General Roles and Responsibilities for Boards

The people who provide strategic direction, manage and sometimes run organisations are called Trustees, Directors or Committee members. They have legal responsibilities to make sure their organisation runs effectively. 

They must demonstrate this by adhering to and upholding the rules set out in the governing document. 

There are serious consequences if things go wrong, the organisation’s reputation can be harmed and there are potential legal implications. To avoid these, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act ('The 2005 Act') outlines the duties and responsibilities of Trustees and these should be located for easy access. 

The Trustee induction process should include consideration of this Act. 

There can be serious consequences if things go wrong. Including, but not limited to the organisations reputation being harmed and potential legal implications. To help avoid these, the organisations board should have easy access to the relevant legislation, board member guides, and their Board Members Induction pack.

The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act (the Charity Act) outlines the duties and responsibilities of Trustees, and the Company Act 2006 outlines the duties and responsibilities for Directors.

If your organisation is a SCIO, only the Charity Act is applicable to you. If you are a company without charitable status, only the Company Act is applicable to you. However, if you are a charitable company, both the Charity Act and the Company Act is applicable to you.

If you think your board requires training, please get in touch with your local TSI for information on the help and training they provide.