Details of accounts for The Feoffee of Poor's Land. 246332

Charity Commission for England and Wales did not have the information requested.

Dear Charity Commission for England and Wales,

Dear Sirs, The following questions have been asked of the above Charity Trust and as yet I have had no reply from the Trustees, could you possibly give me the answers please?

Board of Trustees of The Feoffee of Poor’s Land
I.e.: (Hemsby Poor’s Land Charity Trust)246332

Under The Freedom Of Information Act.

1. Why is the Trust under such an obscure name? The Feoffee of Poor's Land.

2. Who has the lease on the Poor’s Land?

3. How much do they pay to rent the land?

4. How many acres are rented out?

5. When is the lease up for renewal?

6. Is the land advertised to tenders for the highest bidder? To acquire the best price that will benefit
the people of the village.

7. Why are grants not made available to Help The People Of The Village as is suggested under the Heading of Activities on their Financial Statement, when other villages openly advertise the fact that grants are available to the people of their village?

8. How much and where is the money invested for the beneficiaries i.e.: The People Of The Village?

9. What is the final balance figure of the The Feoffee of Poor’s Land in Hemsby, i.e. Hemsby Poor’s Land Charity Trust?

I ask these questions as a resident of Hemsby who has the interest of the village at heart and believes that these questions should be put to the Board of Trustees in line with the Governments view on transparency of information, Under The Freedom Of Information Act.

I have since learned that the land is rented to a local farmer and back in 1946 there was an alledged agreement drawn up with The Feoffee of Poor's Land stating that a local farming family, as a prominent family in Hemsby and who held the majority of land in Hemsby, could farm the Poor's Land for the next three generations of their family, at the moment they are at the second generation stage with a third generation yet to come. How could this agreement be set up for such long length of time without a possibility for any other interested parties being able to put in a tender bid for it. This land was set aside in c1870's for the poor people of the village to be able grow their vegetables and heat their homes. Other Poor's Land Trusts have a five year lease agreement, can the original agreement with the local farming family be challenged to return the land to the people of the village as was originally intended.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs P Sutton

Web Enquiries, Charity Commission for England and Wales

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CCD Email Team, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Mrs Sutton,

Thank you for your email enquiry of 16 February which falls to be dealt
with under the Freedom of Information Act.

The charity is recorded under the name you have quoted for historical
reasons. It is governed by a Scheme of the Charity Commission dated 22nd
April 1873. The word "Feoffee" is an old English word which has two
meanings: 1) A Fief holder was a vassal who held land granted by a feudal
lord. 2) Feoffee is a trustee who holds freehold property for a
charitable purpose. Therefore, the land in question was originally given
by the Lord of the Manor to be used for charitable purposes. It is for
that reason that the Lord of the Manor in 1873, Robert Copeman, was named
as one of the original trustees and the Lord of the Manor from
time-to-time is an ex-officio trustee of the charity.

There are many charities registered with the Charity Commission that have
either "feoffee" or "feoffees" in their title. You can conduct a search
of the Register of Charities on the Charity Commission website by entering
either of those words into the "Search" box to find details of those
charities.

You have asked who has the lease on the Poor's Land. That is not
information that the Charity Commission would hold. Charities are not
obliged to inform the Commission of details relating to leases of land
because that is the sole responsibility of the trustees. However, later
in you email you have stated that you have now obtained that information.

As a follow on from that point, the Commission would not hold details of
rent being paid. You will need to contact the trustees for that
information. The contact details we have for the charity are as follows:
Mrs Shirley Weymouth, 3 Pedlar's Cross, Hemsby, Great Yarmouth, NR29
4JX. Telephone 01493 731625. In addition to the Lord of the Manor, the
Vicar and churchwardens are also ex-officio trustees and should be able to
provide you with information.

We do not know how many acres are rented out. Again, that information
will be held by the trustees. Our records show that, in 1873, the charity
held 2 plots of land in Hemsby. One plot was just over 9 acres; the other
just over 15 acres.

The Commission has no knowledge of the terms of the lease and so we do not
know when it is up for renewal, nor do we need to know. Again, you will
need to get that information from the trustees or the farmer in question.

We do not know how the land is advertised for lease. Anyone interested in
leasing the land should make that fact known to the trustees so that they
can consider how to advertise the lease when it does come up for renewal.

Information provided to the Commission indicates that, in the financial
year 2008 the charity trustees expended **2,218 out of a total income of
**2,399. The trustees will be able to inform you how much of that sum was
used to assist people in need of financial assistance. The trustees are
responsible for deciding how they publicise the availability of funds.
You will need to contact them for that information. It is also the
responsibility of the trustees to decide where the charity's money is
banked or invested. The Commission does not need to know that
information.

The Poors Land and the Feoffee charity are administered as one charity.
Therefore, in answer to your final question, the balance figure of the
charity account, based on the information given above, was **181 in the
last period for which information was submitted.

I am afraid we cannot offer any comment on the alleged agreement that may
have been drawn up in 1946. It is possible that similar charities let
land on different terms but there is nothing in this charity's governing
document that limits the length on any lease to five years.

If you are unhappy with our response to your Freedom of Information
request, have a complaint or wish to request a review of our FOI decision,
you should write to: Charity Commission Direct, PO Box 1227, LIVERPOOL,
L69 3UG. Please state what it is you are dissatisfied with, which will
assist us when we review our response. If you request a Decision Review
you will be notified of our final decision.

Please note that we will accept requests for a Decision Review up to a
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calculated from the date on which you receive written notification of the
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If after this you remain unhappy with the decision, you may apply directly
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cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our complaints
procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The
Information Commissioner***s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,

Any query, please call us on 0845 3000 218

Yours sincerely

Tony Robinson

Charity Commission Direct - Caseworking Team

t: 0845 300 0218

f: 0151 703 1555

e: [1][Charity Commission request email]

a: PO Box 1227, Liverpool, L69 3UG

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