Policy Forum Specification

• Questions and answers relating to the Policy Forum
  
   
  

Remit

Principles

• Representation of Branch and Special Interest Group interests within context of collegial responsibility
• The democratic principle that each Branch or Special Interest Group has equal voting status
• A voice for Branches & Special Interest Groups, enabling them better to represent their sectional interests, unconstrained as at present by the wider responsibilities of Trusteeship.
  

Role

The Policy Forum is the key policy generating body of the Institute, although formally its recommendations will be made to Council for endorsement. The Council may also refer things to the Forum for consideration. The role of the Policy Forum consists of:

• Overall mission and direction for the Institute
• Blue-sky thinking
• Horizon-scanning and long-term policy formulation
• Professional issues
• To approve or amend policy proposals from Special Interest Groups and Branches exercising their devolved responsibility for policy development (i & ii)
• To consider proposals of the Vice-President concerning the themes he or she wishes to promote in their Presidential Year (iii)
  
  

Bodies Reporting into Policy Forum
 

• The English Branches Forum is in effect a part of the Policy Forum but may wish to meet separately from time to time.
• The Policy Forum may establish as appropriate Task and Finish groups – these should make use of electronic communications
• Reports from the Panels will be received not only by Council but also by the Policy Forum through the Office of the President. (iv)
  
  

Membership

• The Policy Forum will consist of: a representative from each Branch (9), CILIPS, CILIP Wales and CILIP NI (3), and from each Special Interest Group (26). In addition The Vice-President will be a member, as also will a representative from the Affiliated Members and a representative from Retired Members Guild (3)
• The representative on the Policy Forum to be elected by and from the Committees of each Branch, Home Nation Branch Special Interest Group, the Affiliated Members National Committee and the Retired Members’ Guild
• Branches and Special Interest Groups to nominate a standing alternate representative in the event of their main representative being unable to attend a Policy Forum meeting
• The Vice-President to Chair the Policy Forum
• All Councillors to be invited to Policy Forum meetings but Honorary Officers (Leader of Council, Treasurer, and President and also Vice-President – but see previous bullet point for Vice-President) will be expected to attend as observers.
• Policy Forum to have power to invite guests for individual meetings from within CILIP or externally
• Appropriate staff will be in attendance at the Policy Forum
• At the current time this would create a body of 41 members plus others who could be in attendance
  
  

Working Arrangements

• The Policy Forum will have at least two face to face meetings each year but exploit technology to discuss and decide matters electronically at other times
• Members of the Policy Forum would be expected to attend meetings of the Policy Forum and participate in e-debates
• The Policy Forum should be imaginative in its development of policy, for example through staged formal debates, and by holding and sponsoring policy events with other bodies such as the Royal Society of Arts
• The Policy Forum should move around the country. It should be possible economically to combine its meetings with other events.
• A protocol should be developed setting out a model procedure for the development of professional policy by Branches and Groups (v & vi)
• The Council will have an obligation to respond in a timely fashion to proposals of the Policy Forum (vii)
• It will be open to members of CILIP to observe proceedings of the Policy Forum unless it is decided to take an item or items in confidential session or the nature of the meeting precludes observers (e.g. meeting in break-out groups)
  
  

Comments

• The nature of the role of the Policy Forum will inevitably evolve and is an area of influence for Branches and Special Interest Groups working through the Policy Forum
• A key area is the nature of the relationship between the Policy Forum and Council. It is impossible to legislate fully on this relationship but in broad terms the Council will concentrate on the "business" of CILIP and developing and working to a three-year strategic plan. The Policy Forum will focus on developing a vision and direction of travel for the Institute and engage in blue-sky thinking - it will also develop policy on professional matters. In formal terms the Policy Forum will make recommendations on these matters to Council, and it should be Council's role to translate these into actions in the strategic plan. Therefore Council is most likely to suggest changes to recommendations on the grounds of cost or overall feasibility or compatibility with the priorities of the three-year strategic plan. More rarely they may argue that a recommendation is not consistent with their overall duty as Trustees to act for the "public good".
• The membership structure of the Policy Forum should be reviewed after a year as part of the general review of new governance structure
• If the number of Special Interest Groups and Branches reduces, this will impact on membership of the Policy Forum and may at some time require a review of the process of election to fill it. We believe a Policy Forum of about forty members is consonant with an organization with over twenty thousand members. Should the number of Branches and Special Interest Groups drop dramatically we might expect the number of representatives from each Branch or Special Interest Group to increase accordingly.
  
  

EndNotes

(i) It is important to note that the accountability line for Branches and Groups is to Council – therefore things such as annual returns should be returned to Council. It is specifically in regard to policy matters that Branches and Groups should work with and through the Policy Forum

(ii) It should be noted that policy development processes for matters relating to devolved responsibilities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be different and focused through the relevant Home Nation Branch.

(iii)The Vice-President has an opportunity to shape the policy and agenda of the Institute through chairing the Policy Forum and sending views to Council, which can be reflected in the budget (if appropriate) for the Presidential Year. Attendance at Council will allow the Vice-President to become familiar with the practice of the Institute’s business before the Presidential Year

(iv) The panels are: Audit, Disciplinary, Elections, Ethics. They will not formally report to the Policy Forum – their reporting line will be to Council through the Office of the President – but the reports will be “received” by the Policy Forum for reasons of transparency.

(v) The Governance Implementation Group is developing a draft protocol for consideration by the Policy Forum at its first meeting

(vi) See note ii

(vii) The Vice-President will be an official observer on Council and so able to represent the views of the Policy Forum in that arena.