The Charity Commission has refreshed its guidance on trustee decision-making after research found that only 26 per cent of trustees use the regulator’s guidance over other sources.

The regulator published the updated guidance today (9 September) to make it more concise and help trustees understand the regulator’s decision-making principles.

The move comes after research carried out by the regulator found that only 26 per cent of trustees used Charity Commission guidance more often than other sources, with most trustees asking colleagues or another trustee for advice.

The findings, which came from a survey of more than 2,500 trustees, found that most of them know what they should do when making decisions, but are less sure about certain aspects of the process, such as basing decisions on personal views. 

Although 53 per cent of the respondents said trustees should never make decisions based on personal views, 40 per cent said that it depends and 7 per cent said that trustees should always do this.

The regulator said that its revised guidance is a 12-minute read, while its previous version, which was first published 11 years ago, took 24 minutes to read.

The guidance still uses the regulator’s seven principles of trustee decision-making, which includes advising trustees to: act within their powers; be sufficiently informed; manage conflicts of interest and ensure their decision is within the range of decisions that a reasonable trustee body can make.

In a blog post published on the Charity Commission website, the regulator’s assistant director of policy, Sam Jackson, said the seven principles and their meaning “remain unchanged and stand at the centre of our refreshed guidance. It is critical for trustees to understand them properly.”

Jackson said that when the regulator researched why trustees do not access its support, it found that the length and style of the commission’s older guidance can “put some people off”.

“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,” he said.

Jackson said the regulator’s improvement programme focuses on using plain English and structuring the information to make the guidance accessible and easier to read.

“This is particularly important now that many of us read information online, on phones or tablets, which is a different experience to reading printed material,” he said.

The guidance sets out and explains the seven decision-making principles, advises charities to follow their governing document and gives guidance on what to do when trustees cannot agree on a decision.

It also urges trustees to keep an accurate record of their decisions and delegate decision-making, and outlines when the Charity Commission may become involved.