Governance and Management
We are an independent Charity constituted as a Company Limited by Guarantee.We are a member of Citizens Advice Ltd, the national body, which supplies support and assistance including the continual update and maintenance of the mass of information needed by our advisors in their daily task of helping people. Citizens Advice also supplies the IT systems through which we capture data on the problems people encounter, data which is used as evidence in campaigns to prevent problems arising. They additionally provide policy best practice, and service quality systems.
A Board of elected Trustees meets approximately every two months to govern the Charity by setting policy, determining corporate strategy, making major decisions about the use of finances and to review the operations and ensure they meet the aims and objectives of the Charity. Board meetings are also attended by representatives from paid and volunteer staff and from local authorities.
All Trustees are volunteers and we try to maintain a suitable mix of skills and diversity within the Board and review when new Trustees are required. All prospective Board members are formally interviewed and given the opportunity to see the Bureau and Board at work. Every new Trustee has to be proposed for appointment and accepted at a full Board meeting. The appointment has to be confirmed at the next General Meeting.
The Bureau has a paid Chief Executive who is responsible to the Trustees for managing the day-to-day affairs of the Charity including the primary role of fundraising. He is assisted by subordinate staff in ensuring that the service delivered to our clients meets the needs of our clients, the quality standards required by our membership of Citizens Advice, and the targets we have agreed with our funders.