National Lottery Community Fund - Chair of the Board

Chair of the Board - National Lottery Community Fund

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is seeking to appoint an outstanding individual to be Chair of the National Lottery Community Fund. Applications are welcomed from underrepresented groups to ensure the National Lottery Community Fund reflects the diverse society it serves.

The Fund is currently supporting communities across the UK to adjust to and recover from the coronavirus crisis. It is also a time when the Fund has gone through a period of investment and development, making it well placed to deliver our ambitious plans to achieve the Fund’s purpose: supporting people and communities thrive. The Fund has many of the building blocks in place to add even greater value to civil society and public life. Our contribution is as varied as it is vital.

The National Lottery Community Fund’s core purpose is to support people and communities thrive. This is delivered through its Strategic Framework, People in the Lead.

The Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK. Every year we distribute £600m of funding raised by players of The National Lottery.

Through our funding and catalytic role we develop deeper and broader relationships at both local and national level; sharing insights and telling the story of our impact, and we continue to champion and support the extraordinary work of communities throughout the UK.

The organisation

The National Lottery Community Fund is established as a non-departmental public body by an Act of Parliament. The Board is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the Fund, as set out in its Strategic Framework, People in the Lead and for the Fund’s governance.

Funding decisions are delegated to five portfolio committees (UK, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and to Executive Officers, with the Board retaining strategic oversight for delivery of the Fund’s strategic framework: People in the Lead, and governance responsibility.

Policy responsibility for The National Lottery Community Fund, including setting policy directions, rests with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and devolved administrations in the nations.

Further information about the Fund’s programmes and its Strategic Framework People in the Lead can be found on our website.

The Role

• Provide leadership to the Board and wider non-executive group across the UK, ensuring that its funding has the greatest possible impact
• Ensure that Board members fulfil their duties and responsibilities for the effective governance of The National Lottery Community Fund
• Shape and sustain a group of diverse and high-quality Board members whose skills and experience are appropriately deployed
• Is involved in the appointment of Board members and review their performance
• Lead the appointment and appraisal of the Chief Executive and provide support, advice, and challenge to her/him
• Hold the Chief Executive to account for the overall performance of the Fund
• Drive effective relationships with senior stakeholders from for example Government, Parliament, devolved administrations, civil society, and the media and opinion formers
• Act as an ambassador for The National Lottery Community Fund

Person Specification

Essential

• An appropriate understanding of the charity and community sectors
• A strong track record of strategic leadership in civil society, public service, or business
• Board level experience and a strong understanding of corporate governance
• A demonstrable commitment to diversity and inclusion

Desirable

• Previous experience of grant funding
• Familiarity with operating at the scale of The National Lottery Community Fund
• Experience of building and leading diverse and inclusive organisations
• A commitment to the principles of public sector propriety, regularity and accountability with regards to NDPBs

Additional Information

Length of Appointment

The appointment is for up to 4 years.  Re-appointment for a second term may be made, at the discretion of the Secretary of State for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Start Date

It is expected that the new Chair will take up the appointment in Autumn 2020.

Type of Appointment

The Secretary of State for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has formal responsibility for the appointment of the members of the Board.

In line with the ‘The Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies’ the Secretary of State for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will be kept informed of the progress of the public appointments process and will be responsible for the public appointment as the appointing authority.

How to Apply

To apply, please send the following four documents:

• a CV of not more than two sides of A4;
• a supporting statement of not more than three sides of A4, providing examples and setting out how you meet the criteria;
• the Monitoring Form concerning your personal information and political activity, and the Declaration of Interests Form.

Completed applications should be emailed to [email protected]. Please put ‘National Lottery Community Fund – Chair’ as the subject line of your email.

If you have any questions regarding your application please contact the Campaign Manager, James Emberley, via email at [email protected]. Each application will be assessed against the requirements set out above by the advisory assessment panel.

Disability Confident 

We guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role. By ‘minimum criteria,’ we mean that you must provide evidence in your application, which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria.

If you want to apply under this scheme, simply state this in the covering email or letter when submitting your application.

Reasonable Adjustments

If you would like a confidential discussion regarding any reasonable adjustments during the process, please also indicate this in the covering email or letter.

About DCMS

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) helps to drive growth, enrich lives, and promote Britain abroad.

We protect and promote our cultural and artistic heritage and help businesses and communities to grow by investing in innovation and highlighting Britain as a fantastic place to visit. We help to give the UK a unique advantage on the global stage, striving for economic success. DCMS is a ministerial department, supported by 45 agencies and public bodies.

If you are not completely satisfied

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy. If you have any complaints about the way your application has been handled, please contact [email protected].

Regulated by OCPA

This process is regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ (OCPA‘s) Code of Practice. All applicants are expected to have adhered to the Seven Principles of Public Life.

Eligibility Criteria

You cannot be considered for a public appointment if:

• you become bankrupt or make an arrangement with a creditor
• your estate has been sequestrated in Scotland or you enter into a debt arrangement programme under Part 1 of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 17) as the debtor or have, under Scots law, granted a trust deed for creditors;
• you are disqualified from acting as a company director under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986;
• you have been convicted of a criminal offence, the conviction not being spent for the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (c. 53);
• you become subject to a debt relief order or a bankruptcy restrictions order;
• you fail to declare any conflict of interest.

Conflicts of Interest and Due Diligence 

If you have any interests that might be relevant to the work of the National Lottery Community Fund, and which could lead to a real or perceived conflict of interest if you were to be appointed, please provide details in your application. If you have queries about this and would like to discuss further please contact the Public Appointments Team.

Given the nature of public appointments, it is important that those appointed as members of public bodies maintain the confidence of Parliament and the public. If there are any issues in your personal or professional history that could, if you were appointed, be misconstrued, cause embarrassment, or cause public confidence in the appointment to be jeopardised, it is important that you bring them to the attention of the Advisory Assessment Panel and provide details of the issue(s) in your application. In considering whether you wish to declare any issues, you should also reflect on any public statements you have made, including through social media.

As part of our due diligence checks we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This will include us undertaking searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. This information may be made available to the Advisory Assessment Panel and they may wish to explore issues with you should you be invited to interview. The information may also be shared with ministers and the Cabinet Office.

Attachments
	National Lottery Community Fund - Chair - Annex A and B
	Code-of-Conduct-for-Board-Members-of-Public-Bodies
	Declaration-of-Conflicts-of-Interest-Form (2)
	Diversity-Monitoring-Form
	OCPA-Complaints-Procedure-1
	Public-Appointments-Privacy-Notice-2020 (2)
	NLCF - Chair Role Specification