ACAT’s response to the Charity Governance Code Survey

Thanks to all our members who completed the recent Charity Governance Code survey. Your input has helped shape our response to the consultation and make sure the voice of smaller faith based charities is heard.

The survey was run by the Charity Governance Code Steering Group to evaluate and improve the Code’s content, structure and accessibility. Through your feedback, ACAT has provided input that will help the Code be more useful for charities of all sizes, especially smaller volunteer led organisations.

Key Points:

1. Current Code: 27% of our members were aware of the Code, 13% had used it. We need clearer guidance and greater accessibility, especially for smaller charities. Members felt the current language and format was too formal and corporate and not suitable for smaller organisations with limited resources.
2. Code for Smaller Charities: We need a simplified version of the Code that’s easier for smaller charities to implement. Many of our members lead volunteer run charities and felt the current guidance was too prescriptive and overwhelming. We suggested that umbrella bodies like ACAT could help tailor the Code’s principles to the context of smaller charities.
3. Simplification and Flexibility: While ACAT supports the 7 principles of the Code we believe the application should focus more on trustee behaviours and less on processes. Simplifying the language and offering more flexibility will help smaller charities adopt good governance practices without feeling burdened by formality.
4. Sustainability of the Code: ACAT said governance resources should be free or low cost, especially for smaller organisations. We suggested alternatives such as the Charity Commission or a pan-UK/Ireland approach to maintain and fund the Code in the long term.

Thanks for your input. We hope the Steering Group will take this into account in the next version of the Code.