Governance review
As reported to members in June the College engaged an external consulting company (Allen and Clarke) to complete a review of our governance and operational structures.
This report was received in October and makes recommendations relating to the overall governance structure of the college, governance and operational processes, and additional operational staffing requirements.
The Executive committee has considered the report and agreed to implement the majority of the recommendations, with some variations.
The report’s major recommendation is to adopt a new governance structure which better separates governance functions from operational management. The future executive committee or board will have defined responsibility for finance, risk management, appointments and renumeration, and oversight of the operations of the college, both employed staff and the operational subcommittees.
Initial actions will include the creation of two additional office roles, the first covering Executive and project support, and an Educational development role. It has been acknowledged for some time that the office is under resourced and this will be exacerbated with the separation of governance and operational matters. Currently, much of the training programme and curriculum development work is undertaken by Executive committee members. The employment of additional staff will also allow for the refinement of other positions within the organisation including the general manager’s role.
In parallel with the employment of additional staff, new governance processes and tools will be implemented to support best practice decision making.
An initial review of the Society rules concluded that only minor changes to the constitution to implement the governance recommendations, though the College is cogniscant of the Societies Act 2022 and the need to submit a new constitution. An update on the requirements to change the rules will be presented to members at the AGM in March 2025.