Governance review

The Governance System

This section is part of the main report, describing the framework needed for thinking about governance. It offers a model that puts the organisation at the centred, but argues for the importance of the external environment - the bigger system. Click the diagram for a larger version. Introduction to the framework

The working definition of governance – ‘the systems and processes concerned with ensuring overall direction, supervision and accountability of an organisation’ – can be applied not only at an organisational level but also to the wider system within which an organisation operates. That is to say, governance needs to be applied both to what happens inside the VCS (voluntary and community sector) but also in the external environment.

The external environment can be divided in two: the immediate operating environment of the sector (in which is found for example, the policies of the Active Community Unit) and the wider environment (which includes for example, government policy on matters that have no immediate bearing on the VCS such as transport). This describes a system with three domains and these are set out in Diagram 1 (above).

A framework for an integrated strategy from executive summary

In order to fulfil the brief, deal with the different perspectives of stakeholders, and show how a strategy could lead to action, we needed to develop a framework that covered all the issues outlined above. We suggest that the overall governance system – what we earlier called the web – should:
• Operate in three domains: the organisational, the intermediary (including support services) and the strategic (policy and procedures impacting on organisations). see
• Take account of the interests and possible actions of seven main stakeholder groups: policy makers, funders, board members, regulators, support or intermediary organisations, academics, employees/professional membership organisations see
• Show how action is needed at difference stages of development within an organisation, on a ladder of effectiveness with rungs from awareness raising through robust processes and systems to high performance. see
• Chart the five-rung ladder against the three domains to show what is needed where and when, and who might be involved. see
• Define the focus for activity in five areas: training and development; information and advice; funding; culture change; monitoring and regulation.

Recommended actions
In developing recommended actions, we drew upon a number of insights and resources:
• We aimed to address the challenges outlined earlier (understand governance, reaching boards etc)
• We used material from the overview and position papers developed by the consultant team
• We used our analysis of the requirements of different stakeholders (informed by the events and meetings we held)
• We also aimed to meet the requirements of a successful strategy
Next > Draft proposals
Full report as download here
More on the framework - the governance system