The COUNCIL beg leave to report to the University as follows:
1. Professorships on the John Humphrey Plummer Foundation (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 659) are governed under the Will of Mr John Humphrey Plummer, who died in 1929, by a Scheme approved by the Chancery Court of the County Palatine of Lancaster on 23 March 1931 and by Grace 2 of 9 May 1931. Mr Plummer's Will provided for four Trustees whom the General Board are required to consult whenever a Professorship becomes vacant. Although the Trustees transfer the income of the Fund annually to the University, they receive separate accounts and have power under the Scheme to determine the stipends and other payments from the Fund. For some time the Trustees have all been members of the University: the current Trustees are Professor Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, Professor Dame Jean Thomas, Dr David Livesey, and Dr Christopher Johnson.
2. The Trustees have proposed to the Charity Commissioners and the Council that they transfer Trusteeship to the University. The Trustees and the Council believe that this change would make it easier and more efficient to effect the business of the Foundation; the Charity Commissioners have prepared a detailed draft of a new Scheme to govern the Foundation as set out in Annex 1 of this Report, and this has been approved by the Trustees. Subject to the prior approval of the University, the Scheme will be publicized and, in the absence of any representations, sealed by the Commissioners.
3. The proposed new Scheme will necessitate changes to the general regulations for these Professorships and revised regulations are set out in Annex 2 to this Report. The General Board have been consulted about the proposed regulations and have signified their approval.
4. The Council accordingly recommend:
I. That a new Scheme to govern the John Humphrey Plummer Foundation as set out in Annex 1 to this Report be approved to take effect from the date on which it is sealed by the Charity Commissioners.
II. That, if Recommendation I is approved, the General Regulations for the John Humphrey Plummer Fund be amended as set out in Annex 2 to this Report, with effect from the date on which the new Scheme referred to in Recommendation I is sealed by the Charity Commissioners.
| 16 October 2006 | ALISON RICHARD, Vice-Chancellor | BOB DOWLING | MARTIN REES |
| R. J. ANDERSON | MARK FERGUSON | G. A. REID | |
| A. J. BADGER | M. K. B. KEMPLE | DAVID SIMON | |
| Z. BARANSKI | TIM LEWIS | VERONICA SUTHERLAND | |
| RICHARD BARNES | D. LOWTHER | LIBA TAUB | |
| WILLIAM BROWN | D. W. B. MACDONALD | JOAN M. WHITEHEAD | |
| MIKE CLARK | JAMES MATHESON | RICHARD WILSON |
In the matter of the charitable trust which is established under the Will and Codicils of the late John Humphrey Plummer proved on 26 February 1929 and which is subject to the Scheme for the John Humphrey Plummer Foundation approved by the Chancery Court of the County Palatine of Lancaster on 23 March 1931 and by Grace 2 of the Regent House of the University of Cambridge of 9 May 1931 ('the Charity')
And in the matter of the Charities Act 1993
The Charity Commissioners for England and Wales under the power given in the Charities Act 1993 hereby order that the following Scheme shall replace the said Will and Codicils and the said Scheme of the regulation of the Charity.
By amending the regulations so as to read:
1. A John Humphrey Plummer Professor shall be elected by the General Board under the authority of Statute D, XV, 1(c)(i) in accordance with the procedure set out in the following regulations.
2. (a) When a John Humphrey Plummer Professor is due under Statutes and Ordinances to retire, the Vice-Chancellor shall report the fact to the General Board in the Michaelmas Term, but not later than the division of that term, of the second academical year before the year at the end of which the Professor is due to retire.
(b) When the Vice-Chancellor knows that a vacancy has occurred or will occur in a John Humphrey Plummer Professorship otherwise than by the holder's becoming due under the Statutes to retire, he or she shall report the fact to the General Board at their next meeting.
3. When the Vice-Chancellor has reported that a vacancy has occurred or is expected to occur in a John Humphrey Plummer Professorship, the General Board shall consult the Councils of the Schools of the Biological Sciences, Clinical Medicine, the Physical Sciences, and Technology on whether it is desirable that the Professorship be continued, and if so, whether in the same or in a different subject.
4. When it has been decided whether the Professorship shall be continued, and if so, what shall be the subject of the Professor who will fill the vacancy, and a Professor is to be elected, the Vice-Chancellor shall publish a Notice inviting applications to fill the vacancy and the General Board shall appoint a Committee, constituted on the same principles as a Board of Electors to a Professorship, of persons representative of the relevant branches of science to advise them in their choice.
5. If a member of the General Board is or becomes a candidate for the Professorship, he or she shall be disqualified from acting thereafter in the matter of that election to the Professorship, and the other members of the Committee shall have power to act.
6. The General Board shall have power to enquire whether any person or persons other than those who have submitted applications would accept the Professorship if offered, and to offer the office to a person who has not submitted an application.
7. If at the end of two years from the date of publication of the Notice inviting applications for the Professorship the General Board have been unable to make an election, they shall, after again consulting the Councils of the relevant Schools,
| either | (a) | propose that the Professorship be continued in a different subject; |
| or | (b) | publish a Notice temporarily discontinuing the Professorship for a specified period. |
If under (a) the continuance of the Professorship in a different subject is approved by the University, the procedure for election shall recommence in accordance with Regulation 4. Any period specified in a Notice published under (b) shall neither be less than one year nor extend beyond the end of the seventh academical year following the date of publication under Regulation 4 of the Notice inviting applications.