Sports making progress towards better governance, says minister

Sports governing bodies that wish to receive public funding must adhere to a new code for sports governance, developed by UK Sport and Sport England, which came into effect on 1 April this year.

While the bodies had to have action plans in place for reform by then, the date for compliance with the new code is 31 October 2017.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the Football Association, England and Wales Cricket Board, Lawn Tennis Association, Rugby Football Union and British Cycling are among 50 sports bodies to have "plans already agreed on how they will become compliant".

Tracey Crouch, sports minister in England, said: "I am really pleased with how governing bodies have responded to the introduction of the code. I appreciate for many sports this is not an easy task, due to the complexities of current governance structures, but virtually all of them have stepped up, understand the importance of this work and have changes in the pipeline that will collectively strengthen sport in this country."

"Good governance and transparency in sport is absolutely paramount - not just for effective decision making but to increase diversity, maintain sport’s integrity and ensure millions of sport fans have complete faith in those that run sport," she said.

DCMS said the code "will set a template for global best practice" in sports governance.

The code (64-page / 1.40MB PDF) sets mandatory requirements for sports bodies and other organisations seeking public funding for sport, such as local authorities. Specific requirements and the timescales for compliance will differ depending on factors such as the size of the organisation applying for funding and the amount of funding being sought.

Among the most basic requirements that sports bodies have to conform to under the code is that they are "properly constituted" organisations with "a clear purpose" and whose membership is "inclusive and accessible". The requirements also address issues such as the management of conflicts of interest, committee membership, recording of decision making, signatories for payments and preparation of annual accounts.

Where funding is intended to be granted over a period of years and be applicable to continuing activity rather than a one-off project, and where the total amount of funding is greater than £1 million, then sports bodies face stiffer governance requirements.

In those circumstances, the code stipulates requirements about the size and composition of the boards of sports bodies, including a requirement that at least 25% of the board are independent non-executive directors. A sports body must also work towards having at least 30% of the board made up of each gender and demonstrate commitment towards "achieving gender parity and greater diversity generally on its board".

Large sports bodies that employ more than 50 people are expected to disclose what senior managers in the organisation earn as well as what remuneration, if any, is provided to directors.

The sports bodies also need to ensure directors are subject to rules on integrity, ethical conduct and conflicts of interest under a directors' code. Directors would also need to be "sufficiently familiar" with legal and regulatory issues, such company law, data protection and health and safety regulations, and bribery legislation, to the extent that they can "identify potential issues and, know the appropriate channels to elevate such issues for further investigation"..

An "external evaluation" of the board of sports bodies benefitting from major public funding also needs to be carried out at least every four years, or at the request of UK Sport or Sport England.

There are also policies sports bodies should implement to address financial control issues to comply with the new code.

"The financial policies should be appropriate for the organisation but would be reasonably expected to include policies covering: controls on expenditure – who can spend what and with whose authority; controls on travel and subsistence – when and what can be claimed for travel and subsistence; exercising budgetary control – who can spend how much and on what, and what expenditure needs special permission; banking – how income is banked, who can authorise direct debits and how bank accounts are reconciled; procurement – how an organisation ensures that effective competitive procurement processes are in place where appropriate; and reserves – target levels and how these will be monitored," according to the code.