I am a carer for my elderly uncle who put a lasting Power of Attorney in place when he had a spell of ill health. There have not been any problems with the health side of the POA but when I went to his bank to register the Financial POA they said that once I registered it with them he would be denied all access to his accounts and I would resume all responsibility. I naively thought that the POA could be attached to his account ready to act on his behalf as and when needed. I walked away from the bank at that time as I didn't want to deprive my uncle access to the money in his current account, he regularly walks to the bank to cash a cheque which in my mind keeps him fit and active. My uncle is now in hospital and his mental capacity has declined further. Is there a way I can register the POA with the bank so I can take care of his financial matters and continue to do so without depriving him of the ability to cash a cheque when he returns home? Alternatively can I register the lasting POA with the bank and then with the POA in place, instruct them to keep him as a signatory on his current account?

Emmzzi is spot on..... they usually pay the statutory minimum. As charities are reliant on donations or grants and their accounts are visible to everyone this means they are open to scrutiny and not only from the Charity Commission. The easiest way to minimize any criticism on their allocation of finance is to pay the minimum. In my experience they are happier to rely on unpaid volunteers.

Thank you Steampowered. We sat and listened to the Judgement and yes the judge did make reverence to a possibility of funds being obtained by deception, but he could only make a judgement call on the fact's in front of him. In my opinion, the previous Treasurer felt she could come into the tribunal, admit they were all her clerical errors while shrugging her shoulders believing she was 'untouchable' as she helped her friend who was the claimant. This may be true in the ET but she seems to have forgotten the Trustees Act still applies to her. With regard to the money given by our Local Authority, their contract makes it very clear what the money is to be used for, clearly they have breached that so ultimately they may have to pay it back. In my opinion which I have formed from the facts in front of me, they have 'milked' this charity over a long period of time in several different ways, if they had just walked away then I guess no one would ever have known. They just had to come back for a 'final bite of the cherry' with the employment tribunal. This is such a great forum and the Cagers advise and thoughts have been invaluable, I couldn't have got this far without it. Thank you

Steampowered...... Thank you, your comments make complete sense and this is indeed what we suspected. We felt the Judge was very reasonable and I doubt we would have come to a different conclusion with the same evidence before us. The audit does show the money was paid out to the claimant but in the absence of any paperwork stating that word for word then we are at a loss! Add that to the fact that the claimants friend was happy to lie!!! We are getting a 'full' summing up of the Judges verdict in which he mentions these matters so it should be relatively easy to prove in a small claims court. So we just need to sit tight and wait for the full judgement order and then we pursue the matter with the people that are responsible for claiming and spending this money.

Thanks for your input Unclebulgaria67, in answer to your questions: Over £3000 was paid to the manager who was entitled to the money. The previous treasurer stated the money paid was "for other things, books etc........ and that she was very careless with the paper trail of receipts etc" The treasurer swore on oath that she paid for lot's of stuff to the manager but NONE of it was in relation to the £3000 claimed. The accounts have been looked at and there are anomalies, again explained by the treasurer as "I must have made a mistake" Yes there is a question of illegality, possible gaining funds from a local authority by deception. They have signed for the money stating it had been paid to the manager, if they had not done this then the money would have had to be returned to the local authority and they would not have qualified for any further funding. The manager now claims she did not receive the money she signed for and admitted in the tribunal she only signed the form because she was told to so the admin manager could get the money. The admin manager counter signed the form but wasn't in court to explain her actions. The judge stated that if the money was gained 'by deception' then the respondents would have recourse against the claim. Unfortunately, and rightly he could only act on the evidence he had before him.

I hope I'm posting this in the right place as we've moved on from an employment claim. A brief overview: I'm speaking as a relatively new committee member for an unincorporated charity. The charity ceased due to lack of funds and is now insolvent, all assets have been sold to pay the debts. The manager decided to bring two claims against us in the Employment Tribunal, 1 - Unfair Dismissal = This was judged to be 'unfounded'. 2 - Breach of Contract = For non payment of contractual sums which were due in 2010 (£2000) & 2011 (£1000) £3000 in total. My query relates to the second claim of Breach of Contract. Grant money was supplied to the employee by the Local Authority and paid via the charity bank account, to keep the funds they had 'monitoring forms' which had to be signed and returned to the LA confirming they had received the payments. We have signed receipts in respect of both sums, signed by the Manager herself and then countersigned by the Admin Manager who dealt with the claims from the LA and then instructed the then Treasurer. No liabilities or creditors were listed as outstanding in the end of year accounts for both these years. The claimant stated (under oath) that she signed the form under duress so the Admin manager could get the money but she did not receive it. The Treasurer admitted she had received the money in the bank but did not pay it out to the manager. She also said her accounts are littered with errors which is why the money didn't show as being unpaid on the annual accounts which were submitted. The Admin manager did not attend but supplied a written statement to say the money was not paid. In summing up the judge stated that our evidence was compelling and he would have found in favour of the respondents on that evidence alone but he can not ignore the testimony of the previous Treasurer. He can not find any good reason why she would have come to court and lied knowing she is liable for her actions during her term with the charity so he awarded the £3000 for Breach of Contract. The judge also stated that no award can be made if it is gained illegally and that the Respondents may have recourse here but as the admin manger was not present to defend her own actions he could not consider that point. My question is, how do we pursue the 'clean hands' issue in contesting the award? I see two options: Appeal the tribunal decision on this part of the claim OR go to a small claims court. I will also add that these women are all friends with each other. Many thanks for your help in advance.

You don't have to do the EYFS, you should be able to do the next level in your chosen qualification (PW) which should then enable you to continue with your current employer and meet the needs for the legislative requirements at your centre. In my opinion it would be worth exploring! If you get the information on this and take it to your manager it shows initiative, she may even offers an alternative solution. If you answer Emmzzi's questions at post #3, I'm sure she will be able to help as she really knows her HR stuff Your personal contract is important for you moving forward with this, our contracts actually state "to partake in further training as required to fulfil the be brought into line with government legislation"............ or words to that effect. Apart from any Ofsted changes there are always refreshers required in other areas like 'Food Hygiene' & 'First Aid'. Your contract MAY state similar!!!

Check with your local council for the bursary and college placements before you give up! We have ladies who are in their 30's studying towards their Level 3 I will leave the HR advice on your constructive dismissal question to the more experienced contributors here. Good luck either way!

Have you checked with your local council to see if they offer a grant or other funds to complete your course? Most seem to offer this. The hardest part in getting the funding from the council's and onto a course seems to be having a 'practical work placement' but you seem to have that one covered so it would be worth investigating before you give up on your chosen career There are also companies that offer apprenticeships but again my knowledge is covering the EYFS but that doesn't mean they don't cover the PW that you are working towards, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Lillyrobs - are you in England and governed by Ofsted?

Legislation has changed recently in this area whereby the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) Level 2 was being 'phased out' which would make Level 3 the lowest grade counting against the Adult : Child ratio. I wouldn't give up, if you have gained level 2 then you should be able to continue working while studying towards your level 3. Your local council are likely to offer a 'bursary' which pays the local college direct for your study course. Good Luck

Good evening and thanks for the comments, all very helpful to me. Interesting comments from SweetLorraine on anyone not wanting to appear at an ET whereby they may prejudice themselves. On that note I have an update...... I received a call today informing me that Woman 2 (who received the SMP payments and wanted more redundancy money to account for her overtime loss) has / is withdrawing her claim!!!! I haven't received this officially from the Tribunal yet but guess she can just withdraw her claim without giving them an explanation. If she does give a reason to the tribunal will they pass that information on to me? The charity was 'unincorporated' so the committee are liable after the event for any losses etc. which occurred during "their time in office",.

Thank you steampowered, it was the affect on the ET proceedings that was my main concern, I just want to go and present the committee's defence and get it over with. You've understood the situation in regard to Claimant B perfectly. If the previous treasurer had not adjusted the figures in this way then the claimant would not have qualified or been entitled to the SMP payments.

Thank you Emmzzi, I'll remember that for next time.

I thought this question was best placed here as my question really relates to the ET hearing and how if it may be affected by the tax issue that the previous treasurer may have created. HMRC will need to know about any tax evasion but how will that affect the employment case? Will I need to notify the ET prior to the case if an investigation into the tax affairs are going ahead by the Inland Revenue? Is the hearing likely to be postponed until after the tax office have reached any conclusion? I'm not looking for a postponement, quite the opposite to be honest, we want this done and dusted so we can all move on. Yes the ET3 has been submitted.