Matters reserved for the board

Guidance for trustees on those issues that must be dealt with on charity boards, rather than delegated to staff, was produced recently by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
The guidance says that no matter how effective a board of trustees may be it is not always possible, nor desirable, for trustees to have ‘hands-on’ involvement in every area of the charity’s activities. An effective board controls the charity but delegates day-to-day responsibility to senior staff, except for those matters that are the sole preserve of the board of trustees. It is therefore incumbent on the board of trustees to make it clear what those ‘matters reserved for the board’ are.
The guidance note is written for charities with established boards of trustees which employ a senior management team and delegate significant, specific functions. It draws upon a number of documents and legislation in order to develop a specimen list of matters reserved for the board in respect of those decisions that cannot be delegated. 
The ICSA guidance note (no.080307) can be downloaded from the link below.