Business Of The Charity Commission Board

The Board is the governing body of the Charity Commission. The Board currently consists of four members of the Commission and the Chair. It is intended that the Minister will appoint new members of the Commission to expand membership to the maximum of nine (including the Chair).The Board has governance responsibilities for strategy, the future direction of the Commission and holding the Executive Group to account. The Executive Group of the Charity Commission is made up of the Directors and and will be chaired by the Chief Executive. The Directors have responsibility for day-to-day operational running of the Commission and implementing the programmes and policies arising from the Board and ensuring effective service delivery.

Business covered in Board meetings includes deciding on the strategy and policy issues and holding the Directors to account for the delivery of services. The Directors are invited to attend the Board meetings but not as members of the Board.

Open Board meetings

The Commission is committed to openness and accountability. It believes that one way in which this can be met is by making most of its key decisions in public. It does this in order to give the public confidence that the Commission is making robust decisions, based on the best available evidence and advice, and to ensure that the discussions of the Board are understood.

There is a valid public interest in the following being transparent and open to scrutiny:

1. the Commission’s determination of its strategy for carrying out its functions, including key points of policy and practice and significant decisions on the interpretation of the law; and
2. the process by which those responsible for the Commission’s governance hold to account those with executive responsibility for implementing such strategic decisions and for delivering the Commission’s programmes of work.

Further benefits of open Board meetings include:

• enhancing transparency and accountability, which is consistent with the seven principles set out in the Charity Commissions booklet: "Charity Commission and Regulation";
• the added leverage and legitimacy attaching to decisions formally taken in public; and
• clarifying for the internal and external stakeholders the Board’s role in providing strategic oversight in the Commission

Board business held in open and closed sessions

The Charity Commission will try to keep as much of its business on the public open part of its Board meeting agenda as possible. All Board papers will be available to the public and will be discussed in public unless the information is required by law to be confidential or the public interest in the information being withheld outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

There will be occasions when some Charity Commission business will not be transacted in public. When this is the case, the confidential items will be placed on a separate agenda and will be considered at a closed session to which members of the public will not be invited.

In deciding whether the public interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest in withholding information, the Commission will have regard to the following factors:

1. Will disclosure breach any obligation of the Commission to keep information confidential?
2. Will the disclosure have an unfair impact on another person’s human rights?
3. Will disclosure cause injustice to any individual or group of persons?
4. Is non-disclosure necessary for the proper functioning of the public service? This will include decisions about staffing, finance and contractual matters.
5. There is a presumption that transparency and openness are to prevail unless there is a clear public interest in the information not being disclosed. If the latter is the case, the reason for non-disclosure must be recorded and considered by the Board in private prior to discussion. If the Board does not agree with the reason for non-disclosure, the business will be held over to the next public session.

Following the Open Government Code of Practice and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the types of business that will not be discussed at open meetings may include the following:

• law enforcement and legal proceedings
• information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters
• matters relating to the effective management and operations of the public service
• personal information
• information given in confidence
• information where disclosure is prohibited