Trustee Decision Making - Latest Guidance from the Charity Commission

The Charity Commission provides comprehensive guidance on a broad range of topics however research carried out in 2024 revealed that only 26% of trustees used Charity Commission guidance more often than other resources because the length and style of the older guidance was difficult to understand.

The 7 principles, and what they mean, remain unchanged and stand at the centre of the refreshed guidance. It is critical for trustees to understand them properly. So as a reminder, when making decisions, trustees must: 

1. act within their powers  
2. act in good faith   
3. be sufficiently informed  
4. take into account all relevant factors  
5. identify and disregard any irrelevant factors  
6. manage conflicts of interest  
7. ensure their decision is within the range of decisions that a reasonable trustee body could make  

Sam Jackson, Assistant Director of Policy at the Charity Commission said “We want trustees to be able to read and understand our guidance, and to put our guidance into practice. We want to help trustees improve their knowledge and in turn the governance of their charities. We want to support trustees to get it right.”

To achieve these objectives, the improvement programme focused on how they write (using plain English) and how they structure the information to make the guidance accessible and easier to read.

On 9th September, 2024 the Charity Commission published their latest guidance; Decision-making for charity trustees.

This new and improved guidance explains the 7 decision-making principles in more detail, and how to follow them, particularly when making significant or strategic decisions. It also explains how to record the decisions you make.

Want to understand more about your roles and responsibilities as a Trustee?

This two hour session, delivered by our Community Development Team, provides Trustees with a greater understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and covers the different types of Trustees, appointments and decision making, liabilities and conflicts of interest, and reporting requirements.

For any enquiries and to book your place on one of our sessions please email: office@communityactionnorfolk.org.uk.