Our Governance, Policies and Reports

Governance

St Anne’s has a strong governance framework made up of the systems, processes and controls that help us deliver high quality services that are safe, effective and well managed.

Our Board of Trustees is the governing body of the organisation and operates in accordance with our Articles of Association. The Board sets the charity’s strategic direction, purpose, culture and values, ensuring everything we do remains focused on achieving the best outcomes for our clients and tenants. The Board also promotes equality, diversity and inclusion, integrity, openness and accountability across the organisation.

The Board is supported by four committees, each with responsibility for key areas of the business:

•Audit, Risk & Assurance Committee
•Quality & People Committee
•Finance & Business Committee
•Remuneration & Nomination Committee

Clients and tenants play an important role in shaping our organisation. Through our SEVEN client engagement groups and Tenant Forum, they can influence strategy, policy reviews and service improvements, ensuring lived experience is reflected in our decision making. Feedback from both forums is reported to the Quality & People Committee, helping to inform organisational priorities and decisions.

Our Governance Office provides support across all aspects of governance, working closely with operational and support service teams to promote effective decision making, compliance and continuous improvement. We use a range of frameworks, systems and communication channels to ensure our governance arrangements remain clear, effective and accessible.

Our Quality and Continuous Improvement Team supports operational and support services through quality assurance, monitoring and improvement activities, helping us maintain high standards and continually enhance the services we provide.

Our governance framework also provides employees and volunteers with clear principles for how we work, support people and collaborate to achieve the best possible outcomes for the individuals and communities we serve.

Information Governance

St. Anne’s has three key members of the team undertaking specific areas of responsibility in protecting personal information. These are our ‘Caldicott Guardian’, our Senior Information Risk Officer, and our Data Protection Officer.

Caldicott Guardian – Lyndsay Atkinson-Swales(E: lyndsay.atkinson-swales@st-annes.org.uk)

Lyndsay has responsibility for ensuring that St. Anne’s uses information about people legally and appropriately, and that we maintain confidentiality. This includes personal information about the people we support, their relatives, and people who work for us.

As well as making sure that any systems and processes we use to store information about people are secure, the Caldicott[1] Guardian also helps to ensure that the right arrangements are in place if we need to share information with other organisations, for example; those with responsibility for social care and safeguarding.

The Guardian helps decide when confidential information might be used, and when it should not, by following what are called the eight ‘Caldicott Principles’.

Senior Information Risk Officer  Andrew Gregor (E: Andrew.gregor@st-annes.org.uk)

This role has been created under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and oversees policies, frameworks, and procedures to minimise risks to data.

Data Protection Officer – Charlotte Woollven (E: governance@st-annes.org.uk)

Charlotte is our Data Protection Officer (DPO). It is a requirement of GDPR that St. Anne’s appoint a DPO. Charlotte makes sure that the organisation protects data, reviews and amends any data protection issues. Charlotte liaises with the Information Commissioner about any serious data incidents.

[1] Named after Dame Fiona Caldicott