We are getting an increasing number of enquiries from community-based early learning services in relation to compliance with the Governance Code.
This year, 2021, charities are expected to report on their compliance with the Code. In time, the Charities Regulator will publicly display whether or not a charity is in compliance.
Charities are expected to adhere to the following core principles:
- Advancing charitable purpose
- Behaving with integrity
- Leading people
- Exercising control
- Working effectively
- Being accountable
Good governance involves putting in place systems and processes to ensure that the work of the organisation is underpinned by the above principles and that your charity achieves its objectives with integrity and is managed in an effective, efficient, accountable and transparent way.
Beginning this year, your Board needs to report to the Regulator the level of compliance with the Governance Code, no later than 10 months after your accounting year end. This is now part of your annual reporting process to the regulator.
What you will have to report is whether your organisation is:
A – Fully compliant
B – Partially compliant (and what areas you are non- compliant in)
C – Non-complaint (explaining why not compliant)
To back this up, you and your Board will need to complete a template called the Compliance Record that the regulator can ask for at any time.
Canavan Byrne is currently developing a Governance Compliance Pack. In it you will find two different compliance records, one for small charities / providers and another for complex / larger charities/providers. .
Providers should expect the process of compliance to take a period of months rather than weeks, as it could mean new processes and procedures. The process itself will identify the matters that the Board will need to consider and approve.
Our pack will come with sample policies, procedures and other documents required by the Service to be compliant, along with guidance on pulling it all together and keeping on track of your compliance journey. The key purpose of the pack is to get you ready to make the submission to the Regulator, with confidence.
If you want to be informed when the pack is available which will be very soon, contact reception@canavanbyrne.ie
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