This Vote is largely for the staff of the Board of Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests. The constitution, powers and duties of the Board are governed by the Charitable Donations and Bequests Acts of 1844, 1867 and 1871, under which the Board is constituted of twelve honorary members. There are only eight at present. The powers may be summarised as follows:—They have power to settle charity schemes in small cases, power to apply to the court by summary petition to authorise the application of charity property where the testators' directions cannot be complied with, power to institute legal proceedings for the recovery, application, etc., of charity property, to apply to the court to compel charity trustees to complete their number, to advise charity trustees, to sanction compromises affecting charity property, to authorise sales or exchanges of charity lands, purchase of lands from persons under disability, making or surrender of leases, reduction of rent charges, annuities, improvements or alterations to charity property, variation of investments, and so on. The Commissioners also have power to act as trustees and nominate persons to administer charity funds transferred to them, to give valid discharges to persons liable to make payments to charities and to dispense with the publication of charitable bequests.
The principal item in the Estimate is an item for salaries and wages of £3,096, which is explained on page 126, under the sub-head. There is a secretary, an assistant secretary, a clerk in charge of accounts, clerical officers, shorthand typists, and so on. The office staff is set out in the sub-head. The only remark I have to make on it is that I asked the Secretary of my Department, who has been appointed a member of this Board, to assure himself that the staff was not excessive, and he has reported to me that the work of the Board is sufficiently extensive and sufficiently important to keep the staff occupied.
