Charity Governance Code consultation findings to be revealed in August

Details of the Charity Governance Code’s first refresh in three years will be unveiled next month.

The latest version of the Code, which promotes good governance practice for charities across England and Wales, dates back to 2017 but is being updated to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the evolving charity sector.

A public consultation took place earlier this year and in August the steering group of charity sector organisations responsible for the code will publish their full report detailing their findings.

The steering group is to host a webinar to explore the consultation findings as well as possible changes. This is free and takes place on 12 August. Speakers include the code’s steering group chair Rosie Chapman, NCVO lead governance consultant Dan Francis and WSVA governance and safeguarding manager Mair Rigby.

Plans to publish a new version of the code were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the steering group hopes to launch the refresh before the end of the year.

“This would mean we are keeping to our commitment to refresh the code every three years and ensure the feedback we received is reflected in the update,” said Francis.

Diversity and safeguarding

The consultation gathered views on how the code is used and whether there are pressing areas where it needs to change. A particular focus is finding out about changing expectations around diversity and inclusion in the charity sector. Safeguarding is another issue being looked at in the refresh.

The update comes amid a raft of scandals and negative publicity around the charity sector’s protection of vulnerable beneficiaries and commitment to diversity.

The #CharitySoWhite campaign has highlighted diversity and inclusion issues across the sector over the last year, in particular around recruitment.

Earlier this month #CharitySoWhite welcomed a National Emergencies Trust u-turn over the payment of grant assessors with “lived in experience in marginalized communities”. The role had originally been advertised as voluntary, but is now paid.

Oxfam is one of a number of charities to be rocked by a safeguarding scandal in recent years. This involved a public outcry over sexual misconduct of the charity’s staff in Haiti and Chad and subsequent attempts to cover it up.