Remuneration of Trustees and volunteers

  1. Hope Valley Climate Action (HVCA) is a registered charity, registration no 1192830.
  2. HVCA trustees are unpaid and must not put themselves in a position where their personal  interests conflict with their duty to act in the interests of HVCA. Where HVCA proposes to  employ a Trustee, HVCA expects that person to resign from being a Trustee. Where HVCA  wishes to compensate a Trustee for loss of earnings, the Chair must give prior approval and  HVCA must ensure that it is acting in accordance with Charity Commission guidance.


    Expenditure controls 

  3. The treasurer and chair may each individually authorise expenditure of up to £500 from any one supplier. Amounts above this but less than £2000 require authorisation by both treasurer and  chair. Amounts of £2000 or above require authorisation by the full Board of Trustees. A written  record of any decisions to spend more than £500 must be kept.

       
          Project Funding  

  1. Individuals and groups are encouraged to apply for external funding to pursue an initiative or  course of action to further HVCA objectives. This individual or group is then responsible for  delivering this initiative, according to the terms of the grant, and for staying within budget. 
  2. Funding proposals submitted in HVCA’s name need prior approval by the HVCA Trustees, and  bids of over £1,000 need a detailed budget. 
  3. After funds are raised for a specific project, the budget for that project needs to be approved by  the Trustees. This should include a breakdown into different categories of expenditure. Once  the budget is approved by the Trustees, expenditure on appointments or contracts that have  total value greater than £5000 need to be approved by either the Treasurer or Chair, but  otherwise the project manager can spend the funds within the budget without any further  authorisation. Virement of up to 10% of total budget for the project is permitted between  categories within the project. 
  4. HVCA will administer these funds or grants, which should be paid into the HVCA bank account.
  5. HVCA normally applies a 20% management fee on project funding. This is to help HVCA  develop and promote its work, including publicising the outcomes of the funded project. It  covers project accounting, including payments, payroll; basic external comms., including  website, social media and newsletter; public liability insurance and other miscellaneous costs.  (All events must have a risk assessment completed. Should this indicate that additional  insurance is needed, it would need to be paid for out of the specific budget for that event.)
  6. When HVCA is raising funds for a specific local project, the management fee may, at the  discretion of the Treasurer, be reduced to 10%. This will only be done if the local partner  organisation is taking the financial risk on the project. HVCA will seek to ensure that Gift Aid is  claimed on all such local fundraising, whenever possible. 

         
         Financial reporting 

  1. In addition to Annual Accounts, HVCA’s Treasurer and Accounts Manager will provide Trustees  with quarterly core and project summary reports and will provide project managers with monthly  project income and expenditure reports in Excel.  

         
         Project management 

  1. The Treasurer will advise project managers and provide them with a template to aid project  budgeting. The relevant Trustee and project manager are responsible for updating this template with monthly income and expenditure data and for staying within budget.  

         
          Expense claims 

  1. Expenditure on behalf of HVCA, other than where we have an account with a supplier, is paid  by individuals and then claimed back. Claims over £50 need prior approval of the Treasurer. 13. Expenses claims, using the HVCA Excel template, together with all relevant receipts, should be  submitted as PDFs to the Accounts Manager within one month of the expenditure being  incurred. They will be paid within 30 days.

         
         Support for Groups 

  1. Action groups may request funds from the Core budget to advance their objectives.  Engaging contractors, and employing staff 
  2. HVCA will use an open and competitive process to engage people in paid work on any new  project with spend in excess of £1000. HVCA will provide a clear specification of the work to be  done and the level of payment offered. Opportunities will be publicly advertised including  through HVCA’s own communications channels. HVCA will follow best practice in recruitment,  ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly. 

         
         Contractors  

  1. Contractors need to submit invoices for work done according to an agreed payment schedule. If  working on several projects the contractor should submit separate invoices for each project or, if  submitting a single invoice, itemise the amounts for each project. Once the work has been  approved by whoever the contractor reports to, the invoice will be paid within 30 days.


    Employees 

  2. Salaries are paid monthly in arrears on or around the last day of the month, subject to PAYE, National Insurance and employee pension contribution deductions. Holiday entitlement is  normally 25 days per year (plus 8 days statutory holidays) pro rata. Sick pay is discretionary,  and is up to 10 days (pro-rata). Notice period is 1 month. Employees will be enrolled into a  pension scheme with HVCA paying the employer’s statutory minimum contribution of 3% of salary, and employees required to pay the statutory minimum of 5% (though they may elect to  pay more). Agreed expenses will be reimbursed as above.  


          Donations 

  1. Donations to HVCA are normally administered by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and  donors are invited to gift aid their donations. Donations may also be made directly. If  earmarked for a particular activity these funds will be paid to the relevant group. Annual Accounts 
  2. HVCA Accounts and Financial Statements will be audited by an external auditor and formally  approved by Trustees at an annual meeting. Accounts will be kept for 6 years. 

         
This revised version approved by Trustees in September 2025. Paragraph 14 amended February  2026. To be reviewed not later than September 2027.

Stephen Platt and Jeremy Wight 25/2/20; Updated 29/11/21; 24/5/22; 11/10/22; 17/01/23; 31/1/23; 16/7/23,  07/01/24 

Download a pdf version here