Village hall charity 'at a loss' over banking mess
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A village hall in Sutherland fears it may lose its charity status and miss out on vital funding if it cannot overcome months of "unacceptable" service trying to set up a new account with the Bank of Scotland.
Volunteers with the Rosehall Village Hall Association have been left "at a loss" after being issued with warnings from the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) – the independent regulator for Scotland's charities – due to not having a bank account in place to allow them to submit their annual accounts.
The problems started after the association took steps to update its constitution in order to apply for grants and funding.
With help from Voluntary Groups Sutherland and a local solicitor, this process was completed over a few months, and the hall was provided with a new charity number.
All that remained for the group to do was close their old bank account and open a new one. But for the charity, this supposedly "simple" task turned into months and months of frustration.
Ashley Smith, chairman of Rosehall Village Hall, said: "We decided to use Bank of Scotland as we can use a local branch and mobile service which is easily accessible for us. We visited their local branch, and we were told it was a simple procedure. We completed and returned the required forms and expected everything to be sorted within a few weeks.
"We were eventually informed that the bank account had been set up and that we had been sent a welcome pack. We confirmed that we had received no information, and still have not received a second pack that was supposed to have been sent out.
"Within days we received another set of forms asking us to set up online banking and a 13-page form relating to the foreign account tax compliance act, and a common reporting standard form.
"This we filled in, but has since been returned saying – 'the classification you have selected for FATCA and CRS are conflicting'. They also included another new form for us to complete.
"We are still at a loss as to why a small village hall in the Highlands, that does not pay tax, and only wants an account to pay in funds from events and pay its bills, even needs to fill in this form.
"We are now receiving emails from OSCR for the non-receipt of our end of year accounts, which we cannot submit until this bank account mess is sorted. Despite three emails to them explaining the situation we are in, they continue to chase us for this, stating that this is threatening our charity status and possible future funding.
"We are at a loss as to what we can do next. We could try another bank but I feel we have gone so far with this now, we would hate to start the same thing again and possibly the same thing to happen."
Hall representatives say a complaint submitted to the bank on June 28 has gone unanswered.
Mr Smith added: "We are now nine months on and still do not have a new bank account. Over the months we have been given misinformation, asked to complete and return various different forms, have had to deal with lost application forms, and speak to various bank employees.
"Every time we have tried to ask for help we have been passed between different people who do not seem to know what they are doing and instead of being given help and advice, we are just told to complete and return what we have been sent.
"We submitted a complaint to the Bank of Scotland by tracked mail, this was acknowledged as being signed for by Royal Mail on July 6, but as yet we have received no further confirmation from Bank of Scotland."
The committee have turned to Highland MP Jamie Stone and MSP Maree Todd for assistance.
Mr Stone believes a rethink is needed on how banks work with community groups and charities.
He said: "I have made representations to the Bank of Scotland executive on behalf of Rosehall Village Hall and I am optimistic that we will reach a resolution soon.
"Beyond resolving individual cases, however, it's time that banks restructured their business models in order to save charities from having to jump through so many hoops. It's clear that modern banking systems are not currently compatible with charity banking.
"With the closure of local bank branches, it's more important than ever that charities are able to easily access online banking."
Ms Todd added: “The level of service provided to the Rosehall Village Hall association by the Bank of Scotland has been entirely unacceptable.
“A nine-month wait for a simple banking procedure to be completed is quite astonishing. The administrative errors the hall has experienced during this period are equally disappointing.
“I will be writing to the Bank of Scotland to express my disappointment over the poor service provided to my constituents and to request that the hall association is supported in setting up a new bank account without further delay.
“I will also be contacting the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) to inform them of the difficulties the hall association has encountered with the Bank of Scotland, which have been beyond their control.”
The Bank of Scotland has been contacted for comment.
