Heulwen Trust Conflict of Interest Policy
All Trustees, staff, contractors and volunteers of the Heulwen Trust will strive to avoid any conflict of interest between the interests of the Trust on the one hand, and personal, professional, and business interests on the other. This includes avoiding actual conflicts of interest as well as the perception of conflicts of interest. The purposes of this policy are to protect the integrity of the Trust’s decision-making process, to enable our stakeholders to have confidence in our integrity, and to protect the integrity and reputation of Trustees, staff, contractors and volunteers.
Examples of conflicts of interest include:
- A Trustee who is also a regular hirer who must decide whether fees from hirers should be increased.
- A Trustee who is related to a member of staff or contractor and there is a decision to be taken on remuneration and/or conditions.
- A Trustee who is also a Trustee of another organisation that is competing for the same funding.
- A Trustee who has shares in a business that may be awarded a contract to do work or provide services for the organisation. Upon appointment each Trustee will make a full, written disclosure of interests, such as relationships, and posts held, that could potentially result in a conflict of interest. This written disclosure will be kept on file and it will be updated as appropriate and on re-appointment. In the course of meetings or activities, Trustees will disclose any interests in a transaction or decision where there may be a conflict between the organisation’s best interests and the Trustees’ best interests or a conflict between the best interests of two organisations that the Trustee is involved with. The agenda for Trust meetings will include a standard item to remind Trustees to disclose any interest. After disclosure, Trustees understand that they may be asked to leave the room for the discussion and may not be able to take part in the decision depending on the judgment of the other Trustees present at the time. Any such disclosure and the subsequent actions taken will be noted in the minutes.
This policy is meant to supplement good judgment, and Trustees, staff, contractors and volunteers should respect its spirit as well as its wording. Policy adopted: March 2019