Cobseo The Confederation of Service Charities has today (Monday 4th February) launched a self-assessment tool for its Members to help them demonstrate where they are accomplishing good governance.
In July last year, Cobseo published a Governance Practices Aide Memoire to present the requirements of the Charity Governance Code in a sector-specific format to explain what governance measures should be operated within Member organisations.
In response to requests from Members for assistance in navigating significant regulatory requirements, Cobseo has now produced a self-reporting tool for Full and Regimental Members to use every two years to help Members highlight the best practice already being achieved at their organisations. It also identifies where improvements could be made across the Service Charities Sector.
The scheme was developed in conjunction with a Members’ Working Group and after conducting a pilot exercise with 15% of the Membership in late 2018, the Cobseo Executive Committee approved this tool to be used as an expectation of continuing Membership. Similarly, all prospective Members will complete the self-assessment tool as part of their application for Membership.
Chairman of Cobseo, General Sir John McColl KCB CBE DSO, said:
“The self-reporting tool has been the product of detailed work by the Governance Support team in conjunction with a Working Group of large and small charities. The tool has been developed in response to requests for assistance from Members and will enable the Confederation to demonstrate the high standards that exist within the sector and to make improvements where necessary.”
Harvey Grenville, Head of Investigations and Enforcement at the Charity Commission said:
“The Commission welcomes this initiative by Cobseo. Good governance in charities is fundamental to their success. The Aide Memoire developed by Cobseo shows its charity members what governance measures they should have in place, and the Self-Reporting Tool provides an opportunity for its charity members to demonstrate them and, if necessary, focus on improvements to assist their charity.”
Notes to Editors:
- Cobseo – The Confederation of Service Charities – represents, promotes, and furthers the interest of the Armed Forces Community. Its purpose is to maximise the effectiveness, efficiency, and influence of the Service Charity Sector to positively enhance the lives of beneficiaries in the Armed Forces Community. As a membership organisation, it provides a single point of contact for interaction with Government and all other key stakeholders on behalf of its Members. It achieves its aims by facilitating the exchange and co-ordination of information, identifying issues of common concern and co-ordinating any appropriate action, and representing and supporting the needs and opinions of members.
- Cobseo represents over 1,000 Member, Associate and Affiliate organisations.
- The Cobseo Executive Committee consists of 8 permanent and 9 elected member organisations. The chief executives of each are the director of Cobseo, and the Committee meets quarterly to manage Cobseo’s business.
- Cobseo’s principal mechanism for embedding co-operation and collaboration across the Sector is through a series of functional Clusters where organisations specialising in each Cluster subject area come together to raise issues, identify solutions, make recommendations for action and/or improvement, and determine best practice.
- Find out more here: cobseo.org.uk and follow the latest news here: twitter.com/COBSEO.
