas gifts to children in Thornton Fever Hospital", hasn't been used for more than 10 years and has just £133 in it.
Another, which has just over £31,000 in it, is for 'Crail Library' but the village no longer has a library, while others stipulate the money can't be transferred to a settlement trust unless there's a court order.
The Cowdenbeath area has "two large funds" in the area but both are working well and won't be affected.
Ms Hodgson said: "Benarty Primary School's balance, as at March 31, 2025, was £90,419 and Kelty Christmas Lights balance was £22,366.
"Both these trusts are active and they annually disperse funds so we wouldn't suggest we do anything with them. They will continue as is."
Each committee area will be updated on the trusts in their patch and councillors at the Cowdenbeath meeting asked what was being done to free up the cash that isn't being used.
Council solicitor Aran Wilson replied: "Some of the trusts that we can't find the paperwork for fall into the complex category where me might need to seek further legal advice.
"If they were for specific purposes and we don't have the paperwork we can't just simply use the funds for other reasons.
"Some of the others where the purposes no longer make sense, if they're registered with OSCR there's a process we're looking to go through to change what the funds could be used for."
She added: "If they're with OSCR and the purpose is no longer possible, if there's a settlement trust in the area we would look to transfer the funds there because OSCR say the funds have to be transferred to a charitable body.
"They can't just go to the community council.
"If there is no settlement trust in the area then we would look for suggestions of local charities that it could be transferred to."
Settlement trusts comprise several individual trusts and bequests specific to a defined geographical area.
Non-settlement trusts can cover more than one geographical area or were designated for a specific purpose.
Share