CILIP Governance - further update

The GiG web pages have been updated again and more documents have been made available.

We have loaded the following:

• Specifications for the Policy Forum
• Questions and answers relating to the Policy Forum
  
• Specifications for the Remuneration Panel
  

and also

• Notes of the GiG meetings thus far during 2007.

With such important and far-reaching changes to the way CILIP is run in the pipeline, the GiG feels that it is important for members to have the opportunity both to scrutinise our work and to examine the new governance structure. Of course, in Governance Principles, we specify transparency as being of paramount importance... so we have to look to our laurels!

CILIP Governance: New regulations available

The Governance Implementation Group Web pages have been updated with the proposed Regulations, as approved by Council in July, which will come into force with the new governance structure on 1 January 2008, providing that the CILIP AGM in October approves the necessary changes to the Bye-laws. (The proposed Bye-laws and Charter are also available from this URL.)

CILIP Governance and Privy Council

Colleagues will be pleased to read the following e-mail from Bruce Madge, Chair of the Governance Implementation Group:

We have had the very good news that the Privy Council have accepted our revised Charter and Byelaws with a couple of very minor amendments mainly of a confirmatory nature. These will be amended by our solicitor on his return from holiday. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of GIG who worked very hard to achieve this. Bruce - Chair of GIG

CILIP Governance - further update

Council on Monday agreed the revised text of the General Regulations, which will thus come into effect with the rest of the governance arrangements on 1st January 2008, assuming that the Privy Council approve the Royal Charter and Byelaws (we should hear from them by the end of July). Council also agreed that minor amendments resulting from the deliberations of Privy

Council may be made by the GiG. With one minor amendment, Council also approved the specification for the Policy Forum, and for a Remuneration Panel.

Council also approved GiG's endorsement of the Scrutineers' Board with respect to the Annual Election to the new Council and for the Office of Vice President.

Advance notice of the Election will appear in Gazette on 27 July.

CILIP Governance: Update

It doesn't sound like much(!), but it really implies a lot of work behind the scenes: at our last meeting the GiG finalised the CILIP Regulations with the CILIP legal advisers, and these will be presented to Council next week. [ Note of explanation: CILIP has a Royal Charter which essentially sets out our aims and purpose, and then there is a set of Byelaws which dictate how the Institute is to be run. Both of these have to be approved by Privy Council, and we are in the middle of this process now - hoping for an agreement in principal before Council. 'Beneath' the Byelaws sit the Regulations, which set out in more detail what is and is not acceptable or expected practice. These do not need external validation and are consequentially easier to change from time to time as need dictates. ]

I can also report here that the promised FAQ on the Policy Forum - the response to Group and Branch questions in the earlier consultation - will be available on the GiG web pages within the week. This has taken slightly longer than we might have wished, but the process of finalising the text between the members of the GiG took place over a particularly busy period - Umbrella, the Scottish Conference, etc - and this has resulted in the delays. Sorry about that - but it IS on the way!

Other items from last week's agenda included the agreeing of both the report for Council which will go out with the final set of papers this week; and a reply to a detailed query received by the GiG; and discussions on our schedule of work for the rest of the year and the governance implementation schedule.

CILIP and the Governance Implementation Group

Although I have not posted much about the work of the CILIP Governance Implementation Group since our last meeting, a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes in preparation for tomorrow's meeting.

Most importantly, the CILIP lawyers have been working on a draft of the Regulations - we shall be working our way through these tomorrow. Also, the draft Policy Forum Specification has been circulated in a further consultation exercise.

A number of comments on this from Groups and Branches have been received; as also have some other member communications, and we shall be considering all of these tomorrow.

Also, as members will have been aware, three articles about the process of moving to a new governance model have been published in Update. Two of the articles are available on the CILIP GiG web page.

There will be a full progress report following the meeting.

Chris Armstrong

UKeiG response to CILIP Policy Forum: Draft Specification

The UKeiG management committee has formally responded to the CILIP Policy Forum: Draft Specification. The text of our response is posted below and a PDF of the document is available on the UKeiG Web site.

UKeiG welcomes the rationale behind the remit, principles and role of the Policy Forum for a number of reasons.

• It provides an excellent opportunity for Groups to input into the future direction of CILIP via their Group representative in an informal but dynamic forum

• It represents a significant simplification of the existing committee structure

• The suggested review of the membership structure after a year would be a useful way of addressing any initial start-up problems

There are, however, a number of concerns.

• The suggested membership of over forty has the potential to make it far too unwieldy to be productive as a forum for encouraging innovative ideas or productive debate unless careful consideration is given to the agenda and structure of the meetings. Large scale agendas with little opportunity for interaction can be demoralising and perceived as a waste of people's time

• Smaller discussion groups and breakout/parallel sessions initiated by engaging and thought-provoking presentations would facilitate brainstorming and the development of new ideas and strategies. These discussion groups could be formed from those Groups that have the relevant knowledge and expertise to bring informed debate to the table. There would have to be some sort of plenary session to initiate meetings and draw together conclusions and outcomes

• Members would have to be committed to lively debate and proactive contribution. Clarity on their role and responsibilities would be helpful; including guidance and systematic procedures for obtaining feedback and input from all the Group membership

• E-working would have to be a major component of this Forum, not just for task and finish but also in planning the agenda and circulating documents, for example. The use of Web 2 technologies such as Wikis and blogs should be considered to improve efficiency and collaboration

• As the number of CILIP Groups reduce, it would make far more sense to reduce the membership accordingly

• As the Forum has no decision-making role, there will have to be transparency on how suggested policies are submitted, prioritised, adopted and rejected, beyond the basic parameter of financial restraints

Gary Horrocks on behalf of the UKeiG Management Committee

CILIP: Arrangements for the first Council under new governance

You will all know by now that it is intended that the new governance 'regime' will begin on 1st January 2008; the corollary to this is that we need to have a new, new-style Council in place by that date. This will mean elections taking place in the Autumn of this year.

These elections will be arranged by the current Council under the transitional powers available to it in the revised Bye-laws.

However, in the event that the AGM does not approve the new Bye-laws necessary to effect the new governance structure, the existing Council is able to, and will, continue until March 2008.

CILIP Governance Implementation Group News

The Governance Implementation Group had another meeting last week and we can now report on progress:

1. The agreed text of the new Royal Charter and Bye-Laws have been endorsed by Council and will be sent to Privy Council in the next few days for 'approval in principle'. They will then be presented to the CILIP AGM on Members Day (Oct. 18).
2. Regulations. We are currently working with the lawyers on draft regulations which we shall bring to Council in July.
   
3. Policy Forum. The specification for the Policy Forum has been drawn up and agreed and will shortly be sent out to Branches, Groups and Home Nations for consultation/comments. The GiG will be asking for responses by the end of May.
4. GiG has previously agreed to recommend to Council that a Remuneration Panel should be established. This falls in line with our principles of transparency and accountability and will deal with processes related to salaries and appointment of senior staff - thus ensuring that no individual member of staff is directly involved in making decisions about their own remuneration. A draft remit has been drawn up now, and a final version prepared by the lawyers will be presented to Council for consideration in July.
5. Council has already agreed the harmonisation of the CILIP governance and financial years - it is now proposed to harmonise the SIG, Branch and Home Nations' years as well. This recommendation will be taken to Council in July, with the suggestion that this should be in place by January 2009 - one year after the CILIP-years harmonisation.
6. At our next meeting, the GiG will begin working on three key areas: communications, training (for trustees, forum members, etc), and costs.
   

The GiG - as I said in my first message - is committed to engaging with the membership at large, and with all Special Interest Groups, Branches and Home Nations on every aspect of the transition into the new governance. I hope that you all feel that appropriate channels are open to you, both to keep up-to-date on what is happening on this front, and to contribute to the process.

CILIP Governance Implementation Group: Draft Charter and Bye-laws (2)

Colleagues will be pleased to learn that at yesterday’s meeting, CILIP Council discussed the proposed Royal Charter and Bye-laws which the Governance Implementation Group, together with CILIP’s lawyers, has drafted to enable the changes to governance. Following a short discussion, Council agreed the draft which will now – shortly – be sent to Privy Council.

In presenting the draft documents to Council, I noted that our aims in developing them were in line with those of the Task Force report: to provide greater simplification and transparency; and to facilitate the new governance structures and e-governance.

Thanks were also minuted to both Guy Daines and the CILIP lawyers for the huge amount of hard work covered in a relatively short time.

CILIP and the Governance Implementation Group

Colleagues may like to know that the CILIP Governance Implementation Group – the group charged with implementing the recommendations of the Governance Review Task Force – have opened a thread (The Governance Implementation Group Thread) in the ‘CILIP – the Organisation’ forum of the CILIP Communities of Practice.

Members can access and comment at: http://communities.cilip.org.uk/forums/28/ShowForum.aspx

As it says in the initial message:

“One of the first statements in the Task Force’s report notes that ‘the interests and needs of the membership are paramount’. It also states that, ‘The membership is at the heart of the Institute. It will be the aim… to facilitate all members involvement… The Institute is a democratic organisation. Its good governance is critically dependent on the membership’s active involvement in the governance and the electoral process.’ Consequently, the GiG undertakes to take note of all your comments.”

Chris Armstrong
National Councillor (CILIP)
Governance Implementation Group