Annex A
OLDER PEOPLE’S PARTNERSHIP BOARD
Terms of Reference
1.
Context
2.1
In December 2009, the Bracknell Forest Partnership
Board (the “Partnership”) approved the establishment of
a new themed partnership board.
2.2
To raise awareness of and to understand the changing
needs and interests of older people and to tackle stereotypes and
age discrimination, the Partnership agreed to establish a themed
partnership known as the Older People’s Partnership Board
(the “Board”). The Board
exists to focus on the wide issues impacting on older people and
provide a cross-agency forum for resolving issues affecting older
people by discussing these in one place, in a collaborative and
joined up way.
2.
Purpose
The Board will:
2.1
Develop a strategy setting out the needs of older
people and an action plan to deliver change covering the period
2013-2016.
2.2
Encourage everyone to recognise and value the
contribution of older people to the life of the
community
2.3
Will actively seek the engagement and involvement of
all as well as of older people in the work of the Board
2.4
Will promote the engagement and involvement of older
people and the wider community.
2.5
Report to the Partnership on progress and liaise
with other theme partnerships to achieve its strategic
goals
2.6
Share relevant information between
partners
2.7
Respond to Government’s initiatives and
consultations concerning older people on behalf of the
partners
2.8
Exercise oversight of such functions as may be
determined by the Partnership or partner agencies
3.
Structure and Membership
3.1
To ensure that the Board has the capacity and
dynamism to deliver its purpose, the membership will comprise
organisations and individuals with the capacity to bring about the
outcomes of the strategy and action plan. The membership of the board for the purposes of
delivering the 2013-2016 strategy and action plan is set out in
Appendix
1.
3.2
Subject to discussion and agreement with members of
the Board, the Chairman of the Board may invite individuals or
organisational representatives to join the Board:
a.
As a permanent member to inform and deliver multiple
or connected aspects of the strategy and action plan
b.
As a temporary, time-limited member as appropriate
to specific task requirements of the Board
c.
To attend and advise the Board for specific
information or agenda items
3.3
Members and advisers invited under 3.2 b and c
above, shall only be present for the items for which they have been
invited. Members and
advisers considered under 3.2 b and c are listed in Appendix
2.
3.4
Temporary members shall only have voting rights
where appointed as a temporary time limited member for specific
task requirements. Voting rights for temporary members shall be
limited to those specific task requirements and the voting
provisions in 6.2 shall apply.
3.5
Advisors invited under 3.2 c shall not have voting
rights in any decision.
3.6
Membership of the partnership will be reviewed on an
annual basis. The chair of the Board
will be reviewed on an annual basis and elected from within the
permanent membership by majority vote.
3.7
If any individual member wishes to withdraw from the
Board, written and verbal notice must be given of how any funding
committed to the Board will be maintained.
4.
Resources and
Administration
4.1
Administrative support will be provided by Bracknell
Forest Council unless the Board decides to make other
arrangements.
4.2
All members of the Board will need to identify how
they will support the agreed objectives of the Board both in terms
of general allocation of resources and in terms of the specific
allocation of the resources required to deliver the
projects/targets agreed by the Board. It is envisaged that this may
be through the commitment of staff time and where appropriate
through the commitment of revenue or capital resources. It is not
intended that any additional resources will have to be committed by
the voluntary and community sector unless it relates to projects
that would normally be funded by them. At all times any funding or
resource will remain the responsibility of the member
organisation.
5.
Working Arrangements
5.1
Quarterly closed meetings will be held in places
that are accessible and acceptable to all members. The agenda and
papers will be circulated one week in advance. The meetings will be
formally minuted and the minutes will
be published in the internet.
5.2
Actions may be taken between meetings with the
agreement of the Board and progress against outcomes will be
updated in the action plan and agreed at subsequent meetings of the
Board.
5.3
Sub-groups are permissible and shall be established
as agreed by members of the board and their purpose shall be set
out in terms of reference which shall be agreed by the Board to
ensure they shall deliver the objectives and outcomes of the
strategy and action plan.
5.4
The agenda papers for the Board (but not sub-groups)
will be published on the internet unless that pursuant to section
100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, members of the
public and press be excluded from the meeting for consideration of
items which involved the likely disclosure of exempt information
under category 1 or category 3 of Schedule 12A of that
Act:
(1)
Information relating to any individual
(2)
Information relating to the financial or business
affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding
that information), provided that Information in this category is
not exempt information if it is required to be registered under the
Companies Act 1985; the Friendly Societies Acts 1974 and 1992; the
Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 1978; the Building
Societies Act 1986; or the Charities Act 1993.
6.
Decision Making Process
6.1
Partners shall bring along their own expertise to
the decision making process, but decisions will be taken in the
overall interest of the Board objectives.
6.2
The Board will endeavour to reach consensus on
matters for decision. Where votes are invoked each representative
shall have one vote, carrying equal weight. Where two individuals from the same
organisation are present, the vote of the most senior individual
shall be taken into account for that organisation. Decisions will
be made on a simple majority basis and will require a quorum of
1/3rd members excluding temporary members.
7.
Risk Management
7.1
As an essential aspect of good governance, each
formal partnership agreement will include provision for a risk
management process, which will be developed according to the
activities of the Board. Risks will be
reassessed at least annually or with document refreshes.
8.
Communication
8.1
Effective communications are critical to the success
of the Board and are essential to protect the reputational risk of
individual members of the Board and advisors and contributors to
the work of Board.
8.2
Members of the Board, whether permanent or
temporary, shall abide by the Bracknell Forest Partnership
Communications Strategy, Identity Guidelines and media protocols
and shall respect:
§
The badging and promotion of the
Partnership
§
The authorising of individual partners to speak on
behalf of the Board and/or the Partnership
§
The issuing of information, press statements and
public relations material in relation to the activities of the
Board and/or the Partnership through its media protocol
9.
Equalities and Diversity
9.1
The Partnership is committed to promoting community
cohesion and equality for all in the Borough. Public bodies have a
legal duty to promote equality of opportunity, eliminate unlawful
discrimination and harassment and promote good relations between
people, these duties apply to the Partnership.
9.2
Each partnership board will assess how it can
eliminate any potential discrimination in its activities and also
consider and evidence how it will actively promote equality of
opportunity on the basis of:
§
disability
§
race
§
age
§
gender
§
sexual orientation
§
gender re-assignment
§
religion or belief
§
pregnancy or maternity
§
marriage or civil partnership
And other circumstances including:
§
income
§
carer status
§
people in the health and social care
system
§
people in the criminal justice system
9.3
The Board is committed to the achievement of health
and wellbeing of older people and reduction of health and wellbeing
inequalities between different older people with regard to the
Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy
9.4
Equalities screening will be conducted for any
strategy, policy, procedure, review, plan or service developed by
the Partnership that has an impact on members of the community or
staff, through the initial screening stage of an Equality Impact
Assessment . This will enable the
partnership to assess whether there is any potential of an adverse
or differential impact on any of the groups listed in 9.2
above.
10.
Conduct and Behaviour
10.1
Members of the Board are to be willing to take on a
role in the broader programme appropriate to the skills and
resources of the partner organisation, to act in good faith at all
times and in the best interests of the Partnership's aims and
objectives, and be open about any conflict of interests that might
arise.
10.2
Within Board meetings, declarations of interest and
provision for withdrawal from meetings of the Board should be made
both orally and in writing prior to each meeting.
10.3
Board members are also expected to encourage joint
working and promote the sharing of information, resources and
skills between public, private and community sectors and to act
wherever possible as ambassadors for the project. They are also
expected to communicate regularly with other partners throughout
any project so that problems can be identified and shared to
achieve their successful resolution.
10.4
All Partnership members must work together in a
harmonious relationship based upon mutual respect, courtesy, trust,
honesty and understanding of each others roles. This should prevail
in all meetings and contacts, whether formal or
informal.
11.
Dispute Resolution
11.1
With goodwill, respect and integrity on both sides,
there ought to be very few occasions when a disagreement between
members of the Board cannot be resolved amicably. If there is a
serious dispute of substance in relation to matters of the Board it
should be discussed, in the first instance, between the members
concerned. If such discussions should not produce an acceptable
settlement, reference may be made to the Chairman of the Board, but
this should be seen as a last, rather than a first resort. If the
matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily after reference to the
Chairman, it may be referred to an expert selected by mutual
agreement by the parties involved.
12.
Audit and Scrutiny
12.1
All members of the Board shall abide by the existing
and nationally recognised procedures, guidelines and standards for
ensuring probity and good governance in public life.
12.2
The meetings of the Board can be observed by any
individual who has received permission from the Chairman of the
Board to attend. The Partnership shall report progress annually to
the public. The Partnership shall carry out an effectiveness
self-assessment annually.
12.3
The papers, including the agenda and minutes of each
meeting are available to the public after each meeting, as long as
information does not contain personal, financial or sensitive
confidential information that is not suitable for public
disclosure. In this case the minutes will be published without this
information. It will be made clear when details have been
removed.
12.4
The appointed internal/external auditors of each
partner will have rights of access to the partnership to ensure the
partnership complies with audit requirements of each individual
partner.
12.5
Bracknell Forest Council shall facilitate the
scrutiny of the work of the Board through its Overview and Scrutiny
process.
Appendix 1
Members of the Older People’s Partnership
Board deemed essential for the delivery of the strategy and action
plan and meeting criteria set out in 3.1 and 10 above
1.
Representatives for issues relating to older
people’s health and social
care:
- Chief
Officer: Older People and Long Term Conditions for Bracknell Forest
Council (Chair)
- Executive
Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing
- Bracknell
Forest Older Persons’ Champion
- Member of
the Intermediate Care Partnership Board
2.
A representative from carers’
organisations
e.g. Berkshire Carers Trust
3.
Representatives from older people’s
information, advice and support agencies,
e.g. Healthwatch Bracknell Forest, Age
Concern Bracknell Forest, involve (previously) Bracknell Forest
Voluntary Action, Citizen’s Advice
Bureau, Relate
4.
A representative for skills, education and
learning
e.g. Head of Community Learning and Skills for Bracknell Forest
Council, member of the Local Economic Partnership Board
5.
A representative for housing and accommodation
issues
e.g. Housing and Community Services Director, Bracknell Forest
Homes
In attendance for the purpose of supporting the work
of the Board:
Joint Commissioning Officer, Adult Social Care,
Health and Housing
Appendix 2
Organisations or individuals that could be invited
to attend and advise the Board subject to 3.2 above
include:
Head of Community Engagement and Equalities,
Bracknell Forest Council
Leisure Development Manager for Bracknell Forest
Council
Community Safety Manager for Bracknell
Council
A representative from the Bracknell Forest Over 50s Forum (MD)
Community Health
e.g. nursing / Intermediate Care Partnership Board
Healthwatch
Bracknell Forest
University of the Third Age (U3A)
A representative from Employers organisations
e.g. Breakthrough, Job Centre Plus, Chamber of Commerce
Representatives from Bracknell Forest Voluntary
Sector Forum
Representatives from Town and Parish
Councils
Bracknell Forest and/or Berkshire Public Health
teams
Project Manager, Nepali Community Café
project
Care Bill project lead, Bracknell Forest
Council
Stroke Association
Representative from Dementia Partnership
Legal and financial support providers
Bracknell Forest and Ascot Clinical Commissioning
Group
CCG Patient Involvement Representative
Foundation Trust PALS (comments and complaints)
services
Access Group representative
Drug and Alcohol service representative