During the Aviva National Finals, the Bowls England board took some time away from the excitement on the Victoria Park greens to hold its August meeting. A wide range of topics were discussed in line with the delivery of the organisation’s Fit for the Future strategy. Before the meeting began in earnest, the Board took some time to reflect on the significant contribution of Norma Hazzledine MBE who passed away a few days before the meeting.
The Board discussed approved two new policies, subject to some small changes, the development of which is in line with Sport England’s Code of Governance. The Conflict of Interest Policy is to provide a structure to declare, log, and manage potential conflict of interest in order to protect the integrity of Bowls England’s decision making, and to enable our members and stakeholders to have confidence in our integrity. The Fraud Policy establishes controls and procedures for detecting, preventing and responding to fraud. It gives guidance to Bowls England representatives around the steps to be taken should there be a suspicion of fraud.
The two policies will be sent out to County Associations and included in the Governance section of the Bowls England website. *
The Bowls England Board received the Chief Executive’s Operational Plan and Budget for 2024/25, which had been developed in conjunction with the wider staff team. Priority areas for the year, which starts on 1st October include the integration of disability into the organisation’s activities, the implementation of the national competitions’ changes and performance strategy, and the conclusion of the Governance and Disciplinary Working Party’s projects. This is in conjunction with the many business-as-usual activities and our core function of supporting affiliated clubs and driving participation growth through Bowls’ Big Weekend, Bowls Bash and other activities.
Following changes to the affiliation and competitions fees, and continued growth in commercial revenues, we are now able to budget a small surplus which will therefore build back up our reserves, which have been drawn down over the last few years. The organisation is projected to turn over 44% more than in 2019, and this means significantly more money is being reinvested back into our sport either directly into programmes or into people delivering services. Linking affiliation and competition entries to inflation means we can move forward with more confidence.
The Board also discussed the Bowls’ Big Weekend report, agreeing the 2025 dates, the Expression of Interest for hosting the 2027 World Championships and the evolution of our relationship with Warwick District Council.
Finally, the Head of Business Operations presented the outcome of the annual Staff Satisfaction Survey which was positive. As Bowls England is a service business and people are its biggest outgoing, the effectiveness and productivity of the staff team and volunteers remains of prime importance. The Board noted recommendations around workload prioritization, reward and recognition, culture and communications.
The full minutes can be found here.
The next meeting will take place on 24 October 2024.
*New policies will be added once Board Amendments have been completed