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Women and girls at risk alliance Strategic plan and handover document [extract]

Jan King, Heather Petch and Mary Carter – The Pullens Group

Edited January 2015 from full version 26 August 2014

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Contents

Background to Alliance development ..................................................................................................... 2

Evidence and the Theory of Change ....................................................................................................... 3

The life-course approach and early intervention ................................................................................... 5

Positioning the Alliance........................................................................................................................... 6

Defining the Alliance ............................................................................................................................... 9

Alliance vision ..................................................................................................................................... 9

Alliance mission .................................................................................................................................. 9

Alliance values ................................................................................................................................... 10

Credibility - Our work is grounded in robust evidence, proven good practice and the lived experience

of women and girls at risk. Defining the Alliance. ................................................................................ 10

Alliance Activities .................................................................................................................................. 12

Interim Alliance activity .................................................................................................................... 12

Developing a Manifesto .................................................................................................................... 12

Developing and Building on the Evidence ........................................................................................ 15

How the Alliance will operate – structure and organisation ................................................................ 17

Membership ...................................................................................................................................... 17

Structure ........................................................................................................................................... 17

Governance ....................................................................................................................................... 20

Additional documents:

Women, Girls and Criminal Justice – Next Steps (the theory of change document)

TSG minutes

Stakeholder event report

Women and girls at risk: Evidence across the life-course (the evidence review document)

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This document is an edited version of the strategic plan and associated papers which were developed

through consultancies carried out in conjunction with the Transitional Steering Group between

January and July 2014. It is designed to provide a sense of the journey taken throughout the

development and to identify work still in progress or to be taken up by the permanent chair, steering

group and Director from August 2014 onwards. [Potential applications should note that ‘associated

papers’ will be made available to shortlisted candidates but are not part of this document aimed

people considering initial applications]

Background to Alliance development The Alliance isn’t starting from scratch. It builds on work initially confined to the criminal justice

sector that sought to deflect vulnerable women from courts and prisons. In 2008 a group of trustees

and officers from 23 grant-making trusts and foundations sent an open letter to Jack Straw, then

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, to urge progress towards the recommendations of

Baroness Jean Corston’s 2007 Home Office-commissioned review of vulnerable women in the

criminal justice system. The signees subsequently formed the Corston Independent Funders

Coalition (CIFC) which continues to apply pressure for reform and has been a major driver of the

development of the Alliance.

Ten years after the Corston Initiative shone a sharp light on women in the criminal justice system,

the picture is more widely recognised but substantially unchanged. A strong motivation for many of

those involved in the Alliance has been the need for a new collective response to the

disappointments of intervening years as encouraging signs became a marginalised political agenda.

Whilst there is reasonable Westminster interest through All Party Parliamentary Groups, other

groups and committees, etc., there has been a sharp reduction in Departmental leads and

opportunities to effect change at a national policy level. The localism agenda creates further

challenges for the Alliance’s work and the need to ensure local policy makers and commissioners

understand the role that they play.

In early 2013, Clinks and the CIFC commissioned a qualitative study carried out by Liz Cadogan to

consult with the voluntary and community sector around next steps in progressing the agenda for

women and girls in the criminal justice system and those at risk of entering it.

The learning from that work included the importance of taking a gendered approach which

recognises why and how women’s experiences are different and acts on this knowledge. It

recognised the interconnectedness between the world of criminal justice and other risky

environments such as homelessness and street prostitution, layered with other issues such as drug,

alcohol or mental health problems, and the need to garner wide experience to bring about change

across existing silos. It also recognised the relevance of taking a life approach – viewing problems in

relation to events or experiences earlier in a person’s life that have shaped situations or choices later

on and which, in turn, shape the lives of future generations.

The report was completed in July 2013 and argued for a reframing of the thinking around criminal

justice risk:

“Rather than starting from the point of women and girls being at risk of entering the criminal

justice system we need to recognise that risk includes a range of negative outcomes, of which

entry into the criminal justice system is just one. Such an approach would start from

considering the whole woman/girl, her needs and lived experience, and represent a shift

away from understanding her through the lens of an individual service. This re-framed and

broadened analysis would bring existing partners to the table, draw in new ones who bring

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fresh and different perspectives, and create a new context that enables people to relate in

different ways from what they are used to.”

Clinks and CIFC subsequently drew up a paper setting out a possible way forward for developing a

programme of work to fulfil that ambition and achieve sustained and systemic change. A Theory of

Change was presented to a wider group of interested individuals/organisations from sectors beyond

criminal justice in September 2013 and a further meeting in November established a working group

(known as the Transitional Steering Group – TSG) to develop a women and girls at risk alliance. The

TSG committed to remaining involved until September 2014 by which time a more permanent

structure was expected to be in place.

By December 2013 the TSG had commissioned two pieces of work: from the Pullens Group team to

develop the structure and direction of its work programme; and from DMSS to carry out an evidence

review to bring together the existing body of evidence and better define the issues to address. Both

commissions started work in January 2014 with the evidence review being completed in June and

development continuing until August. A communications specialist, Amy Meadows, was

commissioned to develop messages, branding, etc. in June/July 2014.

The TSG met regularly (five times) throughout the development phase and in May 2014 a wider

event was held to discuss the direction of travel with external stakeholders.

Evidence and the Theory of Change The ‘theory of change’ which was developed in the autumn of 2013 sought to construct a unifying

hypothesis around causality and trajectory of risk which was grounded in ‘unaddressed trauma’:

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In making the case for effective, holistic services which respond sensitively and appropriately, the

theory recognised that change should occur in both commissioning and delivery of services and for it

to happen…:

Policy makers, commissioners and frontline workers need to be motivated to want to change.

They need to know what ‘good’ looks like in terms of service responses.

They need help to understand how to move towards a better system or service from the status quo.

The hypothesis was the starting point for discussions around Alliance development and the evidence

review which have resulted in some important shifts in formulation that reflect deeper layers of

causation. The evidence review suggests a model to inform the Alliance based on three interrelated

sets of factors:

social inequalities (including gender inequalities) that underlie the negative outcomes for

women;

the experience of violence and abuse both as girls and as adult women and its influence on

their lives;

gendered expectations prevalent in society which shape the ways women and girls respond

and cope with life experiences and the responses of others, including services.

Social inequalities

Abuse & violence

Gender expectations

Socialisation normalises

gender inequality and

some forms of violence

and abuse and gender

expectations shape

responses in ways

which increase the risk

of negative outcomes

Gender interacts with

other inequalities (race,

class, poverty) to increase

risk of negative outcomes

Women and girls are

more likely to

experience violence

and abuse which

increases the risk of

negative outcomes

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A central issue throughout all discussions has been the language that should be adopted to describe

the experiences/trajectories of women and girls and the importance of developing a lexicon that

avoids both the ‘othering’ of those with personal experience; and the specialist language of siloed

policy areas. To give two fundamental examples: the use of the word ‘risk’ has to some extent

become more associated with the criminal justice sector and is understood differently in other

sectors; and the Alliance’s working description of ‘women and girls with lived experience’ can be

accused of being too narrow a definition of any complex individual.

The life-course approach and early intervention The evidence review explores gender experience and the evidence for intervention at pre-birth and

early years, primary years, teenage years and into adulthood and show the benefits of early

intervention at each stage of development.

The concept of early intervention also provides a framework to tackle paths of accumulating risks

which emphasise prevention and early help to avoid escalation or re-escalation; and the importance

of supporting resilience and changing attitudes. It raises the importance of determining the right

interventions at the right times, as well as breaking damaging repeat cycles and ensuring that

negative patterns remain broken.

The life-course early intervention lens also helps to scope the systemic changes required to improve

outcomes for women and girls. These are to:

• change the approach to delivering support and interventions along the path of increasing

risk factors (early life intervention - pre-natal onwards and holistic; and early issue

intervention)

• prevent escalation to higher-risk situations – in gangs, in the criminal justice system, being

homeless, with addiction problems and/or with mental health deterioration (diversion

through a life-course approach)

• change the approach to delivering support and interventions in escalated risk situations

(tackling causes as well as symptoms)

• prevent future re-accumulation of risks (building resilience)

• change the personal calculus of those involved in the path to high risk situations (changing

the actions and decision-making processes of individuals, not only women and girls)

• To change public attitudes (increase understanding and create a climate for change)

To deliver that change requires actions to:

address structural inequalities

achieve wide buy-in to new ways of working

gain access to those with policy power and commissioning control to influence systems

change

disseminate knowledge and information to influence thinking.

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Positioning the Alliance The ambition for, and of, the Alliance has been a strong thread throughout development and much

thought has been given as to how it should position itself, how it chooses its activities and how it

ensures (and measures) success. Some visuals have been developed to explore the terrain. The first

provides a sense of the Alliance’s aim to be grounded in evidence in all its activities.

The second, overleaf, shows the extensive reach required across the policy, provider and

commissioner world which are replicated across the silos of a large number of delivery sectors. This

is the terrain that a skeleton-run alliance has to reach to bring about the change envisioned by its

ambition.

Whilst the extent of influence required for change is extensive, the Alliance aims to use its networks

and influence to support others in their work, including identifying specific demonstration projects

that can show evidence for different approaches. There are many and growing examples of

successful new directions and an appetite for change. The Alliance will seek to give shape to these

efforts and provide a space to share evidence and thinking to influence policymakers, practitioners

and public consciousness. The Alliance influence map is also overleaf.

The Alliance is highly aware that cross-cutting, systems change work requires a sharp focus and the

need to maintain long sight in the middle of a multiplicity of busy and charged environments. In

aiming to add value to what’s there and only fill gaps if they’re of wide benefit, there are a few

guiding principles to define an Alliance stance. These are:

working with others and avoiding duplication

creating and supporting networks

being based in evidence

joining the dots and adding glue

filling gaps and adding value for widest benefit

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Defining the Alliance The Alliance wants to see systemic changes in the approach to supporting women and girls to tackle

the problems and any disadvantages they face. It is grounded in the belief that women and girls

suffer from structural inequalities and specifically, that too many experience an escalation of

problems and end up in highly risky situations because a specific gender dimension has not been

taken into account.

The Alliance seeks to use its networks and influence to support others in their work, including

identifying specific projects that can demonstrate change or bolster the case for change. It is not an

organisation as such, but a looser set of relationships held together by a common ideal and a clear

set of principles to ensure that anyone interested in seeing the same change can gain access to

evidence, knowledge and networks to guide their own work or influence others in their working

sphere.

The Alliance has already gained much interest and engagement from individuals and organisations

from across sectors including mental health, criminal justice, substance misuse and homelessness.

Women experts by experience have also started to engage with the agenda through the wider

Alliance event held in May 2014.

Alliance vision

Our vision is for a world in which women are empowered to achieve equality and reach their full

potential.

As a crucial step towards that vision, we believe that systems and services should be radically re-

designed around the needs of women and girls, especially those who face the most extreme

inequality, violence, abuse and trauma.

Alliance mission

We are a cross-sector alliance of organisations and individuals, working together to develop a new

agenda and a new blueprint for systems and services for women and girls at risk.

We believe that current systems and services are failing to protect, support and divert some women

and girls from repeated experiences of inequality, violence, abuse and trauma, with the result that

they can confront lifelong, severe and multiple disadvantage.

Together, we are working to reframe debate, and to provide the evidence base and working models

to inspire a fundamental shift in perspective, and radical new approaches.

We are calling for policy makers, commissioners and service providers to:

recognise the prevalence and impact of unresolved early neglect, abuse and trauma in women’s lives;

understand the impact of structural inequalities on woman and girls;

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acknowledge that systems and services which do not take account of trauma, or of gendered violence and inequality, can contribute to ongoing harm;

identify and implement approaches and models which are:

o rooted in the lived experience of women and girls at risk, including their experience as women, and as survivors of abuse and violence;

o integrated, so that 'silos' between different services are broken down, and women and girls can access a range of services in ways that best meet their needs

o focused on early intervention, prevention and recovery, and on mutual support, so that women and girls can strengthen their own capacity to move forward, rebuild their lives, achieve their potential and contribute to their communities.

Our aim is for all women and girls at risk to have access to systems and services which recognise and

respond to their experience: as women, as survivors, and as powerful agents of change in their own

lives and in the wider world.

We invite you to join us.

Alliance values Justice - We are determined and steadfast in upholding the rights of women and girls at risk, and in

working to redress the structural inequalities and systemic failures which disproportionately affect

them.

Courage - We are passionate and radical in speaking out and taking action for and with women and

girls at risk. We challenge current thinking and practice, and we open the door to new solutions and

approaches.

Vision - We work with imagination, insight and foresight to reframe the debate around the issues

facing women and girls at risk, to provide powerful platforms for their views and voices, and to

inform and motivate change.

Connection - We listen intently, and we draw strength from diversity and different perspectives as

we seek to develop shared understanding and concerted action. We initiate fruitful new ways of

talking, thinking and working across divides and boundaries.

Credibility - Our work is grounded in robust evidence, proven good

practice and the lived experience of women and girls at risk.

Defining the Alliance.

Measures of Success

The ambition to change hearts, minds and wallets is not underestimated by the Alliance and the

achievement of better outcomes for women and girls to the degree envisaged is not expected to

become a reality for at least 10 years.

Achieving the ambition in practice means developing long and far-reaching tendrils that work across

and between the many constituencies that contribute to fundamental systems change through

influencing the strategic agendas of:

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Research

Funding and commissioning

Policy – national, local and organisational

Practice

It is the job of the Alliance to ensure that the long-term outcome of delivering systems change

remains in sharp focus throughout.

The following measures of success build on the earlier work carried out by Liz Cadogan and Clinks

and since added to by DMSS’s work and the input of the TSG.

Evidence base:

1. There is good evidence to support the value/effectiveness of women- and girl-centred services.

2. Data (including from research and evaluation) and expenditure are routinely disaggregated by

gender and ethnicity

Government and policy makers:

3. All government departments and agencies are gender-responsive and life-course-informed and

apply this to policy and practice.

4. There is buy-in, supported by an interdepartmental strategy that covers women and girls, to

bring about systems change.

5. Women and girls routinely work alongside policy-makers, strategic planners, commissioners and

service providers to inform policy, service design and delivery.

Systems and services as a whole:

6. Number of organisations pledging to be part of the Alliance increasing. These organisations

committed to a gendered, life-course approach and achieving systems change.

7. Numbers of women and girls in the criminal justice system, homeless, in street sex work, in

violent relationships is reduced.

8. An early intervention and prevention outlook and approach are embedded across services so

that root causes are addressed and further harm avoided.

Media and public audiences:

9. There is an increase in positive, more understanding media activity about the complex

experiences of women and girls at risk.

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Alliance Activities The key focus of the next year’s activity is putting the structures and people in place and developing

a Manifesto for the Alliance which will set out the longer term work programme. Longer term

milestones will need to be developed by the Director and steering group. We have learnt from

talking to other Alliances that to some extent development will happen organically and will be

contingent on a range of other mainly external factors, although of critical importance will be the

proposed Manifesto. The Alliance needs to be geared up to respond to opportunities that present

themselves whilst keeping on course. However the Alliance’s life will include the following:

Set up phase (year one)

Campaigning (from year 1)

Activities (year 2 onwards)

Evaluation/review of impact (year 1 onwards)

Some suggested activities and milestones to support achieving these are set out in Appendix two.

They include positioning the Manifesto and launch around the election; the development of a

lexicon; and the integration of women and girls within all structures from the outset.

Interim Alliance activity Although it has been agreed that work will not be taken forward until the Director is in post and the

manifesto agreed, the Alliance can create momentum in the interim by backing a range of work

already taking place.

Some of the projects that may be appropriate and productive to engage with include:

Following up some of the gaps identified from the evidence and literature review.

A social return on investment review of Women’s Centres possibly in collaboration with the

Robertson Trust.

Influencing the NHS England work being carried out on Wellbeing.

Influencing implementation of the Transforming Rehabilitation probation and rehabilitation

agenda prior to implementation in July 2015.

Connect with established initiatives - Troubled Families; girls in gangs, violence against

women and girls – to share the Alliance perspective and add to the weight of evidence.

Lend weight to other initiatives such as: WISH women’s mental health campaign; St Mungos

Rebuilding Shattered Lives; Centre for Crime and Justice Studies with Women in Prison

‘Justice Matters for Women initiative’ and call to action: Empower women, resist injustice

and transform lives.

Developing a Manifesto So far the Alliance has not undertaken an in-depth mapping exercise across all the sectors this work

affects as it cuts across many different sectors and players as shown in the earlier sections. Some

possible examples of activities stemming from the reach and influence model that might lend

themselves to Alliance input are suggested in the diagram overleaf:

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The art of engagement – thoughts from the stakeholder workshop

Who

1. Start with the ‘already converted’ or potential advocates (and how to find them). They then go on to influence policy and practice.

2. Prioritise umbrella groups (potentially by issue) eg those on the All Party Parliamentary violence against women group’s mailing list; women’s health and

equality consortium.

3. Identify and focus on decision-makers and agenda setters e.g. service commissioners, Police and Crime Commissioners, Public health – Association of

Directors of public health. (Revolving Doors have contacts for these). There will be equivalent leads within each thematic strand of the work.

4. Gender agenda-led organisations e.g. Fawcett Society – so that the programme is also influenced by expertise and experience. Network of experts.

5. Organisations which involve women in empowering way, user-led groups, involvement based on experience.

6. The ‘unusual suspects’ in terms of who to engage in the alliance: fresh people = fresh profile and thinking.

7. Balance membership – not just ‘justice’/CJS.

How

1. Excellent scoping in order to avoid duplication.

2. Create best-practice evidence base (including from funders, peer research and European and international lessons): outcomes, impact, what works?

3. People – members/network – good practice flying flag. Members to sign up to manifesto/pledge.

4. Evolve to engage and influence. Be mindful of priorities of statutory agencies.

5. Peer to peer influencers/champions – who are the credible voices who will persuade their peers to change? We need to work with them.

Approach

1. The art of keeping people engaged – could be light-touch, but about ‘getting something back,’ feeling good about being part of something which is

making a difference in difficult terrain.

2. National alliance local /regional hubs, physical/virtual

3. Capacity build with organisation representing most marginalised groups.

4. Be aware of funding flow, especially local commissioning (and who – e.g. large national organisations who have capacity to get funding/contracts)

5. Diversity/culture – other ‘protected characteristics’, within broader equalities strands and how these themselves are gendered/dealt with for women.

6. Important that national means national – ‘associates’ model across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

7. Networking across other alliances and broader groups is crucial.

8. Clear messages and women only spaces – ie don’t lose the gender focus.

9. Making women’s representation/voice really work.

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Engaging with individuals and organisations has started and needs to be built on to enable further

understanding of the landscape and how the Alliance can influence it. One of the workshops at the

stakeholders event outlined how this should be achieved by the Alliance. The notes from the session

are included on the previous page.

The development of the Manifesto will be an early priority for the Director and a means to both

identify specific activities and broaden the base of Alliance relationships. The manifesto should also

provide the opportunity to redraft the Theory of Change.

Developing and Building on the Evidence The evidence and literature review identified that the Alliance should consider the role it plays in

developing or contributing to evidence in this area by:

Creating a demand for gender differences to be more routinely analysed and reported in

research findings;

Influencing the agenda of research funders to give a higher priority to studies which explore

issues of gender and risk;

Advocating for replication of evaluations which have already been robustly evaluated

(largely in the US) to assess the extent to which they are a) transferable to the UK context

and b) have a positive impact on girls and women;

Using the Alliance as a vehicle for developing common outcome frameworks across services

for girls and women at risk to enable more substantial evaluation to be implemented;

Developing wider use of feminist approaches to evaluation which measures what matters to

women and girls and enables greater reflection of the realities of women’s lives

The implications for activities arising from the evidence review for the Alliance to further

consider include how to:

Influence the gender awareness of providers of services for children in the early and primary

years.

Make explicit connections between policies and services for at risk women and those

concerned primarily with children. The Alliance could play an important role in reaching

across the adult/children service divide including through its own membership and

networks.

Advocate for early interventions that are shown to have longer- term benefits for women

and for more robust evaluation/explanation of these gender effects.

Encourage cross-sectoral working and research in relation to services for women at risk.

Promote the need for staff in services to have training (including pre-registration and

induction training) that gives them insight into the impacts of inequalities, violence and

abuse on women’s lives and enables them to work with women at risk in ways that are

helpful and empowering.

Support, evaluate and showcase integrated, holistic women-centred services for women at

risk.

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LankellyChase have already begun commissioning a piece of work developing evidence:

LankellyChase is commissioning first stage research to conceptualise what

‘severe and multiple disadvantage’ looks like for women and girls in the UK and

to assess the feasibility of developing a statistical profile. This may lead to a

larger exercise to create an authoritative national profile of women and girls

facing severe and multiple disadvantage.

Heriot Watt University’s Institute for Housing, Urban and Real Estate Research

will soon publish the first statistical profile of severe and multiple disadvantage

in the UK on behalf of LankellyChase. This research, which brought together data

on homelessness, drug misuse and offending, has provided a picture that is

disproportionately ‘male’. We would like to explore the possibility that, for

various reasons associated with gendered inequality, life histories and the

operation of services and systems, women and girls may in general be subject to

a differently structured experience of disadvantage.

It is intended that this conceptualization of severe and multiple disadvantage

specifically in relation to women and girls will support the development of work

within the developing Alliance to reshape systems and services for women and

girls at risk. Specifically, this research should support the Alliance in taking

forward wider recommendations for policy makers and practitioners on ways to

ensure that evidence captures women and girls more accurately and intelligently

(for example improving the recording and analysis of gender by services or

ensuring recording the impact of violence and abuse in existing data gathering

by other services, such as mental health and substance misuse).

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How the Alliance will operate – structure and organisation

Membership The Alliance is not an organisation - and has no ambition to be one - but is a looser set of

relationships held together by a common ideal and a clear set of principles to ensure that anyone

interested in seeing the same change can gain access to evidence, knowledge and networks to guide

their own work or influence others in their working sphere. So far no organisation or individual is

formally signed up to the Alliance as it is intended that this happens at the point of the development

of the Manifesto.

The diagram overleaf shows the constituencies expected to form the wider membership.

Structure Also overleaf is a diagram of the Alliance’s structure and connections.

The Alliance itself will not be legally constituted but will operate within a host organisation with:

An independent chair and small steering group meeting regularly to:

o maintain focus and momentum

o develop and sustain the right relationship

o deliver specific activities.

Sub groups taking forward particular pieces of work, made up of wider Alliance members

and feeding into the work of the steering group

A funders’ group – part of the legacy of the Corston Initiative – sitting alongside the

structure.

A director will be appointed but is unlikely to be in post until early 2015.

Interactions

Central to the model is an ongoing relationship with women and girls to ensure that the Alliance is

grounded in reality and that women and girls themselves are supported to have a say in the

decisions that affect their lives. Participation is anticipated across Alliance structures (steering group,

sub groups, etc.) and processes and support mechanisms will be put in place drawing on the

experiences of Alliance members.

The wider membership should have a number of routes into the Alliance core:

At least once a year the wider membership will meet to talk, share and plan. The annual

meeting provides an agenda-setting opportunity so that members can review the work,

shape the future agenda and prioritise activities;

Sub groups that involve the wider membership will be convened to pursue specific activities

or pieces of work (shaped through annual meetings);

Website development should facilitate member feedback and interaction; and social media

will be maximised.

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ALLIANCE MEMBERSHIP BY TYPE

Continued academic

input into alliance

knowledge base. Feeding

back/working with to fill

research gaps

Knowledge and experience

feeding in. Working with

sector to develop

demonstration projects

and deliver change

Alliances, think tanks,

umbrella organisations,

funders. Feeds into the

alliance and informed by the

alliance

Lived experience

organisations and user

groups. Feed into alliance

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Proposed Alliance Structure

Chair

Funders

Steering Group

Women

and girls’

group Secretariat includes

Director

Host

organisation

Alliance Members

Evidence

creation

Working

groups Accountability

strategy

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Governance Alliance Legal Structure

The Alliance is not being set up as a separate organisation so will not have a formal constitution and

will not be incorporated as a company, charity or other recognised body. A host is being sought that

will act as the formal legal body for the alliance, hold funds, employ and support staff and the

steering group and, make the necessary returns and itself operate to good standards of governance.

The Alliance wishes to ensure that high standards of governance are applied so aims to work in

accordance with the Code of Governance produced by the Good Governance Hub. This sets out the

following principles for an effective board:

understanding their role,

ensuring delivery of organisational purpose

working effectively as individuals and as a team

exercising effective control

behaving with integrity

being open and accountable

The Alliance Steering Group will need to work out and agree and regularly review with the host

organisation how it fulfils its governance role within the context of functioning as an unconstituted

body within the accountability and governance structure of a constituted organisation.

Alliance Steering Group

The Alliance steering group will be the key governance body for the Alliance and hold a key position

in ensuring that the work of the alliance is undertaken efficiently, effectively and to high standards

even though it will not have legal responsibilities and individual members are not trustees. The

Director and any other staff will carry out the bulk of the work required, but the steering group will

need to be fully engaged to ensure momentum. Members of the steering group will be seen to

embody the Alliance and so should act in ways that positively promote it and its work. They will

need to be mindful also to safeguard the reputation of the host organisation.

The responsibilities of the steering group are as follows:

Understanding their role:

Set, promote and develop the vision, values and reputation of the Alliance.

Set and oversee implementation of the strategy, plans and budget of the Alliance.

Ensure that any staff are managed and supported within the context of being a hosted

organisation. N.B. Initially there will be a Director and agreement will be reached prior to

their appointment about their management arrangements to be shared between the Chair

and host organisation.

Ensuring delivery of organisational purpose

Ensuring the Alliance’s purpose remain relevant and valid.

Developing and agreeing a long term strategy.

Agreeing operational plans and budgets.

Agreeing a fundraising strategy and engaging in fundraising as appropriate.

Monitoring progress and spending against plan and budget.

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Evaluating results, assessing outcomes and impact.

Reviewing and/or amending the plan and budget as appropriate.

Working effectively as an individual and as a team.

The steering group will take collective responsibility, act in the best interests of the Alliance and

promote key messages. Whilst not intended to be onerous they with the staff and host organisation

will develop sufficient policies, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to enable individuals and the

steering group to work effectively. This will include:

Committing time to attending meetings, preparing and following up.

Finding and recruiting new steering group members to meet the changing needs of the

Alliance.

Providing an induction for new members and appropriate training and development for all

steering group members.

Reviewing individual and collective performance annually.

Exercising Effective Control

The steering group will ensure that the Alliance understands and complies with all legal and

regulatory requirements that apply to it within the context of being hosted by a formally

constituted organisation.

That the relationship with the host organisation works effectively and that their

requirements are met.

That there are good internal financial and management controls.

That there is a regular review of the risks that the Alliance is exposed to and there are

systems to deal with these.

Delegation to working groups, committees and staff works effectively and any delegated

authority is properly supervised.

Periodic review of Alliance’s structure to ensure that it is best placed to meet the Alliance’s

ends.

Behave with integrity

Safeguard and promote the Alliance’s reputation.

Act according to high ethical standards.

Identify, understand and manage conflicts of interest and loyalty.

Maintain independence of decision making.

Be open and accountable

Having open communications, informing widely about the Alliance and its work.

Carrying out appropriate consultation on significant changes to the Alliance’s work or

policies.

Listening and responding to the views of supporters, funders, and others with an interest in

the Alliance’s work.

Handling complaints constructively, impartially and effectively.

Considering the Alliance’s responsibility to wider society including its environmental impact.

Person Specification for the Steering Group

Steering group members will be:

Committed to the vision and values of the Alliance.

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Able to bring experience and skills that are relevant to the work, including expertise by

experience.

Able to work as part of a dynamic team.

Able to represent the Alliance at events and at a range of levels including government and

senior policy makers across the UK.

Able to fulfil their governance role within the context of operating within a host

organisation.

Able to commit the time to attend up to six meetings and two full days each year. There are

likely to be other ad hoc meetings depending on progress and particular interests of each

steering group member.

Steering Group Composition

It is planned that the steering group be made up of 12-15 people although initially there may be a

smaller number. To ensure the success of the Alliance steering group members will be committed

and able to offer time, skills and energy in the crucial stage of getting the work established.

Members will not be representative of a sector, organisation, region or women but it is hoped that a

good spread of sectors, organisations and regions can be included through wide recruitment and

include women and girls who are experts by experience. It is expected that interested and relevant

organisations will give time to a staff member to take part in the Alliance’s work and that they would

both contribute learning and time as well as gaining from the engagement. The Steering Group will

have to consider how to manage the benefits of having organisational involvement with any conflicts

of interest this might present.

Steering group members will be expected to commit for two years initially. Initial selection will be

made by a sub-group of the Transitional Steering Group and if the Chair if in place.

Steering Group Meetings

Meetings will take place at least bi-monthly and there will be two full day meetings each year.

Expenses will be covered. Most meetings will be in London but some may take place in other places

in the UK.

The Alliance Chair

The Alliance Chair as well as chairing the steering group will offer additional time and approaches to

making the Alliance a success. The first Chair is seen as being central in enabling the Alliance to get

well established and have an early impact. In particular they will:

Give strategic direction to the Director

Take a role in recruiting the Director and any other staff

Ensure that the steering group is well led

In conjunction with the Director act as a spokesperson for the Alliance

To create networks for the Alliance

To support funding approaches to gain additional funds.

To ensure that the constituents of the Alliance are adequately supported

Person Specification for Alliance Chair

The Chair will be/have:

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Committed to the vision and values of the Alliance.

Able to bring experience and skills that are relevant to the work.

Able to work as part of a dynamic team.

Able to represent the Alliance at events and at a range of levels including government and

senior policy makers across the UK.

Able to fulfil their governance role within the context of operating within a host

organisation.

Able to commit the time to attend up to six meetings and two full days each year. There are

likely to be other ad hoc meetings depending on progress and particular interests of each

steering group member.

A reputation that can promote and lends gravitas to the Alliance.

An understanding of the processes and sensitivities required to develop a new alliance.

Networks that will be beneficial to the Alliance.

A leadership style that is in tune with the values of the Alliance.

Time commitment. We recognise that the time commitment for the Chair is likely to be quite

extensive initially although there will be support from other members of the steering group or the

Transitional steering group. Liz Hogarth as the chair of the TSG has offered to work alongside a new

chair to ensure they were well supported.

It is planned that there be a small honorarium made to the Chair to compensate for this

commitment.

Recruitment Process for Chair and Steering Group

It is recognised that ideal process would be to recruit the Chair who in turn works with current TSG

members to recruit steering group members and the Director. However this needs to be balanced

with keeping momentum. Liz Hogarth, the current chair of the TSG will be a key link between the

current TSG and the new arrangements but would like support from others.

Recruiting the Steering Group

The person specification will be circulated widely by the end of July along with other supporting

documents and applications requested for mid-September with selection taking place in late

Sept/early October.

People wishing to join the steering group will be asked to submit a statement of what they can offer

along with their CV. A small group of the current TSG led by the Chair and, if possible, the new Chair

will shortlist and meet with prospective members. It may be appropriate for the host organisation

to play a role in this selection. The Chair will need to manage any conflicts of interest. As timing is

likely to exclude the new Chair it is suggested that a smaller group of around 8 be selected initially to

enable the Chair and Director once appointed to contribute their thinking to the make-up of the

steering group.

Recruiting the Chair.

As with the steering group, the role description and job role will be circulated widely along with

supporting documentation before the end of July. Input from a recruitment agency, hopefully on a

pro bono basis, will be sought to broaden reach and target the sort of Chair that the Alliance needs.

Advice has been sought, including from Ruth Runcimann who has acted as Chair for a number of

high profile organisations and commissions, which has proposed there is value in a ‘surprise’ such as

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somebody in business or who has a high profile in another field. TSG members have been asked to

think about potential Chairs and how to approach them. Interested parties will be asked to submit a

statement of interest and a CV. It is likely that any selection meetings with potential Chairs will not

take place before October and may well take longer.

Transition from TSG to Steering Group. It is hoped that some TSG members put themselves forward

as members of the Steering Group or to be involved in Alliance working groups, which, along with

the TSG Chair’s involvement will ensure continuity and the retention of Alliance knowledge.

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