Membership and engagement subcommittee terms of reference
1. Authority
1.1 The Council of Governors’ Membership and Engagement subcommittee is constituted as a subcommittee of the Council of Governors under Standing Orders 4 and 5 of Annex 7 to the Trust Constitution. The purpose of the subcommittee is to assist the Council of Governors to implement and develop the Trust's Membership Recruitment, Engagement and Communications Strategy and to facilitate communication between the Trust's members and the Council of Governors.
1.2 Its terms of reference shall be as set out below and shall not be amended, revoked or replaced except by a resolution passed at a general meeting of the Council of Governors.
2. Role
2.1 The Council of Governors’ Membership and Engagement subcommittee shall be responsible for providing advice and support on:
a) the production of material to recruit new members for the Trust and to engage members in the work of the Trust;
b) the content of the material on the hospital's website and publicity materials for use across the hospital sites and within the community;
c) the use of the Council of Governors’ budget for the implementation and development of the Trust's Membership Recruitment, Engagement and Communications Strategy, membership engagement and communication calendar of events and membership recruitment calendar of events;
d) ensuring that publicity material is written in plain English, free of jargon and unexplained acronyms.
2.2 The Council of Governors shall not delegate any of its powers to the subcommittee and the subcommittee shall not exercise any of the powers of the Council of Governors.
3. Membership of the subcommittee
3.1 The subcommittee shall comprise 9 elected governors from the public, patient and staff constituencies who are concerned with the implementation and development of the Trust's Membership Recruitment, Engagement and Communications Strategy.
3.2 The following Trust staff shall be members of the subcommittee:
a) The Director of Corporate Governance and Compliance
b) The Director of Communications or suitable deputy
c) The Membership Officer
d) The Board Governance Manager
e) In addition, the subcommittee may invite other people to attend including those from an external organisation
4. Quorum
4.1 A quorum shall comprise:
a) 3 governors
b) 2 trust staff—one of either Director of Corporate Governance and Compliance, or Board Governance Manager and Membership Officer.
5. Frequency of meetings
5.1 The subcommittee shall meet twice per year and shall report to the Council of Governors after each meeting.
6. Attendance requirements
6.1 The subcommittee members are expected to attend a minimum one out of two meetings in a year.
7. Planning and administration of meetings
7.1 The subcommittee shall elect from its membership, a governor to serve as chairman to serve for term agreed by the subcommittee. The chairman will be eligible for re-election after the term has expired.
7.2 The subcommittee shall elect from its membership, a governor to serve as a deputy chairman who will be appointed at the same time as the chairman.
7.3 The Membership Officer will support the planning of the subcommittee.
7.4 The Membership Officer will act as secretary to the subcommittee.
7.5 The Membership, Engagement and Communications and Recruitment Plans will be agreed by the subcommittee and ratified by the Council of Governors.
8. Review
8.1 The terms of reference of the subcommittee shall be reviewed by the Council of Governors annually.
- Reviewed by the Membership and Engagement Sub-Committee on 20 April 2017
- Approved by the Council of Governors on 18 May 2017
- Reviewed by the Membership and Engagement Sub-Committee on 19 April 2018
- Approved by the Council of Governors on 17 May 2018
- Reviewed by the Membership and Engagement Sub-Committee on 31 January 2019
- Approved by the Council of Governors on 25 April 2019
- Reviewed by the Membership and Engagement Sub-Committee on 25 March 2020
- Approved by the Council of Governors on 23 April 2020