ABBOT HOUSE and its museum collection could be in the hands of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust (CDT) after a controversial reversion clause was found to be “flawed” and “void”.

The much-loved Dunfermline museum is set to close on Saturday and the charity which runs it, Abbot House Heritage Centre Trust (AHHCT), said it had now offered the house and collection to the CDT, bypassing Fife Council to “comply with charitable regulations”.

The closure has been blamed on a controversial “reversion clause”, which states that in the event of Abbot House going bust, the building reverts to the CDT or Fife Council.

AHHCT had sought to have the clause dropped, saying it stood in the way of redevelopment and securing vital funding.

It’s now been revealed the clause was set up as a deed of feu and is now void as Holyrood abolished the system of feu in 2004.

Commenting on the offer, AHHCT said, “After taking legal advice and consulting OSCR, the Scottish Charities Regulator, it became clear that it was the only correct course of action on three counts.

“Firstly, the reversion clause in the original deed of gift which specified an initial offer to Fife Council was found to be flawed in several legal counts and was effectively void. Secondly, a charitable trust can only dispose of its assets to another charitable organisation. AHHCT cannot therefore offer the building to Fife Council.

“Thirdly, OSCR intimated that as AHHCT operates its Memorandum and Articles as a company limited by guarantee, all that was required was an AGM or EGM to change their course of dissolution.

“It had been thought that consent to change this detail depended on permission from CDT but in their email OSCR stated ‘we cannot see how the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust is involved in this matter’.

“As a result of these deliberations, it became clear that AHHCT should put the reversionary clause to one side and proceed with correct procedures along with charitable guidelines, which is to offer the assets to a charitable trust with similar aims, with the stated intent of preserving the heritage and continuing the building’s community use.

“As Carnegie Dunfermline Trust is local, charitably constituted and already runs a museum, it was the obvious choice, and the offer was made on Tuesday 5th August.” The offer includes the medieval buildings, collection and gardens but does not include the toilets and brewhouse, as the block containing these was purchased separately by the trust in 1992. The block has been offered for sale as a whole at current market valuation.

CDT now have the option of whether to accept or decline the offer. If they decide not to take the building, the trust will make their own arrangements for passing the building on to another suitable charitable organisation.

AHHCT chairman Robin Arnott said it was “disappointing to discover at this late stage that the problematic reversionary clause was void”.

He added, “AHHCT from the outset took the position that they wished the changes to be made in a spirit of negotiation and consent with both Fife Council and CDT.

“To have gone straight to legal and OSCR advice would rightly have been seen as a hostile move.

“The delays and unexpected refusal to co-operate by CDT, combined with the continuing financial difficulties which we have always acknowledged and sought to tackle as outlined in the forward plan, have conspired to drive us out of time.” Abbot House heritage director Catherine Gillies added that “in the end, it had proved necessary to test the clause”.

She said, “By pursuing the dissolution through the correct charitable channels, AHHCT has given CDT the opportunity to either resolve the issue by taking Abbot House on, or release themselves from the potential burden completely, which closes the matter for once and for all.”