The body responsible for setting good governance guidance in the charity sector is consulting on whether to produce a separate code for large charities.

The steering group for the Code of Good Governance is looking for views on whether larger charities need additional guidance or materials.

Lindsay Driscoll, chair of the steering group (pictured), said that calls for bespoke code for larger organisations were discussed at the last meeting of the Governance Forum and that “a range of views on whether a separate Code is needed was expressed”.

She said that the steering group is asking charities and charity advisers to comment on “whether the main governance challenges faced by larger or more complex organisations are addressed by the Code”.

The steering group is also asking stakeholders what additional guidance might be necessary. 

Good Governance – A code for the voluntary sector was introduced in 2005 and was last updated in 2010. A separate code for smaller organisations was published in 2011.

Writing in Charity Finance magazine last year Rosie Chapman and Radojka Miljevic called for a separate code for larger charities.

They said: “The current Code no longer provides sufficient rigour to assure large charities’ funders, commissioners, beneficiaries and other key stakeholders, or assist those charities in direct competition with private and public sector bodies.”

Feedback can be submitted via an online form on the Code’s website.