UKFIET has long had a set of Operational Guidelines under which the organisation is governed and managed. The Board of Trustees and Executive Committee are constituted in accordance with these guidelines. In the last six years, advancing technology and regulatory changes have created a need for UKFIET to adopt, in addition, a set of new policies.
Since 2018, GDPR has required us to have a Privacy Policy, which appears at the bottom of the home page on our website. UK legislation also requires us to have a Data Protection Policy.
Although UKFIET does not have any directly-employed staff, the Trustees have felt the need for a Health and Safety policy to promote the health and well-being of all those working on behalf of the organisation. We also need to protect and safeguard from harm any vulnerable people who may be involved in our events. Therefore, we have recently adopted a Health, Safety and Safeguarding Policy, including a Code of Conduct for participants in our biennial conference and other events.
In 2022, UKFIET Trustees completed the assessment for the Charity Excellence Framework. This enabled us to display the associated ‘Quality Mark’ on our website but revealed the omission of an UKFIET whistleblowing policy. We also recognised the absence of a complaints procedure so we have developed a combined Complaints and Whistleblowing Policy.
Last year, the Charity Commission advised all registered charities to have a policy for their use of Social Media. We have acted accordingly and linked this with our publication activity online to develop an Online Publications and Social Media Policy.
These five new or revised policy documents have all been reviewed recently and approved by the Board of Trustees. They are all available on the About section of the UKFIET website, and the Code of Conduct will be provided separately to all participants in our events.