Trustees’ Report for the year ended 31 December 2020
Introduction
The Trustees of St Andrews Links Trust present their Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020. This report is prepared in compliance with the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations, 2006 (as amended), Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS102) and the Charities SORP (FRS102) (referred to as SORP).
Reference and Administrative Information
Reference and administrative information is shown on pages 32 to 35.
Structure, Governance and Management
Governing legislation and appointment of Trustees. The Trust was established by the St Andrews Links Order Confirmation Act, 1974 (the “Links Act”), a private Act of Parliament.
The Links Act provides for the appointment of eight Trustees, three nominated by the ‘local authority’ (Fife Council), three by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, and one by the Scottish Government. The eighth Trustee is the Member of Parliament in whose constituency the Links are situated. With the exception of the MP, Trustees are appointed for a three year term and are eligible for reappointment at the end of that term.
At their first meeting each year, Trustees elect a chairperson and are reminded of their duties and responsibilities under the Links Act and other charities legislation.
Trustee recruitment, induction and training
Although Fife Council and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club each appoint three Trustees and the Scottish Government appoints one it is important to stress that the Trustees are not in any way representatives or delegates of their appointing body. Newly appointed Trustees participate in an induction programme. They are provided with the latest Annual Report and Accounts, copies of past minutes and other background information and receive briefings on all areas of the Trust’s operations from senior management.
Governance
Day to day management of the Trust and its subsidiary companies is performed by a management team, headed by a Chief Executive, which reports to the Trustees at regular formal meetings, the minutes of which are published. Several committees and working parties exist to facilitate more detailed consideration of key aspects of the Trust’s operations.
Each of the wholly owned subsidiary companies has a Board of Directors which include a mixture of Trustees, members of the management team and, where beneficial, independent non-executive directors. The committees, working parties and Boards report to the Trustees at their formal meetings.
The Audit and Risk Committee is responsible for meeting with the auditors to agree the planning for the audit, reviewing the audit findings and the draft audited Annual Report & Accounts and approving them for submission to Trustees. They also review the Trust’s risk register and, if approved, recommend it to Trustees for adoption.
The Finance Committee is responsible for reviewing and approving draft budgets and pricing recommendations prior to their submission to Trustees for approval. In addition, the Committee was tasked with reviewing those risks regarded as financial risks and reporting back to the Audit & Risk Committee whether, in their opinion, they are adequately reflected in the risk register.
A Corporate Governance Committee is tasked with ensuring the Trust’s governance practices remain appropriate for an organisation of the Trust’s size and complexity.
A Remuneration Committee sets the pay and remuneration of the Directors having regard to various factors including performance, the movement in inflationary indices and benchmarking exercises with comparable sectors.
A Nomination Committee meets when required to select and recommend suitable candidates to fill Trustee vacancies.
A statement of the Trustees’ responsibilities in respect of the accounts is contained in the Reference and Administrative information on page 34.
Charitable purpose
The Trust is a registered charity and is therefore exempt from income and corporation taxes on its charitable activities. Trading activities which are considered to be out with the Trust’s charitable purposes are carried out by subsidiary companies, and their profits are remitted to the Trust under Gift Aid arrangements.
Related parties
Information on transactions with related parties is given in Note 22 to the accounts.
Objectives and Activities
The Trust’s principal objective, as stated in the Links Act, is to “hold and maintain the Links as a public park and place of public resort and recreation for the residents of St Andrews and others resorting thereto”.
St Andrews is famous worldwide, not just in golfing but also in academic and ecclesiastical circles and has a rich history. It is widely recognised as the “Home of Golf”, where the game began and largely evolved into its current form, is home to The Old Course- the oldest and most famous golf course in the world- and is renowned for its golfing connections.