Angus Social Care Providers Forum

Constitution (reviewed22 February 2017)

Aims and outcomes of the Forum

The Angus Social Care Providers Forum (the Forum) aims to provide the opportunity for organisations working across all sectors in Angus to-

  • Work together to share good practice and live issues
  • Provide an opportunity for working in partnership with health and social care colleagues
  • Contribute to the strategic development planning process
  • Improve the quality and breadth of services for people receiving support
  • Improve skills and knowledge in the work force.

Legal Status and purpose of this Constitution

The group is not a formally constituted body or a registered charity. As such there is no legal requirement for it to have a Constitution, prepare accounts, hold general meetings or elect office bearers. However, for it to be an effective body, it is recognised that there needs to be rules governing membership, representation and the conduct of business. These are to be set out in this Constitution and have been agreed to by all the members.

Membership

Eligibility:

All organisations whichprovide social care and support to people in Angus including day care, home care, housing, advocacy and Self Directed Support payments.

Terms of membership:

  • An organisation can become a member by notifying the Facilitator that it wishes to do so and providing evidence of its eligibility.
  • Membership commits a member organisation to use reasonable endeavours to ensure that it will be represented at Forum meetings on a regular basis. (Providers to nominate a second person to attend in the main rep’s absence)
  • Members must notify the Facilitator of the details of a main contact for purposes of communication. It is the responsibility of members to ensure that their contact details are kept up to date.

Special Advisors

The Forum reserves the right to invite external specialists to act in an advisory role to the Forum (eg Care Inspectorate officers, Local Government Officers, MSPs, SDS experts).

Member Representatives

  • Up to two representatives of each member organisation may attend group meetings.
  • Members should aim to achieve consistency in their choice of representatives.
  • Members should give their apologies in advance of the meeting to the Facilitator when they are unable to attend, and nominate a named replacement if possible.

Chairperson

The Chairperson will chair Forum meetings. It is the responsibility of the Chair to inform the Facilitator in advance of likely non-attendance and to find a replacement.

The Chair will set the agenda in advance of the meeting in partnership with the Facilitator.

Any individual may act as Chairperson for a maximum of three consecutive years. There must then be a break of at least one year before that person can be elected as Chairperson again.

A Vice Chair will be elected to stand in when the Chairperson is absent,for whom the same terms as the Chairperson will apply.

Facilitation of the Forum

A Facilitator (employed by ARC Scotland) will be responsible for:

  • Organising group meetings, including arranging venues, and circulating papers in advance of meetings
  • Inviting guest speakers to the meeting as agreed by the members.
  • Keeping Minutes of Forum meetings
  • Maintaining a list of current members, together with their main contact details
  • Maintenance of the Angus Provider Forum’s page on ARC Scotland’s website.

Sub-Groups

  • The group will have the power to establish sub-groups as appropriate e.g to work on specific aspects of the Work Plan.
  • The remit of sub-groups, including their duration and expected outputs, should be defined in advance.
  • Sub-groups must keep Minutes of their meetings and circulate these to all group members via the Facilitator. They must also report back to group meetings.

Forum Representation on other Groups

Other groups attended by Forum members are:

  • SDS Implementation Group
  • Adult Support and Protection Committee
  • Third Sector Strategic Forum
  • Locality Groups
  • Mental Health Reference Group
  • Scottish Care/Independent sector

Members will feedback to this Forum on a regular basis, and need to be clear when they are speaking on behalf of their own organisation, and when it is on behalf of the Providers Forum.

Frequency of the group

The group will meet 6 times per year, Wednesday between 10am and 1pm ,

at Bruce House, Arbroath.

Annual Review Meeting

One group meeting will be designated as the Annual Review Meeting.

At the Annual Review the Forum will:

  • Review progress on the Work Plan and set the Work Plan for the next year
  • Elect the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson.
  • Identify individuals to represent the Forum on relevant committees
  • Agree dates to meet for the following year.

February 2017