All registered charities must, by law, be governed by a board of trustees.
The trustee board is tasked with setting the strategy for the charity which the executive is then tasked with delivering. The board is accountable in law to the charity’s donors through the Attorney General and the courts, and is ultimately responsible for everything the charity does.
There is normally a chair of trustees, and in bigger charities smaller groups of trustees often form committees to examine particular topics, such as audit or risk management.
For many years most trustees tended to be appointed because they knew someone who was already a board member, but more recently lots of charities have attempted to be more professional about the way they recruit board members, conducting skills audits to identify gaps and then advertising publicly for suitable candidates.
The Charity Commission and Mencap have published a guide for charity trustees who have learning disabilities, to assist them in understanding their role.
Chairs are at risk of having a distorted view of their impact without regular feedback, according to new research.
The Charity Commission is looking into a charitable trust whose published accounts declare that it paid for the school fees of the trustees' grandchildren.
James Thompson doesn't buy the argument that the existing governance model is bust, and even suggests that those that say it is have a self-serving agenda
A charity ‘soap’ written by Shirley Otto, governance specialist...
To merge or not to merge? There are plenty of options open to charities that want to strengthen their position by joining forces with other organisations.
The charity is a professional body with many members - five years ago council approved major expenditure to lavishly refurbish their headquarters. They felt this would be fitting for their profession and would also generate income from lettings for conferences.
OSCR has appointed two new board members. Kaliani Lyle, chief executive of Citizens Advice Scotland and Professor David Harrison, head of pathology at the University of Edinburgh will replace departing trustees Martin Crewe and Iris McMillan.
I am the chair of a charity which I consider to be well run and effective but recently I have been presented with a problem that I have not experienced before. Two senior members of staff, both members of the senior executive team, have written to me separately to complain about the bullying behaviour of two of the trustees.
The Shetland Charitable Trust is on a collision course with the Scottish regulator after its trustees refused to ratify changes to the composition of its board.
Appointing new trustees was the best learning opportunity we could have had..... On a warm sunny evening a young man riding a bicycle knocked on my door. He had a story to tell of suffering and despair but brought a message of hope – I could do my bit to support the most vulnerable in our society.
Our local authority provides 20 percent of our funding requirement. One of the conditions attached to the funding was that we would accept as a trustee a nominee of the local authority. We agreed especially as their nominee, Duncan, has skills and expertise that could be very useful to the board.
CSV has appointed Sir Jon Shortridge as its new chairman.
Sir Mervyn Pedelty, long-term supporter and ambassador for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), has passed away. Pedelty, a former chief executive of the Co-operative Bank, died on 28 January – 10 days after his 61st birthday.
Dick Balharry has been appointed interim chair of the National Trust for Scotland.
Mimi McCord is the new chair of Barrett’s Oesophagus Campaign – the national charity dedicated to the prevention of cancer from Barrett’s Oesophagus and the support of people living with the disease.
The news that Sir Graham Melmoth will stand down as chair of NCVO in November leaves an exciting opportunity for sector individuals who covet an important and high-profile role such as this.
The Charity Commission has provided some guidance to the trustees of the London Air Ambulance charity about certain financial and governance issues, but has made no judgement about whether they were correct to dismiss chief executive David Philpott last November.
The Directory of Social Change has appointed Nick Seddon, journalist and author of the book Who Cares? as its new chair.
A funding crisis has erupted at the Royal Institution, the charity that exists to connect people with science, prompting trustees to scrap the post of director and make Baroness Greenfield, the prominent neuroscientist who held the post, redundant.
The National Trust for Scotland’s governance arrangements are “inflated” and too complex, according to the second strategic review report by the Rt Hon George Reid.
Governance expert Dorothy Dalton has stormed into the debate over whether trustees should sit on unitary boards alongside the executive and be paid for their work.
Is the time right for paid trustees and unitary boards? Money is short. Charities labour to make ends meet. Trustees struggle with the dilemma of cutting core costs or axing frontline services.
Leonard Cheshire Disability has appointed an IT specialist as its vice chair as it seeks to expand its IT access programmes for disabled people and increase the online services it offers to disabled entrepreneurs.
The majority of trustees has lost confidence in our chair who was appointed 18 months ago. We feel that we cannot continue under his ‘leadership’ or, should I say, ‘dictatorship’. The chair has a short job description which gives him little in the way of delegated authority from the board. Nevertheless he behaves like a dictator and expects trustees to rubber-stamp many decisions he makes between board meetings.
The chair of a rural environmental charity dies suddenly. None of his four fellow trustees feel able to take his place. His wife begs the trustees to accept her wealthy friend Lady Guzzler. But she proves to be a dragon not a shepherd. All but one make excuses and resign. Lady Guzzler masterminds their replacement with three City professionals.
Minutes of board meetings are a permanent record of when the meeting occurred, the main points of discussions, decisions that were taken and actions that were required. They are legal documents. Minutes are a legal record and can be used by regulators or by the courts if there are questions of legal liability. It is vitally important that they are accurate and provide an audit trail for all major decisions. Minutes need to show that trustees acted reasonably and prudently (see also article in March 2009 issue of Governance on acting prudently).
Steve Powell, chief executive of SignHealth, discusses his big governance issue. "Why are you telling me this?’ retorted my chairman after one of our regular phone updates. ‘Because if I don’t tell you, and something goes wrong, you will curse me for failing to keep you informed."
The board of the London Air Ambulance charity that sacked chief executive David Philpott after he raised concerns about alleged malpractice by some trustees, has reportedly commissioned an independent review into the circumstances surrounding his dismissal.
Skills – Third Sector, which provides training to the voluntary sector, has appointed Julie Wilkes as its new director.
