The Board

The Board

The Board sets the strategic direction for the Commission and oversees the implementation of the Corporate Plan and Annual Business Plan.

The Commission is legally defined as a ‘Body Corporate’ which would normally be comprised of a Board of Directors. However as a single appointment the Commissioner solely fulfils the role of the Board.

The Board, under the leadership of the Commissioner, supports the delivery of effective Corporate Governance and operates within best practice guidelines set out in HM Treasury’s Corporate Governance in Central Government Commissions: Code of Good Practice.  The Board takes an objective long-term view of the business of the Commission, leading its strategic planning process and meeting the corporate governance responsibilities for the Commission. 

The Board is responsible for establishing and overseeing the Commission’s Corporate Governance arrangements. Notwithstanding this, all tiers of management have commensurate responsibilities for ensuring that good governance practices are followed at an organisational level.

The key aspects of the Board’s role include:

• Setting the strategic direction for the Commission, including its vision, values and strategic objectives, and overseeing the implementation of the Commission’s Corporate Plan and  annual Work Programme, and measuring and evaluating its performance;
• Developing, promoting and overseeing the implementation of policies and programmes in line with the Commission’s strategic direction;
• Leading and overseeing the process of change and encouraging innovation, to enhance the Commission’s capability to deliver;
• Monitoring performance via the Commission’s Corporate Plan, annual Work Programme, budgets and targets, and assessing and managing the strategic risk to delivery;
• Overseeing the strategic management of the Commission’s staff, finance, information and physical resources, including setting training and health and safety priorities;
• Establishing and overseeing the implementation of the Commission’s corporate governance arrangements, including risk management;  and
• Overseeing and monitoring the Commission’s progress against all of its equality of opportunity, good relations and human rights obligations.

The Board is supported by the Commission secretariat, which is responsible for organising the agenda for monthly Board meetings and ensuring it’s provided with timely information to support full discussion at each meeting.

The Commission maintains a Register of Interests for Board Members and a Register of Interests for the Accounting Officer.