UK Sport, Sport England, Sport Scotland and Sport Wales have adopted their own governance codes or frameworks for organisations within their jurisdiction. A summary of these is given below.
A Code for Sport Governance – Sport England and UK Sport
In force since April 2017, this code is mandatory for any organisation in direct receipt of Sport England or UK Sport funding. This code has five principles, which cover similar ground to the Principles outlined in this document:
A Code for Sports Governance Principles | Closest Principles of Good Governance for Sport and Recreation Equivalent |
| Principle 2: Organisation’s Vision and Mission and Principle 3: Leadership & Role of the Board |
| Principle 4: Board Structure |
| Principle 6: Accountability and Transparency and Principle 7: Engaging with the Sport and Recreation Landscape |
| Principle 1: Integrity |
| Principle 5: Controls and Compliance |
Organisations funded by Sport England or UK Sport will discuss their specific responsibilities under the code with their relationship manager, as part of the funding agreement.
Governance and Leadership Framework for Wales – Sport Wales
The Framework was launched in April 2015, after a period of development in partnership between Sport Wales, the Sport and Recreation Alliance and the Welsh sport sector. The framework was developed from the Voluntary Code of Good Governance for Sport and Recreation, the precursor to this document, so there is a lot of similarity between the Framework and these principles.
Governance and Leadership Framework for Wales Principle | Closest Principles of Good Governance for Sport and Recreation Equivalent |
| Principle 1: Integrity |
| Principle 3: Leadership & Role of the Board |
| Principle 2: Organisation’s Vision and Mission |
| Principle 4: Board Structure |
| Principle 5: Controls and Compliance |
| Principle 6: Accountability and Transparency |
| Principle 7: Engaging with the Sport and Recreation Landscape |
All Welsh NGBs have been encouraged to sign up to the Framework, and other sporting organisations in Wales have been encouraged to sign up also, but full compliance with the Framework is not a mandatory requirement for Welsh NGBs.
Sport Governing Body (SGB) Governance Framework - sportscotland
sportscotland introduced the SGB Governance Framework in 2015 to support their SGB investment decision-making process; recognising the link between performance, development and good governance. The twelve core principles of the governance framework encourage SGBs to improve their governance and ensure consistency with the sportscotland investment principles.
SGB Governance Framework Principle | Closest Principles of Good Governance for Sport and Recreation Equivalent |
| Principle 1: Integrity and Principle 6: Accountability and Transparency |
| Principle 4: Board Structure |
| Principle 2: Organisation’s Vision and Mission |
| Principle 4: Board Structure |
| Principle 4: Board Structure |
| Principle 3: Leadership & Role of the Board |
| Principle 3: Leadership & Role of the Board |
| Principle 5: Controls and Compliance |
| Principle 5: Controls and Compliance |
| Principle 3: Leadership & Role of the Board |
| Principle 7: Engaging with the Sport and Recreation Landscape |
| Principle 7: Engaging with the Sport and Recreation Landscape |
The framework is not mandatory, but it is used for reference as part of the independent NGB development audit process and development targets related to the framework principles can be set by mutual agreement.
Outside the Sport and Recreation Sector
There are many other codes of governance applying to different organisations outside the sport and recreation sector. The most relevant for sport and recreation organisations is the leading code for the Voluntary and Charity sector.
Good Governance: A code for the Voluntary and Community Sector
This is a voluntary code of good governance for charities, created by a steering group including representatives of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO); the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO); the Welsh Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA); the Small Charities Coalition; and ICSA, the Governance Institute.
The code is sector led, and supported by the Charity Commission. If your organisation is a registered charity, then you may find this code to be a useful reference.
A similar document, adapted from Good Governance: A code for the Voluntary and Community Sector, is published in Northern Ireland by the Developing Governance Group, titled The Code for Good Governance.
