RCN Annual General Meeting 2024

1. Introduction and welcome from the RCN President. 

2. To confirm the 2023 minutes and matters arising. Copies of the minutes will be available at the AGM and have been available in advance of the meeting at www.rcn.org.uk/AGM

3. To receive the 2023 Annual Report of Council from the Chair of Council.  

4. To receive the 2023 financial statements as set out in the Annual Report from the Honorary Treasurer. 

5. To consider and vote on the following resolutions:

Resolution 1 – Definition of Council Officers (special resolution – requires a 2/3 majority) 

This resolution was passed with 96.92% (4,026 votes) in favour and 3.08% (128 votes) against.

Background

The KPMG Report on Governance (published in April 2022) and the Independent Review of the Culture of the Royal College of Nursing, by Bruce Carr KC (published in September 2022) both made recommendations designed to improve the governance processes at, and culture of, the RCN, which were accepted in full by Council in 2022.

Both reports call for the need to clearly define key governance roles. The reasons for this are to ensure greater understanding, distinction and mutual recognition and respect between roles and individuals, both Executive and members and to establish clear lines of responsibility and accountability.

A definition of Council Officers (Chair, Vice Chair and Honorary Treasurer) in the Standing Orders will set out clearly those responsible for holding the key governance positions within the Council and draw a distinction between Council Officer roles and the President and Deputy President roles.

In addition, the changes to the Standing Orders will clarify that no person may hold more than one Office holder role at the same time and that none of the Officers may simultaneously hold the position of President or Deputy President. While this is commonly understood among the membership, and is best practice, it is not explicitly stated in the Standing Orders.

Resolution: To amend the Standing Orders as per Annex A to this agenda. 

The proposed amendments in Annex A can be summarised as follows:

Annex A

• To amend the Standing Orders to include a definition and paragraph defining and setting out who the Council Officers are; and
• To amend the Standing Orders to make it clear that no Officer may simultaneously be President/Deputy President and vice versa.

Resolution 2 – Council elections (special resolution – requires a 2/3 majority) 

This resolution was passed with 97.04% (4,033 votes) in favour and 2.96% (123 votes) against.

Background

At the AGM last year, members voted to extend the terms of office for current Council members until 31 December 2024 in order to provide stability while the recommendations of the Governance and Culture Review reports are implemented.

Consequently, all of Council are due to refresh at the end of this year. This includes the regional/country seats and the President and Deputy President positions.  Normally, the President/Deputy President elections are run in separate years to the country/regional seat elections.  While this has not occurred previously, this will become the normal timetable in future years too.

Combining the elections in this way significantly reduces costs but may attract candidates to consider more than one role. While the guidance has always been clear that people should stand for one role only in a Council election, it is not explicitly stated in the Standing Orders. The proposed additional sub-clauses are designed to make this clear and remove any ambiguity: candidates will only be able to put themselves forward for one role.  

Resolution: To amend the Standing Orders as per Annex B to this agenda. 

The proposed amendments in Annex B can be summarised as follows:

Annex B

• To amend the Standing Orders to make it clear that no Council member may occupy more than one of the 17 Council Member roles on Council simultaneously.
• To amend the Standing Orders to make it clear that in a Council election, candidates may not stand for more than one position.  

6. To discuss any matters of a professional character which are of importance to the interests of members. Questions can be emailed in advance of the meeting to governance.support@rcn.org.uk or asked during the meeting in person or via our online meeting platform.

Annex A - Proposed changes to the Standing Orders under Resolution 1

Proposed creation of Standing Order 1.6

1.6 Definitions section: “Council Officers” means the Chair, Vice-Chair and Honorary Treasurer for the time being of the Council as elected by Council Members in accordance with Standing Order 20.1;

Proposed re-wording of Standing Orders 20 and 21 

20. Chair, Vice-Chair and Honorary Treasurer of Council

20.1 There shall be a Chair, Vice-Chair and Honorary Treasurer of Council who are elected from amongst the Council members.  These are the officers of the Council.

21. Elections for Chair, Vice-Chair and Honorary Treasurer

21.1. The Council shall hold biennial elections for the officers of Council. These elections shall be separate but concurrent. With the exception of the President, Deputy President, student members and Nursing Support Workers, all voting Council Members shall be eligible for election. Council shall determine the manner and timescale of these elections. The persons elected shall take up office immediately after the results of the election have been announced. They shall each be eligible for re-election for one further term but no person who has served either office for more than one term shall be eligible to stand for election to that office thereafter.  In the case of the death or resignation an officer or their ceasing for any other reason to be a Member whilst in office the Council shall elect a successor to serve for the balance of the term which would have been served by the deceased or retiring officer.

21.2. No person may hold more than one officer position at the same time.

21.3. No person who holds an Officer role may be elected to the roles of President or Deputy President.

Add the following as a new sub-clause to Standing Order 7, numbered accordingly

No Council Member may serve in more than one of the 17 Council Member roles simultaneously.

Add the following as a new sub-clause to Standing Order 8, numbered accordingly

Candidates may not stand for more than one position in a Council election.

The main purpose of the AGM is for members to receive the Annual Report and Financial Statements and to ask questions about the performance and running of the RCN.

You’ll hear a report from the Chair of Council on the past year and the priorities for 2024/25.

The Honorary Treasurer will take you through the finances of the RCN and present the financial statements for 2023.

Copies of the annual report will be available in advance of the meeting. You will be able to ask questions and ask for clarification on the areas covered by the Annual Report and Financial Statements.

The AGM includes a session to discuss matters of a professional nature which are of interest to members. This is a chance to raise a wider range of issues with your Council, the Trade Union Committee and the Professional Nursing Committee.

Questions can be emailed in advance of the AGM to governance.support@rcn.org.uk, to be received no later than 2pm on Monday 15 July 2024. After this time, questions can only be asked during the meeting in person, or via our online meeting platform.

You will also be asked to vote on two resolutions.

If you cannot attend the meeting you can vote by proxy. This simply means that you appoint another person who is attending the meeting to vote on your behalf in the way that you instruct them.

You can appoint the Chair of the Meeting, or someone else who you know will attend the meeting, to be to be your proxy.

You can instruct them to vote “For”, “Against” or “Abstain” for each resolution. Alternatively, you can ask them to decide for you – this is called giving them a “discretionary” vote.

To vote by proxy you need to click on the voting link in an email which was sent to you on Tuesday 25 June 2024. Don’t worry if you can’t find the email. Further reminders will be sent.

You must submit your proxy vote by 2.00pm on Monday 15th July 2024.

At its meeting on 22 May 2024, RCN Council agreed to call a poll therefore all votes cast by proxy will be counted.

If you have been assigned as a proxy by another member/s you will be asked to cast a vote on their behalf at the meeting. If you are attending in person you should go to the Registration area to collect a form to enable you to vote on behalf of the member. If you are attending online the instructions will be visible to you online.

If you and another member share an email address we will not be able to send you an email to enable you to vote as the emails contain voting credentials for an individual. If this applies to you please contact our Events Registration team who will be able to help and supply you each with unique credentials.

Likewise, if we do not hold an email address for you at all please contact the Events Registration team.

Events Registration team – Tel: 02920 546 460; email eventsreg@rcn.org.uk.