Big Lottery Fund

This section is intended to help Board and Committee Members understand how to operate within the principles of public life and the Code of Best Practice when taking decisions.

External Framework: Declarations of Interest

Conflicts of Interest Policy

In order to minimise the chance of the public at large perceiving that funding decisions have been influenced by the personal interest of, or by the specific information available to, any Board or Committee Member, a number of rules and procedures have been adopted. The Big Lottery Fund is required to have these conflicts procedures/arrangements in place by its Financial Directions. This section is intended to help Board and Committee Members understand how to operate within the wider external framework of public life.  .

The following relevant policies/guidance which Board and Committee Members must abide by:

• Conflicts of Interest Policy 
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• Declaration of Interests form 
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• Procurement/solicitation guidance 
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Where gifts or hospitality have been received these must be declared at the meeting where the application from relevant organisation is being considered.

Declarations of Interests at Meetings

Board or Committee Members should consider any agenda items which could present a potential conflict of interest, or be perceived as such.  The agenda for each meeting will include an item early on to enable interests to be declared.  Board Members should discuss the potential conflict of interest with the Chair and Accounting Officer in advance of the Board meeting (see the Conflicts of Interest Policy 
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Where a declaration of interest results in a Committee becoming inquorate a Board Member or Members from another Country Committee or UK Funding Committee can be co-opted for the whole or part of a meeting to address the problem. This involvement can be by telephone conference in making grant decisions. The Members co-opted should be in receipt of the relevant Committee papers.

Declaration of Interests Form

When appointed all Board and Committee Members are asked to complete this form.  All significant connections with bodies eligible to apply for funding from the Big Lottery Fund should be recorded for Members and their immediate family.  Any pecuniary interests or associations with organisations who may tender or be involved in work or contracts with the Big Lottery Fund should also be declared.  Board Members should consult the Chief Executive if there is any doubt as to the strength of the link requiring declaration.  Interests spanning the past five years must be included. Country Committee Members should raise the matter with the Country Director who will take advice, as necessary, from the Chief Executive.

Declaration of Interest Forms should be kept up to date by sending changes to the Board Secretariat or relevant Country Secretariat.  The Board Secretariat will issue an annual update request, but it is the responsibility of each individual to notify if there is a change at any time. A central register is kept by the Board Secretariat and is open to public inspection on request.  Board Members’ declarations of interest are also posted on the Big Lottery Fund website.

Declarations regarding disclosable awards are included in the Fund’s Annual Report and Accounts.

Personal Interests

Board and Committee Members should adhere to the following principles:

• Members should not use information gained in the course of public service for personal gain, or seek to use the opportunity of public service to pursue their private interests.
• Members who misuse information gained by virtue of their position may be liable for breach of confidence under common law.
• When considering applications for funding, Members must consider every application on its merits and never be influenced by personal interests.

Members who are in any way connected with an application for funding personally or through a close family member should consider whether a member of the public or press, knowing of the situation, could reasonably conclude that their involvement or interest in an application might have influenced its chances of being funded or not being funded – in which case they should declare an interest.

Political Activity

On the recommendation of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and following guidance from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, all Board and Committee Members hold public appointments and therefore should complete the declaration on political activity which forms the final part of the Declaration of Interest Form 
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The updated House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 Schedule 1 includes the House of Commons Disqualification Order 2010 # 762 and disqualifies Board and Country Committee Members from becoming Members of Parliament.

During the run up to general, local and European Parliament elections the Big Lottery Fund and its non-executives must maintain political impartiality and the need to ensure that resources are not used for party political purposes. The Big Lottery Fund is also subject to ‘purdah’ during the pre-election period. As well as having an impact on press releases ‘purdah’ also impacts on the use of social media.

Duty of Care

The issue of the political affiliations of Board Members may be a matter of media and wider public interest. On rare occasions non-executives may feel legal action is warranted to protect their reputation as an individual. The Board has agreed principles of a duty of care which paid executive members of staff and non-executive members of the Board have towards each other and in circumstances where legal action may be contemplated by individual non-executives, following legal advice, a protocol for legal action 
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The duty of care works in four different ways:

1. The executive towards the Board as a whole.
2. The executive towards individual Members of the Board.
3. The Board as a whole towards the executive.
4. Individual Members of the Board as a whole and through the Board to the executive.

These duties of care derive from the seven Nolan principles of governance 
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The executive is responsible for protecting the reputation of the Fund, the principles of governance, implementing decisions and all matters covered by assurance and compliance.  It also has a duty of care to individual Board Members, relating to the accuracy of the information given to Board Members in order for them to make decisions (whether the Board as a whole, its committees or as individual Members).  The executive must also ensure that its advice is in accordance with the principles of administrative law and that the information and advice given is based on relevant facts and nothing else.

The Board’s collective responsibility towards the executive, and the responsibility of individual Members to the Board as a whole, is to make sure that in their actions and decision making they follow the advice and guidance given, having questioned it where needed.  Board Members must also ensure that they keep their declared interests up to date.  Political activity is one of the key matters.

The protocol for taking legal action must be clear about the following issues:

• If an individual Board Member is going to take individual action it must be in consultation with the Fund and in line with the Nolan principles.
• Board Members must properly and continuously declare any conflicts of interest; Board Members should be aware that the register of interests must be publicly available.
• Risks associated with the interests declared by Board Members should be assessed, documented and reported to the Audit & Risk Committee from time to time.
• Board Members are expected to act at all times with the best interests of the Fund in mind, and therefore not to expose one against the other.  They should discuss and share with the executive any matters which might impact upon other Board Members and/or the Board.
• However, Board Members should not be influenced by misguided newspaper opinion in reaching decisions.
• The Board would normally be unable to fund litigation for an individual Board Member.  The overarching consideration is whether it would be in the ‘public interest’, otherwise it could lead to criticism if the Board was seen to be putting resources intended for its good cause towards funding legal proceedings.

There is no general duty of care in the legal sense owed to individual Board Members to act on their behalf or to fund legal proceedings.

Confidentiality

Committee discussion about the details of individual applications and applicant organisations must remain confidential.  Details of successful and unsuccessful applications must not be discussed with anyone, including the applicant or the press.  Any contact from the media on such matters should be referred to the Big Lottery Fund’s corporate Press Office

Members should treat all papers provided to them by the Fund as non-disclosable unless otherwise advised or the documents are known to be in the public domain and/or published on the Fund’s website.  

Handling Confidential and Restricted Information

Electronic copies of papers classified with markings in the headers as Confidential or Restricted may be sent via the Secure File Transfer System or sent as a password protected file, with the password sent separately. Members will be sent details of the secure login for the Secure File Transfer System and access will be given to the relevant e-folders.

Electronic and hard copies of information marked confidential should not be worked on in an open office or in public. Restricted information may be worked on in an open office but must not be left unattended. Confidential and restricted information should be kept locked away when not being used.

Members must undertake to store and dispose of hard copy papers in the securest possible way and either arrange for them to be destroyed through secure means at one of the Fund’s offices or ensure they are securely destroyed by other equivalent means.

Hospitality

Gifts or significant hospitality from organisations applying for a grant should not be accepted  Any other gifts received 
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Bribery

It is a serious offence for someone to offer a Board or Committee Member something to encourage them to break their public duty by treating them favourably. If a Member suspects that someone is attempting to bribe you, you must report the matter to the Director of Strategy Performance and Learning or the relevant Country Director, who will inform the Head of Internal Audit.  

Complaints and Objections

The Fund’s Customer Service Charte 
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Applying for employment with the Big Lottery Fund

There may be circumstances under which a Board or Committee Member wishes to apply for paid employment within the Big Lottery Fund.  In line with the Nolan principles of public life, it is important that a distinction is kept between the role of the non-executive and paid employees, and that these lines are not blurred.  If a Board or Committee Member wishes to be a candidate for a post of paid employment within the Big Lottery Fund, they should inform the Chief Executive formally in writing at the point of submitting their application.  The membership of the shortlisting and selection panel will be decided accordingly.  If selected, the individual will be required to resign from their non-executive post.  Committee Members should submit their resignation to the relevant Committee Chair, copied to the Chief Executive and Country Director. Board Members should submit their resignation to the Minister for Cabinet Office copied to the Chair and Chief Executive.

Requests for references

From time to time Board and Committee Members may receive requests to provide an employment reference for a member of the Big Lottery Fund staff that they have come into contact with as a result of their duties.  Any such requests should be forwarded to the Human Resources Department who provide all Big Lottery Fund references for current or previous employees.  Any references provided by Board or Committee Members must be made on the basis of being a personal referee only, and should state this clearly within the reference.

The removal of Board and Committee Members

If a Board or Committee Member is found to have failed to follow any of the guidelines set out in the Code of Ethics they are likely to be asked to resign.  Board Members are required to submit their resignation to the Minister for Cabinet Office. The Big Lottery Fund can act itself in the case of Committee Members.

Involvement with Recruitment, Selection and Appointment

General principle

The Fund is committed to fair and open recruitment and selection. If Members are involved with recruitment and selection they must observe the best practice procedures adopted by the Fund.  

Members involved in recruitment and selection may be called upon to justify their decisions. This could be to an external body, such as an Employment Tribunal.

Members who are involved with grant programme committees which involve young people may be involved with the appointment of young people. Members may be subject to a Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (POCVA, Northern Ireland only) or Criminal Records Bureau check. Guidance on working with children, young people and vulnerable adult Committee Members is available.

Equal Opportunities Policy

The Big Lottery Fund is committed to ensuring equality is mainstreamed. It aims to adopt an inclusive approach to ensure grant applicants and recipients, stakeholders, job applicants and employees are treated fairly. Equality assurance work is an important part of programme and policy development and equality monitoring has been introduced for new programmes.  

The Big Lottery Fund has developed a series of Equal Opportunities Principles and an action plan to turn these principles into practice. The Fund requires relevant external stakeholders (grant holders, award partners and suppliers) to sign up to these principles.  An external guide for applicants ’Equality Matters‘ is available on the Big Lottery Fund’s website.

The Fund is committed to the following:

• all employees and Board and Committee Members will be expected to challenge discrimination and promote equality of opportunity;
• all potential customers will have fair access to its services;
• promoting good relations between people of different backgrounds in its service delivery.

The Big Lottery Fund Equal Opportunities Policy developed in consultation with the Unions, sets out a series of commitments both internally and externally.  It is the responsibility of the individual Member to uphold and implement the Fund’s Equality Policy.  Training on equalities issues is provided as part of the induction process for Board and Committee Members.

Fraud, Corruption And Whistleblowing

The Big Lottery Fund does not tolerate fraud or corruption whether by staff, non-executives, suppliers or grant applicants and recipients. It is also conscious of the need to guard against its grants being diverted to criminal purposes, including terrorism.

Internal Audit helps to deter fraud by working to assure the quality of the Fund’s processes.  It also investigates suspected fraud and corruption, working with the police and other agencies.  Managers are responsible for operating the internal controls that help to prevent and detect fraud.  All staff are responsible for following procedures, and reporting suspicions immediately. The Fund’s key policies and procedures are:

• Anti-fraud and Anti-Corruption Strategy – the Fund’s overall approach;
• Fraud Response Plan – what the Fund does when fraud is suspected;
• Whistleblowing Policy – what to do if you suspect wrongdoing.

Whistleblowing Policy

Whistleblowing is the term used to describe raising concerns about misconduct within an organisation.  The Big Lottery Fund takes such concerns extremely seriously.  If a Board or Committee Member has a concern about a fraud or other impropriety within the Big Lottery Fund, the Member should first raise this with their Committee Chair who will refer it to the Chief Executive and Country Director. (If the concern involves the Director then the Chief Executive should be contacted.)  The Big Lottery Fund’s Head of Internal Audit will investigate any matters in which alleged financial misconduct is involved.  The Big Lottery Fund is also required to provide an external element to its whistleblowing procedure.  The Independent Complaints Reviewer (ICR) will provide this in appropriate cases.  

Involvement Of Board Members In Procurement And Tendering

The presumption is that Board Members should only become directly involved in tendering exercises in exceptional circumstances.  For most business, procurement and tendering should be undertaken by the staff of the Big Lottery Fund, acting within delegated limits and in accordance with the internal guidance, under the ultimate line management of the Chief Executive.

There will, however, be occasions when Board Members will have a particular interest in a tender, for example because it affects one of their key tasks or objectives. Then, they may need to be involved in the decision-making process.  Examples might be the selection of consultants to advise on the appointment of the Chief Executive or, say, to facilitate Board conferences.  These occasions will be rare: Board Members would normally be expected to play a non-executive role in Big Lottery Fund affairs, except when taking grant-making decisions.

The involvement of Board Members in any tender process should be fully documented, starting with the identification of reasons for their involvement in a particular case.  These reasons should be signed off by the Chair and Chief Executive and notified to the Audit & Risk Committee and recorded in the minutes of that Committee. (Since the Audit & Risk Committee meets only quarterly, a matter of urgency can be referred to the Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee if necessary.)

Board Members appointed to a tender panel should be trained (a full briefing will normally be sufficient) in the Board’s policy and procedures for ensuring that it is managed in accordance with the requirements of Government Accounting instructions.  Appropriate officials, such as the Procurement Manager or the responsible functional director, should form part of the procurement panel.

Specific guidance on conflicts of interest during procurements and solicitations can be found here 
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