Charity board papers

Why board papers matter: trustees must be sufficiently informed

Board papers exist because the Charity Commission's guidance Decision making for charity trustees (CC27) makes being sufficiently informed one of its decision-making principles, and puts the burden on the board: “You must be able to show that as trustees you based your decisions on enough relevant information.” The papers are how trustees get that information and, kept with the minutes, how the board later shows it.

CC27 sets no standard amount of paper: “The type and amount of information you will be expected to consider can depend upon: the impact and risks of the decision, including on your charity’s resources, beneficiaries, property or reputation; the cost or value involved; its complexity; whether the decision may be controversial; how urgent it is”.

The Commission's guidance on meetings, Charity meetings (CC48), turns that into practice: “You should share an agenda before your meeting.” and “You should send copies of any relevant documents with the agenda to allow people to prepare for the meeting.” It adds a warning that is easy to miss: “Your governing document or the law may require you to send out particular documents before a trustee or general meeting.”

Money has its own line. Internal financial controls for charities (CC8) says “All trustees should have access to clear, accurate and up-to-date financial information, for example: the latest management accounts.” and that the charity’s financial position and performance should be “a standing agenda item at trustee meetings; sent to each trustee before the meeting”.

The voluntary Charity Governance Code (2025 edition) sets the standard of good practice under its Decision making principle: “Meeting agendas and papers are designed to give trustees the right information and time to discuss key issues”. The Code is voluntary; CC48, CC27 and CC8 are the Commission's guidance for England and Wales.

What goes in a charity board pack

CC48 gives the core list. Under “Giving notice” it says: “You should also include any documents that those entitled to attend need to read before the meeting, for example: an agenda; a copy of the minutes from the previous meeting; relevant financial information or your charity’s accounts; any reports or updates; any resolutions that are being considered”.

For the agenda itself, CC48 says “You should make it clear which items on the agenda are just for discussion and which items need a decision.” and “Your agenda should include: a standing item on conflicts of interest to allow attendees to declare any conflicts they have; an item to discuss your charity’s financial position and performance; an item for ‘any other business’ to allow others to raise new items on the day”.

Put together, a pack for a trustee meeting typically runs in this order:

1. The agenda, each item marked for decision, discussion or information, with a time, a lead and its paper number.
2. Declarations of interest, as a standing first item. Our conflict of interest policy guide covers what the policy should say.
3. The draft minutes of the previous meeting and an action log to track what was agreed and what has happened since.
4. Finance: management accounts, actual against budget with variances explained, cash and reserves.
5. The chief executive's or lead officer's report, against the strategy rather than a diary.
6. Committee reports, with any recommendation stated as a resolution.
7. Risk: changes to the risk register since the last meeting.
8. Standing assurance items where they apply: safeguarding, health and safety, data incidents and any serious incident reported to the Commission.
9. Papers for each decision, each with a cover sheet (section 4) and the resolution wording.
10. Any other business: a matter needing a decision and a paper goes to the next meeting unless it is urgent.

A members' meeting such as an AGM needs a different pack: CC48's examples of documents to send with the agenda also include an annual report, the charity's accounts and “the names and a statement from any trustees or others who are standing for election or re-election”. Keep the trustees' pack and the AGM pack separate; our guide to the trustees' annual report covers the report the members receive.

When to send the papers, and how

The governing document comes first. It usually sets the notice period for trustee meetings and may say how notice is given. No statute fixes a period for trustee papers, and the Commission sets only a fallback: CC48 says “If your governing document does not have rules about this, you should: give reasonable notice (a minimum period of 3 weeks); amend your governing document so that it sets out notice periods for future meetings”. CC48 also explains how to count: “A period of clear days or weeks does not include the day you send the notice or the day of the meeting.”

Sending papers a week ahead is a common practice, often quoted online as a rule, but it is not a Commission rule. The practical test is CC27's: its principles include that trustees “give enough time and consideration to your decision; have all the information you need”. A 90-page pack sent on Friday for a Monday meeting can meet the letter of a governing document and fail that test.

Late papers are the usual weak point: a paper tabled on the day gives trustees no time to read it. Agree that a decision paper arriving after the pack defers the decision unless the chair records why it cannot wait.

How often: CC48 says “If your governing document does not set out a minimum number, we recommend that you hold at least two trustee meetings a year.”

How to circulate is a matter for the governing document and the board's own agreement. The Code expects that “The board can access agendas, board papers and other important information easily and securely”, which is a standard, not a product: a secure shared folder, encrypted email or a board portal can all meet it, and printed copies suit a trustee who needs them. Agree one route: revised papers sent by another are how trustees end up reading different versions.

Some papers go out between meetings, for a decision by email or written resolution. CC48 says “Check if your governing document allows you to carry out charity business in other ways, for example by telephone, email, or on messaging apps”, and the Code's suggested evidence includes “Procedures for decisions that need to be taken outside the board meeting cycle”. Our guide to trustee decisions between meetings covers those routes and when a meeting is still required.

Writing a paper that supports a decision

The Code's suggested evidence for its Decision making principle describes good papers: “Board papers that identify key data and factors for informed decision making, including associated risks”, “Board papers that provide analysis, including metrics or indicators showing performance over time” and “Board meeting agendas that reflect the charity's strategy and are clear about when the board is making decisions”. Analysis over time means a trend and a sentence saying what it means, not a table of this month's figures.

A one-page cover sheet on every decision paper is the simplest template that does this. It sets out:

• Purpose: for decision, for discussion or for information.
• The decision sought, in the words of the resolution, so that the minutes can record exactly what was agreed.
• Summary and recommendation, in a short paragraph.
• Options considered, including doing nothing.
• Financial impact: cost, income, effect on reserves and any restricted funds involved.
• Risks of acting and of not acting.
• Consultation and advice: who has been consulted, and any professional advice, attached.
• Fit with strategy and purposes.
• Possible conflicts the author is aware of.
• Author, date and version.

Scale the paper to the decision, as CC27's list of factors suggests: a routine renewal needs the cover sheet and a page; a decision with a high impact, cost, complexity or controversy needs the options worked through and the advice attached. Where the board has taken professional advice, attach it or summarise it accurately.

The chair owns the agenda as well as the meeting. The Code says “The chair is active in the design of meeting agendas to ensure effective use of board time”: in practice the chair and the chief executive or clerk agree the agenda before papers are commissioned, and the chair sends back a paper that does not make its decision clear.

Confidentiality, access and keeping the papers

There is no general statutory confidentiality rule for trustee papers. The Code's Foundation principle expects that “Trustees maintain confidentiality as appropriate”. In practice, mark confidential papers and put personal or commercially sensitive matters in a separate annex.

Papers that contain personal data about staff, volunteers or beneficiaries are covered by data protection law like any other record. Article 5 of the UK GDPR requires personal data to be “adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary”, so a paper about a grievance or a safeguarding case should carry only what the decision needs, often anonymised.

Not everyone at the meeting should receive every paper. CC48 says “Anyone invited to your trustee meeting should only be present to discuss the relevant agenda items.” and “You must make sure that only trustees are counted towards the quorum you need to make valid decisions at a trustee meeting.” Staff and advisers who attend for one item need that paper, not the whole pack.

After the meeting the papers become part of the record. CC27 says “The minutes should be detailed enough to allow someone to understand the issues and the reasons for the decision.” and “Attach copies of any reports or other documents that are mentioned in the minutes.” CC48's list of what minutes should record includes “the information upon which you based your decisions”, and it says draft minutes should go to every trustee as soon as possible after the meeting, to be approved at the next one: “Approve the minutes at the beginning of your next meeting. The chair should then sign the minutes and store them safely.” Keep each pack, as sent, with its approved minutes, and note when any revised or tabled paper was circulated.

No statute sets a retention period for board papers as such. Because the papers a decision relied on belong with the minutes, keep them for the minutes' own period: CC48 says charitable companies must keep trustee minutes for at least ten years, CIOs at least six years, and trusts and unincorporated associations should keep them for at least six. Our guide to board minutes retention sets out the rules body by body.

The Code's suggested evidence includes “Digital access to governance documents, including historical board minutes”: a new trustee should find last year's papers without asking for them. When a trustee leaves, ask them to return or delete their copies; our guide to trustee resignation covers the rest.

The discussion that happens after the pack goes out

The pack goes out by email. The discussion of it often starts an hour later in the trustees' group chat: a question about the management accounts, a corrected figure from the treasurer, a suggestion to take item 6 as read. By the meeting, trustees are deciding on the papers as amended by that thread, and the minutes record the papers as sent.

CC48 recognises that charity business may be done “by telephone, email, or on messaging apps” where the governing document allows. Those exchanges are part of the information the board based its decision on, the thing CC27 says it must be able to show. When they sit in a consumer messaging group on trustees' personal phones, the charity holds none of it: if a decision is challenged, it can produce the pack, but not the revised figure everyone actually relied on.

ComplyChat is a messaging app for work conversations that need to be kept. A board channel the charity holds keeps those pre-meeting questions and answers with the charity rather than on individual phones, everyone added to the channel is told it is on the record, and on the paid plans the record files into the charity's own Microsoft 365 under its own retention rules. It is not a board portal or a document store and does not replace the pack or the minutes; a board that discusses its papers only by email to charity accounts may not need it.

A question for the next board meeting: if one of last year's decisions were challenged, could we show what information trustees actually had, including what was added or corrected after the pack went out?

Questions people ask

What should be included in charity board papers?

Charity board papers should include the agenda and the documents trustees need to prepare: the Charity Commission's CC48 lists the previous minutes, relevant financial information or accounts, reports or updates and any resolutions being considered. CC48 says the agenda should include a standing item on conflicts of interest, an item on the charity's financial position and performance and any other business.

How far in advance should board papers be sent to trustees?

Follow the governing document's notice rules: no statute fixes a period for trustee papers. The Charity Commission's CC48 sets only a fallback: where the governing document says nothing, give reasonable notice (a minimum period of 3 weeks) and amend the document to set notice periods. Seven days is a common practice, not a rule.

Are charity board papers confidential?

There is no general statutory confidentiality rule for trustee papers, but the Charity Governance Code expects that “Trustees maintain confidentiality as appropriate” and that the board can access papers “easily and securely”. Papers containing personal data are also covered by the UK GDPR, and marking a paper confidential does not by itself exempt it from a subject access request under Article 15 of the UK GDPR.

How long should a charity keep board papers?

No statute sets a period for board papers as such, but the Charity Commission's CC27 tells trustees to “Attach copies of any reports or other documents that are mentioned in the minutes”, so keep the papers with the minutes for the minutes' own period. CC48 gives at least ten years for a charitable company's trustee minutes and at least six years for a CIO, a trust or an unincorporated association.

Official guidance and your next step

The Charity Commission's guidance is in Charity meetings (CC48), Decision making for charity trustees (CC27) and section 2 of Internal financial controls for charities (CC8). The good-practice standard is principle 5, Decision making, of the Charity Governance Code (2025 edition). Quotations are from those pages as published on 8 October 2026.

This guide is a summary for charities in England and Wales, not legal advice. Check your own governing document first, because it sets your notice rules. Scottish charities should look to OSCR and Northern Ireland charities to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

Then do one thing: take the pack for your next trustee meeting and check that every item needing a decision is marked as one and has the wording of the resolution in it. Any that does not is the first paper to send back.