The steering group of the voluntary and community sector’s Code of Good Governance is opening a three-month consultation on the Code’s key principles today.

The consultation has been launched following the Code’s steering group’s decision to make the principles more accessible and applicable to all organisations in the sector.

The aim is for the Code of Good Governance to remain voluntary but to have more meaning and to become an effective standard in the sector.

Lindsay Driscoll, chair of the Steering Group, said: “This is a challenging time for the sector and for governance generally, with so many questions about the failures of banks.

"It is vital that charities can demonstrate that they are well governed in practice, with arrangements in proportion to their needs; and that the sector has a recognised, effective and proportionate code.

“Initial feedback from charities on these proposals has been extremely positive.”

Good Governance: a Code for the Voluntary and Community Sector was published in 2005, and a review conducted by nfp Synergy last year found that 42% of organisations surveyed had used the Code, and another 29% were aware of it.

One of the key conclusions the steering group drew from the report was that whilst the principles of the Code were correct, they needed to be easier to understand and more applicable to a wider range of organisations, no matter what their size.

The steering group are calling on all individuals and organisations in the third sector to have their say on the “refashioned principles”.

To be part of the consultation please visit:
www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WwPJWePWtKhvCOGFQ_2fjUwg_3d_3d

or visit the links on the steering group’s websites to share your views and comments.