Today’s governance structure
Governance enables our Council, Board of Trustees and Senior Management Team to run RCOT legally, ethically, sustainably, and successfully, for the benefit of our members, staff, stakeholders, and for the good of wider society.
Governance is a framework for managing organisations. It guides operations and administration, ethics, risk management and compliance with relevant legislation and regulation.
It covers:
-
how an organisation is run and makes decisions
-
how the organisation is legally structured
-
how the leaders are held to account for decisions and outcome
-
the systems, processes, policies, controls and authorities.
It says:
-
who can make decisions
-
who has the authority to act on behalf of the organisation
-
who is accountable for how an organisation and its people behave and perform.
Our governance structure today
Our governance is more complex than some because we are in fact two separate but related organisations: British Association of Occupational Therapists (BAOT) and Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT).
BAOT is the parent company and trade union. It owns RCOT which is a charity. As a trade union and charity, there are different regulations and rules that each organisation must follow.
The difference between BAOT and RCOT
- BAOT is a company and a trade union and RCOT is a company and a charity.
- BAOT is governed by company directors and RCOT is governed by trustees (who are also company directors).
- BAOT owns RCOT.
- BAOT’s company members are the OT members, but RCOT only has one company member which is BAOT.
- BAOT outsources our trade union activity to UNISON, whereas RCOT is our brand and delivers most of our member services.
- BAOT doesn’t have any employees, RCOT has around 100 employees.
- BAOT is regulated primarily by company law and trade union law and RCOT is regulated primarily by charity law and company law.
Why are we set up like this?
In 1972 when BAOT became a trade union, it set up a subsidiary organisation to deliver its member services that were for public benefit, and therefore charitable. Many other professional membership bodies operating within the sector are also charities as there are a number of benefits to operating as a charitable organisation, however as a trade union we need to undertake our charitable activities via a subsidiary. Some of the benefits of setting it up like this are:
- Generally, charities don’t have to pay income/corporation tax, capital gains tax or stamp duty; and, in some circumstances, a charity can get special VAT treatment. This means more of our income can be directed towards the organisation’s core purpose.
- Charities are often able to raise funds from public, grant-making trusts more easily than non-charitable bodies.
- Charities can give their members or beneficiaries the assurance that they are regulated by the Charity Commission.