New report shows UK sport sector is leading the charge towards good governance

With international federations like FIFA never too far away from controversy and Lord Moynihan’s recent Governance Bill sparking debate about how sports organisations should operate, sport governance is often in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. But not all sports organisations should be tarred with the same brush, says Sport and Recreation Alliance chief executive Emma Boggis.

The Alliance, which represents 320 sport and recreation bodies across the UK, such as The FA, LTA, RFU and ECB, commissioned Birkbeck University to carry out an independent study on the impact the Voluntary Code of Good Governance has had on the organisations that signed up to it and made a commitment to good governance. It shows positive commitment made by the sports bodies to bring about organisational and cultural change.

The Voluntary Code of Good Governance was created by the sector for the sector in 2011 to help sports organisations better understand governance issues that can arise, and how they should be tackled. The findings of the review show how national sports bodies like the British Athletes Commission, Hockey Wales and Volleyball England have used the Voluntary Code of Good Governance for the Sport and Recreation Sector as a guide to help bring about positive cultural and structural changes.

In fact nearly 100 sport and recreation organisations have signed up to the Code’s seven principles to date – which include committing to implementing a balanced and inclusive board, and creating a culture of complete accountability and transparency.

The review showed that:

• 90 per cent of respondents reported that their organisations are working towards some, or all, of the principles in the Code.

• 95 per cent of respondents stated that the board has been either very supportive or supportive when implementing the Code.

• 77 per cent of respondents reported that the implementation of aspects of the Code has had a positive impact on their governance.

• 94 per cent of respondents stated that the Code had been either effective or very effective in identifying good practice.

• 95 per cent of respondents stated that the Code had been either effective or very effective in assisting good governance.

Emma Boggis, Chief Executive of the Sport and Recreation Alliance said:

“Sport and recreation in the UK has a good story to tell about how it is run. You only have to look at our success in getting people active, in hosting major events and in winning medals and trophies. Those things don’t happen by accident. They are a result of the strides which our governing bodies are making towards becoming the best-run in the world.

“We’ve been promoting, co-ordinating and supporting implementation of the Code for over three years now, and thought it was time to take a step back and measure how much of an impact it was making to bringing about a much needed step change in governance practices across the sector. We also refreshed the Code at in November 2014, creating a second edition which reflected the progress made and changes in the sporting landscape.

“It has been making a real impact, as sports organisations have found it easy to adopt and implement. It hasn’t been imposed but embraced, as sport and recreation bodies take ownership of their governance and use the framework to strengthen their organisations.

“We know that it’s a big task to totally transform governance across the sector, but our findings show that the commitment is now there amongst a huge amount of organisations.”

Click here to read the executive summary of the Birkbeck impact study

Click here to download The Code

Click here to find out more about signing-up to The Code

Read more from the Sport and Recreation Alliance
 

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