Updated Charity Governance Code

A new, refreshed Charity Governance Code was launched in December – with significant updates to the Diversity and Integrity principles in the Code.

Boards of Trustees should aspire to achieve more than legal compliance and the Charity Governance Codes “light the way”. There is one for Scotland, another for Northern Ireland and a third for England and Wales. They establish principles of good practice and offer invaluable guidance to Boards on how to improve their governance practice.

The refreshed code has a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Principle which sets out steps and practical actions to take to meet diversity challenges:

1. Assessing understanding of systems and culture
2. Setting context-specific and realistic plans and targets
3. Taking action and monitoring performance
4. Publishing performance information and learning

The Integrity principle has been updated to emphasise the importance of a charity’s values, ethics and culture. Trustees are asked to:

1. Uphold the charity’s values
2. Ensure the right to be safe and understand their safeguarding responsibilities
3. Identify, deal with and record conflicts of interest and loyalty

If you are interested in learning more about how your board can take action to meet diversity challenges sign up for our Hallmarks at Home workshop on Tackling Inequalities on 16 February. Click here to find out more>>

Click here to read the new code>>