Terms &Conditions

The Good Governance Institute, and its associated trading organisations Good Governance Ltd and GGI Ltd, work to provide a quality service to all who engage us in their work. Our terms and conditions explain our expectations of clients and the terms under which we are engaged. We hope that these are a clear guide to our trading terms and conditions and that you will consider these fair and sensible.

On engagement, we will provide a brief written understanding of the assignment we have been engaged for and our role in this. If this is not correct you must in writing correct any misassumptions. For each work assignment you will be assigned a lead director to oversee that work. If there are any problems with the work this individual should be approached at the earliest possible stage. Should your issues not be resolved please then write to another Director with full details of your concerns.

Our staff work to high confidentiality standards and we will not release specific information about our clients except with their permission or if required to do so under the law. Our practice is to destroy all papers we hold after the conclusion of an assignment. Often we will have had access to internal business details of your organisation and will have been given copies of documents such as your risk register, board assurance framework, personal development plans, etc. Because these will be destroyed at the conclusion of each assignment we ask that any questions you have about an assignment with us is raised prior to the formal conclusion to the work. We ask that you keep all commercial information relating to GGI confidential and that you do not share details of our fee rates with others. We would however like to share summary details of our work with you with others and this would usually include naming your organisation. If you would prefer us not to do this we would ask that you let us know.

Our fee rate is usually expressed in terms of a day rate. Expenses are specified in addition. VAT at the current rate is added to all invoices.

We attempt to minimise the time costs associated with contract administration and invoice settlement. Chasing late payments and lack of clarity around invoicing arrangements can be frustrating and time consuming, and so we ask you to advise us in advance of any special requirements you have around this. If you operate a purchase order system it is your responsibility as client to arrange this and to ensure that this is with the Good Governance Institute, Good Governance Ltd or GGI Ltd at this stage. We will not accept the late issue of a purchase order as an excuse for the late payment of an invoice.  You should let us know in advance your arrangements for accepting invoices, and any special requirements such as the inclusion of a purchase order number or supplier identification code. We invoice on a monthly basis, and charge expenses at cost. Our terms of trading are for full settlement within 14 days.  Late payment of fees will incur an administrative fee of £50 per invoice plus £25 per week that settlement is late. If you require copies of receipts for out of pocket expenses you should specify this in advance. If you do not do this and later require copies of receipts there may be an administrative charge for this as we ourselves are charged for hunting out paperwork by our accountancy provider. We are sometimes unable to provide receipts for bus and underground travel in London as these are often paid by Oyster card. All our expense receipts are scrutinised by an independent accountancy services provider.

Should a client wish to terminate an agreement with the Good Governance Institute Good Governance Ltd and GGI Ltd then the full project fee concerned is immediately payable. The Good Governance Institute, Good Governance Ltd and GGI Ltd reserves the right to withdraw services at any time without explanation and fees and expenses due at that time become immediately payable to us.

The copyright to all materials produced from our assignments remains with GGI Ltd unless otherwise specified under particular written agreements with a client.

The limit of any liability for any work undertaken by the Good Governance Institute, Good Governance Ltd and GGI Ltd is limited to the agreed fee. Good Governance Ltd and GGI Ltd carry professional indemnity insurance.

We aim to keep all out of pocket expenses at a reasonable minimum cost. We calculate subsistence at a flat rate of £25.00 per day when assignments or meetings require us to be away from our home bases for more than five hours. For staff who are not resident in London overnight accommodation in London is charged at a rate of £130.00 London overnight allowance or at cost of accommodation, whichever is greater. We usually aim to use the Royal Society of Medicine at discounted Fellows' rates. 

The security and wellbeing of our staff and associates are paramount, as is the value for money we offer clients. We also support good environmental practice. We will always attempt to ensure our travel arrangements use public transport at the most favourable rates possible. In order that our staff may work during travel (and always have a seat) we leave the class of travel to the discretion of our staff. Where ever possible, we prebook tickets in advance to reduce the end costs of travel. For health and safety reasons, when our staff are either carrying heavy bags, during inclement weather, at night or where a journey is complex we would expect our staff to use a licensed taxi as an alternative to other forms of public transport.

Our policy for hotels is that they are in a safe area of town, provide adequate facilities (such as wi-fi and meals should there be a late arrival) and given the significant number nights travelled by staff that hotels are a reasonable quality and comfort. We also take into account whether there is the need for hotel facilities for private meetings should that be required. For this meeting the hotels we use may not have the cheapest night rates, but as a package overall provide the services, security and comfort we require for our staff to undertake high quality professional work. Our usual benchmark for hotel accommodation is a Malmaison hotel or similar.

If you require further details of our terms and conditions please contact andrew.corbett-nolan@good-governance.org.uk