Page 24 - Calderstone AR 2015

24 Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Yearbook 2014 - 2015
Council of Governors
The CoG is responsible for representing the interests and views of the Trust members and the local population.
TheCoGmetinpublic8timesduring 2014/15. The Chairman of the Trust Board is also the Chairman of CoG. The Senior Independent Director attendseveryCoGandother Non-Executive Directors have a standing invitation to attend all Council of Governor meetings but thereisnomandatoryrequirement
to attend each meeting. Executive Directorsattendasappropriate, however the Chief Executive usually attends each meeting.
The Council of Governors has these statutory powers and responsibilities:
• Appoint and if appropriate, remove the Chairman and Non-Executive Directors;
• Agree the remuneration and other terms and conditions of the Chairman and Non-Executive Directors;
• Approve the appointment of the Chief Executive by the Non-Executive Directors;
• Hold the Non-Executive Directors to account for the performance of the Board of Directors
• Be consulted on the Trust’s annual forward plan by the Board of Directors who must regard the views of the Council of Governors;
• Appoint and if appropriate, remove the external auditors; and
• Receive and consider the Annual Report and Accounts and any report of the auditor.
In addition to the statutory responsibilities, the Council of Governors focuses on these activities:
• Contributetothebusinessplanning process and the development of forward plans for the Trust in co- operation with the Board of Directors;
• Representtheinterestsofthe communities served by the Trust and ensure they are appropriately represented;
• Consultwithmembersandreflects the view of the membership; and
• DevelopandmaintaintheTrust’s
membership engagement strategy.
During the reporting year, the Council of Governors reviewed the composition of the Council of Governors to ensure it remained fit for purpose having been written into the Constitution five years ago, when the Trust achieved Foundation Trust status. This resulted in the Council of Governors being reduced from 24 to 18 and the realignment of appointed governors to gain better representation of current services. In addition, following feedback from Service User Governors, it was agreed to dis-establish the Service User Constituency and provide improved mechanisms for the views of service users to be represented on the Council of Governors.
These changes were agreed by the Council of Governors, the Board of Directors and presented to the Annual Members Meeting in September 2014 by the Lead Governor, effective from 1 April 2015.
Lead Governor Gordon Salthouse addresses the 2014 Annual Members Meeting