The trustees met online on 14 September 2023.

Following up on our meeting with Presbytery Clerks in August, further information about the budgetary position for Presbytery Funding has been provided. Funding the newly forming presbyteries has been given a high priority in what is a constrained budgeting environment, with reductions made in other areas to accommodate the costs. Our 2022 General Assembly Report stated that presbyteries should aim to have balanced budgets after five years in operation and that an amount of £120,000 for each new presbytery had been allowed in the national budget, with some additional contingency acknowledging the differing needs of presbyteries across Scotland. This would be made available annually for five years. The Report also noted that presbyteries should aim to grow their income and develop plans, alongside Presbytery Mission Plans, to reach a position where this core funding is not required after five years, and that the Assembly Trustees would continue to work with presbyteries as they ensure that financial and other resources are available for their work in the long term.

As expected, there has been no one-size-fits-all approach and the national office team have responded proactively with additional funding to meet submitted presbytery business plan requirements. Equally, to date, not all presbyteries have drawn on the full funding. In discussion with presbyteries the national office team have requested that plans are submitted showing how their budgets are continuing to develop. This is how the national office team will be made aware of future funding requirements which can then be integrated into the budget projections.

The further information provided to Presbytery Clerks confirms that there will not be a hard stop to the funding after five years. The expectation however is that presbyteries start working on plans to fund their work from local or wider resources. The rolling budgets that the trustees bring to the General Assembly (currently 2023-2028) are subject to annual review, as we strive to eliminate the large deficit: in 2023 income is budgeted at £104m and expenditure at £112m. The main source of funding for the Church - locally, through Presbyteries and nationally - is congregational income which is projected to continue to decline, increasing the Church's dependence on limited reserves. There is a need for all areas of the Church to focus on income generation opportunities.

We heard that Phase 8 of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was to start on 19 September and involve close scrutiny of four Church of Scotland establishments, all now closed (some for many years): Tynepark, Haddington; Ballikinrain and Geilsland Schools and Langlands Park, Port Glasgow. In all, 39 establishments will be reviewed in this Phase. The Church of Scotland, through CrossReach, is also a core participant in the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry.

We heard that the Priorities Project, a key focus area for the National Office over the next couple of months is now underway. This exercise is seeking to ‘re-focus' how we use our time, money and resources within the national offices. This will be a challenging exercise and require us to embody our organisational values as we seek collectively to navigate our way through this period.

As part of the regulations, the Trustees were presented with the first awards that had been made through the Seeds for Growth Fund. As expected, there has been significant interest in the fund and the numbers of applications are growing. We also met with representatives from the Pension Trustees who manage the (closed) defined benefit pension schemes.

The trustees take on additional roles to the mandatory attendance at Trustee meetings, for example, the important duty of liaising with other parts of the Church, and we updated our note of who does what.

Our next meeting is on 12 October, online.