Governance

A key aspect of an organisation's journey towards attaining it's goal - mission & objectives - is the strength and calibre of it's governance structure.

Governance relates to the roles and responsibilities that trustees undertake in the smooth and effective running of their organisations. It also includes the various systems and processes in place to support this role. Although the role can often be challenging nevertheless there are a range of tools that have been developed to make the role less onerous.

Code of Conduct

How do you support trustees to develop and implement good practice in their work, and in doing so help them to be more effective?

A Code of Conduct for Trustees is a very useful tool to help strengthen the role of trustees and improve the good running of an organisation. 

What is the Code of Conduct?
A code of conduct is an “agreed set of guidelines outlining the responsibilities of or practice for an organisation”.

One of the purposes of a Code is to “provide a structure for the responsibilities and expectations of trustees to help avoid or address problems”.

The Code is drawn from the Nolan Principles on Standards and aims to ensure good governance and probity in the running of an organisation.

When and how do you introduce a Code of Conduct? How do you make it work?

These and other trustee related issues are tackled in the Charity Trustee Network publication. You will also find a model Code of Conduct for Trustees that you can adapt.

Proxy Voting

One of the important changes that came out of the Companies Act 2006 is the right of members of an organisation to proxy voting, which effectively overrules anything to the contrary in your Articles. The introduction of this provision came into effect from 1 October 2007 and your governing document should already reflect this change. For  organisations just starting up and availing themselves of the Charity Commission model memorandum and articles governing document the relevant clause is already included in the document – although you would still need to implement the requirement. The problem is likely to pertain to organisations with Articles of Association developed prior to the enacting of the 2006 Act and who have not acted to reflect the changes, and who may unknowingly be denying their members of this statutory right. It is also worth noting that from the above date organisations have been required to include a prominent statement in the meeting notices that they send out notifying members of their right to appoint a proxy. Failure to do this is deemed to be a criminal office and all directors of the organisation are liable. The advice therefore is if your organisation has not already amended its Articles to reflect this provision, it should do so immediately.

For more information on the changes introduced by the Act click here. Also, check the Companies House website.
To view the Companies Act 2006 document click here

 

Public Benefit Reporting for Charities

As a new charity one of the key requirements that you are expected to satisfy before you can be granted a charitable status is the public benefit criteria - a test of how your aims and activities are carried out for the benefit of the public.  What does this mean for you, and what do you need to do?  Read on

 

Page last reviewed: February 2010