Sample Scheme Governance Document
What the governance of the Ure Dales scheme would look like in practice — across all four shortlisted options.
What follows is a sample governance document — a working structural draft. It is not a finalised constitution. It would be refined by , by ’s finance and governance teams, and by the itself before adoption. Its purpose is to show the consortium what a functioning governance structure looks like on the page.
The scheme shall be known as Ure Dales Landscape Recovery. The legal form varies by option: Option 1 operates within YWT as a charity programme; Option 2 through a wholly owned subsidiary; Option 3 through a CIC; Option 4 through a subsidiary CIC.
Primary object: the restoration of the Ure Dales catchment landscape, delivering environmental, social, cultural, and economic returns for the eighteen member holdings over a minimum horizon of twenty years.
Two classes: Landowner Members (the 18 farming families) and Strategic Member (YWT). One membership per qualifying holding. Admission by Board resolution upon execution of a Landowner Participation Agreement.
Decisions by consent, not majority. Consent means 'I can live with this'. Formal votes by weighted or simple majority only for financial or constitutional changes exceeding defined thresholds.
Board comprises landowner directors, YWT directors, and independent directors. Chair rotates or is elected. Board meets quarterly minimum.
Each holding has a site-specific delivery plan. Monitoring through the audit cycle. Delivery overseen by the SLE Board.
Surplus distribution per the model adopted at the 30 April workshop. Five models shortlisted (A–E). Annual accounts published.
Audit and Standards Committee (EQM chair). Delivery Committee. Finance Committee. Optional community engagement committee.
Procurement, insurance, veterinary, training, administration, shared-equipment access — provided at scheme level to reduce individual holding cost.
Entry by Board resolution. Exit available without penalty after Year 3. Delivered restoration remains with the holding. Tier status earned remains with the landowner.
Dialogue first, ASC Appeals panel second, external mediator third, arbitration last. Confidential pathway available.
Orderly wind-down provisions. Delivered restoration and tier status remain with holdings. DEFRA obligations held at scheme level.
Standing 'ask anything' practice. Annual report. Open scheme register. Consortium communications controlled by Consortium, not YWT alone.
Document version: 19 April 2026. Next review after the 30 April workshop. Legal review: Squire Patton Boggs.