Trust members asked to back change

EVERY member of the National Trust for Scotland is being asked to back the need for sweeping change within the troubled heritage organisation.

An opinion poll distributed to more than 310,000 homes across Scotland will see the members polled on whether the trust should slash layers of bureaucracy, review the future of each property within its estate, and join forces in many areas with Historic Scotland.

George Reid, the former Holyrood presiding officer leading an independent review of the trust, is suggesting it takes less responsibility for running sites across the country, with the rationalisation of some properties, and considers giving local managers and communities greater freedom.

He has also hinted that his review will argue for the trust to concentrate on conservation of historic properties in its care in future and bring in outside organisations to run some sites.

Reid has personally compiled the survey, weeks after he said his initial work had found the trust "over-governed and undermanaged".

In an open letter to the organisation's membership, Reid insisted there was no question of the organisation "going bust" but admitted there were "a large number of strategic questions" over its future.

He writes: "Is the trust too centralist? If the right conservation safeguards are in place, may it not be time to give individual managers and properties more freedom?

"Is there any other charity of the trust's size with two centres of authority, the board and the council, and almost 200 people involved if all committees, panels and advisers are included? How much does this contribute to duplication, bureaucracy, and what many call a 'culture of secrecy'?"

Members are being asked whether they are unhappy with the lack of consultation over last year's cost-cutting measures, which saw 45 jobs lost and three sites closed down, although six were reprieved following an outcry.