Governance and board assurance
Who is accountable, what the board has approved, and what the evidence supports, on one surface. Named governance roles with vacancy handling; a policy library with lifecycle and versioning; strategic documents with the board sign-off body and date on every published version; and a four dimension view that puts each strategic document beside its live data. Board decisions are recorded as immutable sign-off events, and defined obligations the organisation has not met, from a vacant mandatory role to a lapsed insurance record, raise gaps that land on a single accountability register.
What is in this area
Governance Roles
Named role framework: role definitions, appointments with review dates, and vacancy handling. A vacant mandatory role raises a non-suppressible governance gap until a designee is appointed, with vacancy severity graded
Governance Overview
Appointed roles, published policies, strategic documents, items due for review, with feeds for policies and role appointments approaching review
Governance Register
Single obligation-against-execution surface: named individual designation, board estate oversight member, active board sign-off group, risk finding position, board skills assessment status, insurance position
Risk Register
Governance view over risk findings ordered by residual risk. Closing a finding is terminal: it requires a documented reason and cannot be reopened
Skills Assessment
Board-level periodic self-assessment of estate governance skills, distinct from individual competency records. Overdue assessments raise a non-clearable governance gap; the named individual is alerted ahead of the due date
Insurance and RPA
Insurance and Risk Protection Arrangement records with cover type, provider, cover level, and renewal dates. A lapsed record raises a governance gap and alerts the named individual ahead of renewal; provider and policy reference stored encrypted
Board Sign Off
Documents and decisions routed to the board. Every decision is recorded as an immutable sign-off event: who signed, in what role, on what date, against which document version. A request is approved only when the board group's completion rule is satisfied
Policy Library
Policy lifecycle from draft through published, with versioning, ownership, mandatory or optional classification, and review dates. Two creation paths: a guided wizard and direct upload
Strategic Documents
Register of vision, strategy, and asset management plan documents with version, publication status, the board sign-off body and date for every published document, and next review dates
Four Dimension View
Integrated board assurance surface across Safe, Suitable, Sustainable, and Sufficient: each dimension shows its governing strategic document, with approval state and review date, alongside the underlying live data
Continuity Planning
Scenario-based continuity plans per site with plan status, last tested date, next test due, and next review
Strategic Reviews
Periodic assessment of the estate against retain, improve, or dispose criteria, with recommendations and an approval lifecycle
Gap Register
One register for accountability, evidence, onboarding, and imported gaps, graded critical, significant, advisory. Auto-raised gaps carry a non-suppressible marker; manual gap logging; statuses from open to resolved or overridden
Board Pack
Packaged governance report: executive summary, compliance status by stream, risk register summary, incident summary, policy status; outputs as PDF or presentation
Advisory Engagements
Advisory engagement channel: a practitioner raises itemised evidence requests via a scoped link; documents uploaded in response land as permanent compliance records; imported gap findings become tracked requirement indicators
| Module | What it does |
|---|---|
| Governance Roles | Named role framework: role definitions, appointments with review dates, and vacancy handling. A vacant mandatory role raises a non-suppressible governance gap until a designee is appointed, with vacancy severity graded |
| Governance Overview | Appointed roles, published policies, strategic documents, items due for review, with feeds for policies and role appointments approaching review |
| Governance Register | Single obligation-against-execution surface: named individual designation, board estate oversight member, active board sign-off group, risk finding position, board skills assessment status, insurance position |
| Risk Register | Governance view over risk findings ordered by residual risk. Closing a finding is terminal: it requires a documented reason and cannot be reopened |
| Skills Assessment | Board-level periodic self-assessment of estate governance skills, distinct from individual competency records. Overdue assessments raise a non-clearable governance gap; the named individual is alerted ahead of the due date |
| Insurance and RPA | Insurance and Risk Protection Arrangement records with cover type, provider, cover level, and renewal dates. A lapsed record raises a governance gap and alerts the named individual ahead of renewal; provider and policy reference stored encrypted |
| Board Sign Off | Documents and decisions routed to the board. Every decision is recorded as an immutable sign-off event: who signed, in what role, on what date, against which document version. A request is approved only when the board group's completion rule is satisfied |
| Policy Library | Policy lifecycle from draft through published, with versioning, ownership, mandatory or optional classification, and review dates. Two creation paths: a guided wizard and direct upload |
| Strategic Documents | Register of vision, strategy, and asset management plan documents with version, publication status, the board sign-off body and date for every published document, and next review dates |
| Four Dimension View | Integrated board assurance surface across Safe, Suitable, Sustainable, and Sufficient: each dimension shows its governing strategic document, with approval state and review date, alongside the underlying live data |
| Continuity Planning | Scenario-based continuity plans per site with plan status, last tested date, next test due, and next review |
| Strategic Reviews | Periodic assessment of the estate against retain, improve, or dispose criteria, with recommendations and an approval lifecycle |
| Gap Register | One register for accountability, evidence, onboarding, and imported gaps, graded critical, significant, advisory. Auto-raised gaps carry a non-suppressible marker; manual gap logging; statuses from open to resolved or overridden |
| Board Pack | Packaged governance report: executive summary, compliance status by stream, risk register summary, incident summary, policy status; outputs as PDF or presentation |
| Advisory Engagements | Advisory engagement channel: a practitioner raises itemised evidence requests via a scoped link; documents uploaded in response land as permanent compliance records; imported gap findings become tracked requirement indicators |
The governance gap engine. Vacant mandatory roles, overdue board skills assessments, lapsed insurance, maturity divergence, and missing assignment groups all raise gaps automatically, some explicitly non-suppressible. The Gap Register is the single accountability surface those signals land on. A system that raises accountability gaps the administrator cannot switch off is making a governance commitment on the organisation's behalf; that is a different product posture from a configurable checklist.
Board sign-off immutability. Board sign-off events are immutable records of who signed what version and when. The board's approval history is evidence, not editable metadata.
The four dimension view. Safe, Suitable, Sustainable, and Sufficient on one board assurance surface, each dimension tying its strategic document to its live data. A board reading this surface sees the approved plan and the current position together, per dimension, which is the assurance question answered in the form the board asks it.
Scoped practitioner links bring an advisory engagement into a controlled surface, and the uploaded evidence becomes permanent records.
Where intelligence assists in this area
Board Narrative. Section by section board narrative builder: each section drafted from live data, edited as needed, then attested per section. Only approved sections export, and the approval is recorded in the document footer. The system drafts or flags; a named person reviews and decides; nothing stands until they do.
The whole intelligence family, and how every member of it works the same way, is gathered on the capabilities overview.
What does the board actually sign, and how is it recorded?
Documents and decisions are routed to the board through board sign off, and every decision is recorded as an immutable sign-off event: who signed, in what role, on what date, against which document version. A request is approved only when the board group's completion rule is satisfied.
What raises a governance gap?
A vacant mandatory role, an overdue board skills assessment, a lapsed insurance record, and a divergence between declared and evidenced maturity all raise gaps automatically, some explicitly non-suppressible. Every gap lands on the one gap register, graded critical, significant, or advisory, with statuses from open to resolved or overridden.
How does the board see the estate position in one place?
Through the four dimension view: Safe, Suitable, Sustainable, and Sufficient on one board assurance surface, each dimension showing its governing strategic document, with approval state and review date, beside the underlying live data. The board pack packages the same record as a report: executive summary, compliance status by stream, risk register summary, incident summary, and policy status.
The operational half of the escalation record, risk findings with acknowledgement deadlines and permanent closure, sits in Risk and safety management. Risk and safety management
Scoped practitioner links for advisory engagements are part of external collaboration, described in Set-up, access and data. Set-up, access and data
Board assurance
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