Developmental governance review - Yorkshire County Cricket Club

The Good Governance Institute (GGI), working in partnership with Howard Kennedy LLP, has been commissioned to carry out a rapid, independent and professional governance review of Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) with recommendations for subsequent governance development. The governance review is also intended to engage with pressing concerns expressed by the ECB about the integrity and sustainability of governance at YCCC.

1. The review will consider the current context and challenges to YCCC.

2. The review will consider and independently evaluate YCCC’s governance against:

• established good governance practice

• the application of the principles for good governance

• relevant sector-specific Codes of Governance, specifically Sport England’s ‘A Code for Sports Governance’ and to include the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) governance framework

• outcome impact for good governance, summarised as:

• Ethical culture

• Adding value

• Robust control

• Legitimacy

3. The review will gather evidence and data through:

• examination of a suite of governance and management documents from YCCC as requested by GGI

• review of any relevant statutory records, such as regulation submissions, annual accounts etc

• interviews with current and selected prior YCCC directors, staff and other stakeholders including the ECB (both internal and external) as specified by GGI

• focus group sessions with selected stakeholders as specified by GGI

• in the absence of possible observations of any board or committee meetings during the review period, examination of taped recordings of board or committee meetings or contemporaneous notes, if these exist and are accessible

• scrutiny of related reviews or inquires relating to YCCC that help illustrate the effectiveness of YCCC’s governance, or which will provide insight into desirable future governance arrangements

• review of the relevant proceedings of Parliament’s DCMS Committee, and witness statements thereto

• mapping out other relevant organisations connected to YCCC that can impact the effective governance of YCCC

• mapping out any other organisations that might in any way influence or control YCCC

4. GGI and Howard Kennedy LLP will analyse and review this data, in order to:

• interpret the current governance arrangements

• critique the fitness for purpose of these, particularly taking into account the factors described in 1. and 2. above

• develop recommendations for the board of YCCC for change, development and improvement

5. The review will produce a first report as Phase I (‘The Governance Review’) for the YCCC board and ECB on 24th January 2022. This will include recommendations to the YCCC board for change and assurance against Tier 3 of Sport England’s ‘A Code for Sports Governance’

6. GGI will produce an improvement plan (‘The Governance Improvement Plan’), to accompany the review document, to describe an action plan for implementing those recommendations by the 2022 AGM.