At its November meeting, the Bowls England Board discussed the progress being made by the Management and Audit (MAR) Committee and the Affiliation Working Party ahead of discussions at the Counties’ Conference, scheduled for the following day.

MAR has been tasked by the Board to assess the County Associations role in the Fit for the Future Strategy, explore County Association governance and its alignment with Sport England’s Code of Governance, and shape the County Associations relationship with Bowls England. The board approved MAR’s recommendation that the Governance Working Party develop a Counties Governance Code for discussion at the 2023 Counties’ Conference.

The Affiliation Working Party is exploring an immediate review of the current affiliation offer and price, and a longer-term review of Bowls England’s affiliation model. Following research amongst other sports and a financial review, a series of options were to be discussed at the Counties’ Conference.

The Board also discussed the 2023 Competitions and National Finals programme considering feedback about qualification numbers and Regional Finals. The Board decided to increase qualifiers and put more events into the 18-day National Final programme. This was discussed at the County Conference and, with the additional of some operational changes, the changes have been announced earlier this month.

The Bowls England Board also approved updates to its Whistle-Blowing and Anti-Bullying Policies as part of delivering against the requirements of Sport England’s Code of Governance.

In the Chief Executive’s Operational Update, the Board reflected on the positive sales for the Champions Dinner, the pleasing sponsorship progress with the launch of the Riviera Travel partnership and the final affiliation data, which shows a 4% growth.

You can find the minutes of the Board’s November 2022 meeting here.