A little while back, Nikyla, our Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator, asked Helen, our Sector Growth Coordinator at NCVS, about tools to support her work in Gedling. In response, Helen has put together a practical rundown of quality standards to help voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations navigate what’s out there.
Read on for her expert insights.
Back in October 2024, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy hosted a roundtable discussion at Number 10 Downing Street with civil society representatives from all four UK nations to discuss the plans for the creation of a 'Civil Society Covenant', which is hoped will be a new era of partnership between government and civil society and help tackle some of the country’s biggest challenges.
The new Covenant is designed to harness the knowledge and expertise of voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) and charities to deliver better outcomes for communities right across the country.
The consultation period on these proposals closed in December 2024. DCMS, NCVO and ACEVO (in partnership with a range of umbrella and representative bodies) lead engagement across the civil society sector through a series of events, roundtables and online.
NCVO have announced that they intend to publish a summary of what they heard during the engagement period and their recommendations for what the covenant should include during May 2025.
The proposed covenant framework sets out the ambition, scope and key principles that should underpin the new relationship. It includes 4 high level principles.
- Recognition: to ensure a strong and independent civil society
- Partnership: to ensure effective service delivery and policy making, and shared learning of best practices
- Participation: to ensure people and communities can be heard and make a difference
- Transparency: to ensure civil society and government have the information needed to best serve people and communities
The engagement process looked at such things of whether the four key principles are the right ones. As well as examples of best practice in effective partnerships and barriers to meaningful partnership and collaboration.
Barriers to partnership with government
Whilst we wait for the recommendations to be published, let’s consider one of the barriers to partnership with government. By virtue of the sector having interchangeable names of voluntary and third sector, perceptions by government may include views that organisations are not always operating to the highest possible standards in context to operation, service, and being well managed.
Aiding strategic approach
One way of providing assurance to stakeholders like the government is through easily recognised quality standards. Community Matters’ Ensuring charities do it properly: Maintaining standards in the charity sector publication states a process of assessing compliance against an agreed quality accreditation standard or framework can be an integral part of charities’ strategic approach and can help reinforce good practice. Whether this is assessed independently via an external process or through self-assessment, all can support effective development, compliance, and sustainability.
The Charity Commission has the overall responsibility of ensuring that charities comply with their statutory obligations and fulfil the requirements the commission sets out. Similarly, the Office of Regulator of Community Interest Companies is committed to providing informed, impartial and fair regulatory decisions and light touch regulation. Having a quality standard alongside this regulation helps to drive forward innovation and good governance.
Different types of quality standards
Charity Governance Code
The Charity Governance Code is not a legal or regulatory requirement. It draws upon, but is fundamentally different from, the Charity Commission’s guidance.
Setting principles and recommended practice for good governance is deliberately aspirational. It is a free tool for continuous improvement towards the highest standards. This Code has been developed by a steering group, with the help of over 200 charities, individuals and related organisations.
With the Charity Commission explaining the code starts with a ‘foundation principle’, it should be a ‘given’ that all trustees understand their legal duties (as explained in The Essential Trustee) and are committed to their cause and good governance.
The code then develops seven principles – leadership, integrity, decision-making, risk and control, board effectiveness, diversity, openness and accountability – all underpinning organisational purpose.
There are two versions. One for smaller charities and one for larger charities.
Directory of Social Change - The Governance App
The Directory of Social Change has obtained funding from The Clothworkers’ Foundation, The Tudor Trust, and Lloyds Bank Foundation to create a free online tool called the Governance App that combines their face-to-face improving governance model with the charity governance code mentioned earlier.
Providing the opportunity to gather responses from your whole board, giving you a performance score out of ten of the seven principles of the governance code, which includes leadership, board effectiveness, and equality, diversity and inclusion. It highlights where board members have different views on performance and makes it easy to have targeted discussions about what’s going well and where to focus on improving.
Trusted Standard
Previously known as PQASSO, Trusted Standard is a product of NCVO. Which is delivered by the growth company. You can carry out a systematic self-assessment process across 11 quality areas, covering all aspects of operation. This online tool is available through an annual subscription and has both a level 1 and a level 2.
You must complete level 1 before you can progress to level 2. With the option to gain independent accreditation following an external assessment.
You can engage with one of their Trusted Standard Mentors, who will be able to provide tailored advice and support on implementing the Trusted Standard in your organisation.
As part of the annual online subscription, you will receive a free Trusted Standard in Practice Guidebook that provides step-by-step guidance on undertaking your self-assessment and implementing the Trusted Standard within your organisation.
The first 10 quality areas address how your organisation is run and the quality of services for users. Such as user-centred service, managing people, money and resources. Quality area 11 is about the outcomes and impact you achieve for your service users, your organisation, its people and the wider community.
Improving Quality
Improving Quality is a quality scheme to be used both as a self-assessment tool and for external assessment. It splits key areas of organisational life into 4 elements.
- Accountable – Good Governance, Leadership and Management
- Welcoming – Involving service users, managing and developing staff and volunteers, equality and diversity and working with others.
- Effective – refers to the services that an organisation provides and the planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation that the organisations carry out.
- Sustainable – How the organisation manages risk, money and the resources to make service delivery happen.
An organisation must first complete the self-assessment process and ensure that they have all the evidence needed to show how they meet each of the requirements before they apply for an optional external assessment. The price of this quality standard is reasonable.
Quality assessments for social enterprises
Back in 2024 Social Enterprise Mark CIC closed, but details of their Aspiring Social Enterprise accreditation and Approved Social Enterprise accreditation qualification criteria can be viewed on Social Impact Ireland’s website.
Social Impact Ireland partnered with the international accreditation body to pioneer the Social Enterprise Mark in Ireland. Please note that Social Impact Ireland has now closed, however, you can still access their reports.
The Mark acted as a guarantee that a business was operating as a true social enterprise, with the aim of using income/profits for community benefit. Demonstrating activity takes precedence over generating dividends for owners/shareholders.
The criteria included aspiring social enterprises being committed to dedicating a principal proportion (51%+) of any annual profit or financial surplus generated to social purposes. An aspiring social enterprise must be planning to become sustainable through trading income (i.e. aiming to earn 50% or more of its income from trading, within 3 years). Encouraging best practice for social entrepreneurs.
Social Value Quality mark
A potential alternative to the Social Enterprise Mark is the Social Value Quality Mark accreditation. This accreditation process is available to a variety of organisations, including charities and social enterprises. The main requirement is a genuine commitment to doing business in a way that benefits society. As well as being willing to work through the accreditation process and have your value independently audited and verified.
There are 4 awards schemes. The bronze award is the entry level. The criteria include explaining a clear view of how you create value for your staff, customers and communities and an understanding of your social legacy.
Next steps
As part of our 150th birthday celebrations, we’re making our regular training free to attend this year. Maybe consider booking on our courses. Being a trustee: what does it mean? or Trustee Refresher: Being Better to talk more about the significance of the essential trustee guidance mentioned in our charity governance code section.
NCVS’s Social Enterprise Accelerator project offers free support to all aspiring social entrepreneurs in Nottingham. We have several Social Enterprise Accelerator workshops and training in the coming months, including one workshop titled Finance for Start-ups.
