Governance

In terms of governance, we will have:
 * A project board to oversee     the overall project development and management
 * A virtual reference group to     advise and ensure the project is grounded

Project board


 * Made up of all core funded     partners (SCVO, Involve UK, WCVA, NIEL delivery teams), delivery partners      (Demsoc UK, NICVA, NIDOS) and also Big Lottery Fund.
 * The Board will be chaired by     SCVO's Deputy Chief Executive, and it will meet once a quarter via      videoconference and twice per year physically.
 * Secretariat functions,     hosting Board meetings, will all be covered by SCVO's overall programme      management.
 * The Board will be asked to     consider and approve governing precepts, such as dispute resolution, and      regularly review the development and issues arising from the risk      register.
 * Open Government Pioneers is     not an organisation per se and so will not have a constitution as such,      but will establish agreed principles for conduct and public, and internal,      behaviours and so on.
 * The Board Meetings would will     involve cross partner representation (this is for each partner to decide      whether their Project Manager also sits on the Board or another person      from their organisation. Individual governance may require that these      people are different).
 * The Board will also have some     Significant Others (one of whom will be Big Lottery Fund) – we will decide      together who these are in the Set Up phase. The Significant Others will be      involved consistently on the Board for the duration of the project, not in      an ad hoc way. We want them to know the programme, for them to be      thoughtful about it, for them to feel they have a vested interest in its      evolution and success.

Virtual reference group


 * This Group will be made up of     people who are involved or represented in the programme as supporters
 * We would like to have     national government partners represented through this group.
 * The project board will make     decisions about who else to invite on the group be during the Set Up      phase.
 * This Group may also include     evaluation experts, people with technical and digital skills and interest,      as well as people who work on the ground within project partner      organisations.
 * The function of the Reference     Group will be to inform and critique programme focus and progress; help      solve issue arising; have creative input into the programme so it really      is developed with the people who are on the ground delivering it and those      who stand to benefit from it.
 * The Reference Group will also     meet once a quarter, generally on the same day as the Board.
 * SCVO with partner input will     manage recruitment to the Group, agenda, the hosting of meetings and      secretariat functions arising.

Delivery group


 * The Programme Management     function of Open Government Pioneers sits in between the quarterly Board      and Reference Group on the one hand, and the day to day, month on month      overseeing of delivery on the other. It will link all aspects of the      overall programme together.
 * Programme Management Meetings     will be scheduled twice monthly, and will take place digitally (Skype) and      in person. This is what we call the Delivery Group (DG). The DG is made up      of all the partner Project Managers, and SCVO will lead on ‘chairing’ that      Group, but, we might also rotate the Chair too by agreement.
 * The overall Programme     Director, who is also Chair of the Board, will then be briefed on the      outcome of these meetings. A scheme of delegation will be agreed with the      Board, to guide where the Chair can resolve issues and opportunities      brought by the Delivery Group or where it is necessary to escalate it to a      decision by the full board. Actions can be taken accordingly in a timely      fashion.