The Trustees agreed a Reserves policy at their meeting on 15th January 2015. The trustees considered it was necessary to hold reserves to allow the work of the Trust to be maintained in a planned way and to enable long term commitments to continue to be met.
Since 3 April 2000 the heritable properties vested in the Trustees of the Iona Cathedral Trust have been leased to Scottish Ministers on a long lease but the terms of the lease allow for early termination of the lease. In the event of termination the Trustees would be responsible for the insurance and ongoing maintenance of the said heritable properties.
The Trustees were of the opinion that (a) the level of unrestricted reserves held should not fall below the amount required to maintain a reserve of at least £250,000 for future maintenance of the heritable properties (both planned and unanticipated, but essential, repair work), (b) an additional fund of at least 10% of the value of investments held to cover fluctuations in investment values, plus (c) an additional amount of twelve months operating costs in addition to the value of commitments contracted but not provided for in the Accounts.