From the Charities Services Newsletter June 2024
Good governance and the Charities Act The Charities Act changed in 2023 and now there is a new requirement related to the governance of your charity. Charities will now need to review their governance every three years. When you come to file your annual return, there will be a new question in the form asking whether you have reviewed your governance and the date you did the review.
Please note that this is a self-directed review and will be different for every charity. Charities vary immensely in size, skill and capacity.
The most important thing to remember when reviewing your current governance activities and procedures, is to think about whether what you have in your governance kete is “fit for purpose”, if it “assists your charity to achieve its charitable purpose” and “assists your charity to meet your legal requirements”.
We recommend starting with your rules document, your essential policies and procedures. You can find your rules document on the Charities Register. Take a good look at your most essential governance tools and see if they are still working for you. Think about the biggest areas of risk for your charity and plan to mitigate them with good governance. Use the governance checklist to help.