Providing the right fit for an independent review

Background
Moorlands College is a pan-denominational evangelical Christian training establishment in Dorset. As a registered charity, it has to undergo a full Governance review every four years. With a review due, Moorlands invited bids from a few suppliers and chose Action Planning for our higher education experience, faith and a degree of familiarity – Laura Treneer, who was assigned the project, was already known to the Moorlands Board from some work she had carried out for them previously.

Brief
The brief was simply to carry out an independent governance review.

Process
Laura began the process with discussions with Moorlands Chair of Trustees Dr Claire Saunders and Business, Finance and Governance Officer Cerian Moss, and then within the Action Planning Governance committee, to draw on their higher education experience and establish an understanding of the requirements of the review.

From this initial research, Laura developed a questionnaire which had participation from all trustees:  a bespoke survey covering not just the governance requirements of the Charity Commission but also the specifics of higher education governance.

Having collated all the responses, Laura arranged and facilitated a half-day workshop with the trustees, coinciding with one of their scheduled meetings, to present the findings of the governance review and collaborate on the priority actions arising from it. This interactive exercise, and the conversations around it,helped form the finalreport with recommendations and resources for future review.

Outcome
While the review didn’t throw up any surprises, there were some “noteworthy things”, in Cerian’s words, and Laura’s suggested action plan was well received. “Our trustees felt Laura’s approach was very collegial and they valued the interaction,” said Cerian.

Consultant’s insight
One charity’s governance is not necessarily the same as another’s, so when it comes to a governance review it is important to understand the nuances of the organisation and the field within which it operates. Higher education, for example, has its own governance requirements and it was invaluable in this case to have the wider resource of Action Planning- to draw on.

The combination of the survey, wider analysis and workshop time with the trustees enabled all voices to be heard. It was excellent to see the priority that this college is placing on ensuring good governance is at the heart of  decision making. By keeping open lines of communication throughout the process, we  were able to  ensure the review met the real needs, rather than something off the shelf.

 The tools that came out of this process were designed to support the Clerk and Chair in their roles in a way that matches their culture and their capacity.