The Charity Commission has refined its guidance on decision-making to incentivise more trustees to read it.
It has shortened and changed the language in CC27 after its research showed that not enough trustees were using it when in leadership roles.
The legal requirements and expectations remain the same in the updated guidance. However, the latest version focuses on “using plain English” and has been edited to be more concise.
It should now take around just 12 minutes to read, compared with 24 minutes for the previous version.
The updated guidance from 13 years ago covers seven principles developed from rulings of the courts when they reviewed decisions made by charity trustees, and other aspects where the Commission has seen some charities fall short, particularly on “the need to make trustee decisions ‘collectively’” and “how trustee decisions should be recorded”.
The regulator’s research showed that most trustees know what to do when making decisions, “but they are less sure about certain aspects of decision-making, such as basing decisions on personal views”.
‘We want to support trustees to get it right’
Sam Jackson, assistant director of policy at the Commission, said: “Unfortunately, we are starting from a point where not enough trustees – our primary audience – use our guidance when undertaking their leadership roles.
“Our 2024 research indicates that 26% of trustees used Commission guidance more often than other sources; most trustees asked a colleague or another trustee.
“This is despite the research showing that those who do consider our guidance have a more accurate understanding of their responsibilities and how to go about them.
“When we researched why some trustees do not access our support, we heard that the length and style of our older guidance can put some people off.
“So, on starting a programme of improving our guidance, our objectives were clear. We want trustees to be able to read and understand our guidance, and to put our guidance into practice. We want to help trustees improve their knowledge and in turn the governance of their charities. We want to support trustees to get it right.”
The updated guidance can be found here.
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