The aim was to review CIHT’s governance system and structures and explore alternative options with the aim to –

• evaluate the effectiveness of the current governance arrangements
• compare CIHT’s Governance arrangements with good practice
• ensure legitimacy, transparency and accountability in the way power and responsibilities are distributed and information flows across the organisation,
• enable efficient and effective decision-making,
• ensure strategic alignment and oversight
• make recommendations for change as appropriate, and
  consult with the membership as appropriate

Key recommendations

From this review, the following recommendations were drawn:

Recommendation 1. Split Presidential role into President and Chair of the Board

• To provide better support for CIHT’s plans as they require two very different skills sets.
  
  • President - member facing, outward facing, external face of CIHT.
  • Chair of the Board of Trustees – internal focus, business planning, governance, not part of the Presidential Team.

Recommendation 2. Introduce a Nominations Panel

• To create a formal Nomination Panel, that includes representation from Council, with clear terms of reference and process to increase transparency and accountability.
• Formal Nomination Panel to manage succession planning to Board of Trustees including President, Chair of Board and other key roles.
• The Nomination Panel to consist of: - the President, Immediate Past President, Chair of the Board, two Council members (chosen by Council).

Recommendation 3. Greater number of Young Professionals involved through Board of Trustees and Council

• To recognise Young Professionals as the next generation of inspiring leaders within CIHT and to provide them with a stronger voice in the CIHT’s governance and good development opportunities to create an environment for them to thrive in.
• To move towards greater involvement of members of our Young Professional Network in the Governance of CIHT, including Council and Board of Trustees.

Recommendation 4. Increase numbers of members on Council

• To provide further diversification of skills and experience and to include a wider range of membership grades.
• To provide greater opportunities for more members to be actively involved in Council including more representation from devolved nations and would encourage more Young Professionals to be involved in Council.

Recommendation 5. Hold 3 full day Council meetings per year with one outside London

• To provide the opportunity to develop Council into a more dynamic discussion and policy shaping arena.
• To give an opportunity to include a local site visit and combine with talks/debates relevant to the hosting area by holding a Council meeting outside of London.

Recommendation 6. Disband the External Affairs & Communications Strategic Board (EACSB) and split the Membership Skills & Strategy Board (MSSB) into two Boards – one covering Education / Qualifications and one covering Membership / Member Services

• Improve Governance structures and alignment to Strategic Plan.
• Operation of our communication and engagement activities are no longer compatible with the operation of a standing board.

Recommendation 7. Provision to appoint up to two non-member Trustees to the Board of Trustees to fill gaps identified by the Nominations Panel

• To have the flexibility to appoint up to two non-member Trustees in the exceptional circumstance that there are no CIHT members able to fill a skills/expertise/experience gap identified by the Nominations Panel.

Recommendation 8. Members can stand for Council elections with only 4 supporters rather than 8

• The current requirement is quite high compared to similar organisations and reducing the number of supporters would possibly allow a wider representation of members running in the Council elections.

Recommendation 9. Extend voting rights to Associates, Graduates, Apprentices and Part Time Students

• The existing provision of voting members being only full Members and Fellows was not compatible with a progressive and inclusive Institution. It is recommended that voting rights are extended to all paying members including associates, graduates, apprentice, and part-time students.

Any changes to the Royal Charter and Byelaws require a general meeting of the membership to approve them.

On 24 June 2020, the President asked the AGM to confirm the recommendation to approve the amendments to the Royal Charter and to the Byelaws. The voting members present unanimously agreed to approve the amendments.

Next stage

These amendments will be formally submitted to the Privy Council by CIHT. Only after the Privy Council has approved the changes can they be formally adopted by the Institution. The new Governance arrangements will be introduced from June 2021 (subject to Privy Council approval).

If you wish to find out anymore information on the review or the recommendations, please contact e: governance@ciht.org.uk