Upcoming Council meetings

Currently, Council meetings are taking place as a mix of both virtual and in-person meetings.

Members can request to observe one of these meetings or submit an item for Council to discuss.

2024's Council meetings are scheduled for the following dates:

• Wednesday 24 - Thursday 25 January
• Wednesday 17 - Thursday 18 April
• Wednesday 22 May
• Sunday 2 June (at Congress)
• Wednesday 24 - Thursday 25 July
• Wednesday 30 - Thursday 31 October
• Wednesday 27 November

As an RCN member you can observe the open sessions of Council via Teams (virtual meetings), live web stream (of an in-person meeting) or by attending in person. If you would like to attend a session, please email governance.support@rcn.org.uk.

If you do get the chance to observe a Council meeting, there will be some limitations:

• you will not be able to speak during the meeting, although the Chair may invite you to speak in special circumstances
• you will not be able to vote
• if the meeting room is too crowded, you may not be allowed in. You may also be asked to leave by the committee if the room becomes too full
• you will be invited to sit in the 'observer' seats, separated from members of the committee and RCN staff
• you will not be able to claim expenses for attendance

Put forward an agenda item for Council 

Before you put forward your proposal, please read the following information about how proposing an agenda item for Council works here at the RCN. Please also check your request meets our policy requirements (Paragraph 9).

Unless otherwise notified, submissions that meet these requirements will be placed on the agenda for discussion during the open sessions of the two-day Council meetings held each quarter. Meeting dates can be found below.

Before the Council meeting

Complete this form to give us notice of your request. Notice must:

• Be received at least 30 days before the meeting and by the following deadlines:
  

  Council Meeting date	Deadline for submission
  24 & 25 January 2024	13 December 2023
  17 & 18 April 2024	8 March 2024
  24 & 25 July 2024	18 June 2024
  30 & 31 October 2024	24 September 2024

• State the issue to be considered, give a brief background to the issue and, if applicable, specify the decision the member wants Council to make
• Not include any material which is frivolous, vexatious or defamatory of any person

Submissions may be declined if they:

• Are incomplete
• Have not been raised with the appropriate escalation channels in the first instance (see more on this below)
• Relate to RCN Congress resolutions. These should be raised through the Congress process.
• Relate to personal complaints against individuals or groups of individuals. Please follow the RCN Complaints procedure in these cases.
• Are of a localised nature

If we decline your agenda item, we’ll seek to offer another route for addressing it. 

We expect that any agenda item you raise has already been raised through an appropriate escalation channel, where applicable, in order that the matter may seek to be  addressed through the formal channels in the first instance.

These channels include:

• Your region or country branch
• Your region or country board
• The relevant RCN staff lead
• A relevant RCN Committee Chair
• A Council member

We’ll let you know the outcome of your request within 7 clear business working days from the date you submitted the form.

Notices that comply will be added to the agenda for the relevant Council meeting. The Chair decides where the item sits on the agenda, and for how long it will be discussed.

We’ll ask you to complete the standard Council Paper template and return this to governance.support@rcn.org.uk, for consideration by Council, by the advised deadline.

Once received, the RCN Executive Team will be invited to comment on the paper to be presented.

We’ll send you the paper including Executive Team comments (if any) ahead of the meeting date via email.

During the Council meeting

Council members will address the item in a way they decide is in the best interests of our College. You have the right to present it to Council during the meeting, either remotely or in person.

Council may defer your item to a different Council meeting, but we’ll discuss this with you in advance.

After the Council meeting

After the meeting, if you weren’t present, we’ll notify you of Council’s decision around your discussion item. 

Your right to appeal

If your submission is unsuccessful, or you are not satisfied with how Council suggests your item should be addressed, please speak directly with the Council member for your region in the first instance. 

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