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SANDY ADIRONDACK Legal and governance training and consultancy for the voluntary sector |
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UPDATED INFORMATION FOR CHAPTER 13: THE RUSSELL-COOKE VOLUNTARY SECTOR LEGAL HANDBOOK
This page contains information that has appeared on Sandy Adirondack's legal update website for voluntary organisations at www.sandy-a.co.uk/legal.htm. For current updates, including potential changes that are in the pipeline, see the legal update website. The information here covers the law applicable to England and Wales. It may not apply in Northern Ireland and/or Scotland. These news items are not a full or definitive statement of the law and are not intended as a substitute for professional legal advice. No responsibility for loss occasioned as a result of any person acting or refraining from acting can be taken by the author.
Chapter 13 The items below formerly appeared on the legal update website for voluntary organisations and are archived here. The content may be out of date and links may not work. For current updates to the chapter, see the legal update website for voluntary organisations at www.sandy-a.co.uk/managing.htm. RESOURCES FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE Updated 13/7/10. There's a raft of new and recent resources to help members of governing bodies. Although some of these are intended specifically for charity trustees, they are nearly all applicable to all governing bodies regardless of whether they are or are not charities. All are free of charge as downloads, and most are also free as hard copies from the relevant organisation. For specific types of organisation or trustee Being a trustee, an Easy Read version of the Charity Commission's CC3 The essential trustee, was produced in partnership with Mencap for charity trustees who have a learning disability. It was published on 5 March 2010 and is available from the Commission or via www.charitycommission.gov.uk/library/guidance/cc3_easy.pdf (PDF only). Governing for children: A beginner's guide to governance in the children, young people and families' voluntary sector is intended for small organisations in these sectors. It includes a section on involving children and young people in governance. From Children England (formerly the National Council of Voluntary Childcare Organisations) via tinyurl.com/d69lm3. Faith in good governance, from the Charity Commission's faith and social cohesion unit, includes legal information, good practice and case studies specifically for charities established with a religious purpose whose main focus is religious worship and related activities. It is at tinyurl.com/y8bxye4. Councillors' guide to a council's role as charity trustee, jointly published by the Local Government Association and the Charity Commission, summarises the responsibilities of a local authority where it is a corporate charity trustee (so it doesn't, for example, try to sell property held for charitable purposes, as my local authority and a number of other local authorities have tried to do or in some cases have actually done). The guide is at www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Library/council.pdf. For all organisations The Charity Commission has published parts 2 and 3 of its compliance toolkit, Protecting charities from harm, setting out the law and good practice in relation to a range of risks. The first module, on charities and terrorism, was published in November 2009 and is available via tinyurl.com/y9ebxt7. The second module, on due diligence, monitoring and verification of end use of charity funds, was published on 8 January 2011 and can be accessed via tinyurl.com/3ajtawo. This module is intended to help trustees ensure that they carry out appropriate checks (due diligence) on individuals and organisations that give money to, receive money from or work closely with their charity, and that they carry out propr monitoring and evaluation on the end use of funds given to partner organisations and beneficiaries. The third module, published on 6 April 2011, covers fraud and financial crime, provides practical advice on identifying and tacking fraud and financial crime. It can be accessed via http://tinyurl.com/64g7bx6. The final module will be on holding, transferring and receiving funds safely in the international context. In my view, one of the most useful resources the Charity Commission has produced is intended for boards that don't want, or don't know how, to face the reality of recession and cuts. The economic downturn: 15 questions trustees need to ask is at tinyurl.com/y9quw32. It was sent to all registered charities in June 2009, but many trustees and managers are still unaware of it, and have not considered the questions it poses. CC3 The essential trustee and CC10 Hallmarks of an effective charity were updated in February 2010 to include a new good practice recommendation for all charities on environmental responsibility and sustainability — see section H4 in the revised CC3 via www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc3.aspx, and hallmark 3 in the revised CC10 at www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc10.aspx. I recommend that CC3 and CC10 are given to all charity trustees when they are elected or appointed to the governing body, or (better) at the point they agree to let their name go forward for election or appointment. At the moment, I think it is also good practice to give them The economic downturn (see item above). Good governance: A code for the voluntary and community sector, originally published in 2005, is being revised. The revised code follows the same basic principles as the original code but is intended to be easier to understand and applicable to a wider range of organisations. There are six "high level principles": that boards should provide good governance and leadership by (1) understanding their role, (2) ensuring delivery of organisational purpose, (3) being effective as individuals and a team, (4) exercising control, (5) behaving with integrity, and (6) being open and accountable. A bullet-point summary of what each principle involves is on the NCVO website at tinyurl.com/3abvm7s. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has launched a trustee and governance information centre on its website, with a range of briefings divided (rather confusingly, in some cases) into trustees, governance, boards and CEOs. The briefings can be accessed via www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/governanceandleadership. Codes of conduct for trustees includes case studies and sample codes of conduct, which are intended to help governing body members work well together, avoid board problems and deal with them when they arise. From Charity Trustee Networks at www.trusteenet.org.uk/resources/2099. Conflicts in your charity explains when the Charity Commission will and will not get involved in a dispute within a charity, and what the trustees can do on their own or with a mediator or other external assistance. Via tinyurl.com/yb2zotz. Just how bad can bad governance get and just how much trouble can governing body members get themselves and their organisation into? Pretty bad, and a lot. Charities back on track: Themes and lessons from the Charity Commission's compliance work includes case studies from 2007-08 and 2008-09 illustrating how things can go wrong, and step by step advice to avoid these problems. From the Commission at tinyurl.com/yb6vo6o. Balancing risk: A guide for trustees and management in charities and social enterprises on making major decisions involving risk, produced by Triodos Bank and Sayer Vincent auditors, provides a useful introduction to risk management in general, and in particular managing financial risk. Free via tinyurl.com/ydog9kg. Unfortunately some of the tables have dark backgrounds and small print, and don't print out very well especially in black and white.
COMPANIES MUST HAVE AT LEAST ONE HUMAN DIRECTOR
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