Sport and Recreation Alliance refreshes governance standards

Signatories to the governance recommendations laid out by the Sport and Recreation Alliance are being asked to reaffirm their commitment to a refreshed set of standards.

The Principles of Good Governance were unveiled by the Alliance’s chief executive Emma Boggis during its annual Sport Summit, to build on the Voluntary Code of Sports Governance the organisation first published in 2011.

Billed as a practical document, the principles include specific actions boards can take to make sure they’re adhering to good governance, particularly the UK Code for Sports Governance, put together by Sport England and UK Sport, which is linked to public funding.

The publication includes seven principles around: integrity; vision and mission; leadership and role of the board; board structure; codes and compliance; accountability and transparency; and engaging with the sport and recreation landscape.

Boggis said the update was a result of the changing sector and the emphasis on governance instigated by the government’s Sporting Future strategy.

She added that the principles would allow organisations who aren’t in receipt of public funding become “compliant” and would help to create a “sport and recreation sector fit for the future”.

The Sport and Recreation Alliance’s Voluntary Sport Governance has 107 signatories from the sport sector.