The specific powers and responsibilities of governors
Governors work within the Council of Governors to discharge a number of statutory duties, which are responsibilities laid down in law and set out in our constitution. These are listed below:
- The Council holds the non-executive directors individually and collectively to account for the performance of the Board of Directors. Non-executive directors are independent members of the Board who work with the executives to set the ambition, strategy, policy and priorities for the Trust and hold the executive to account for its delivery;
- It appoints or removes the chair and other non-executive directors and has established a Nominations & Conduct Committee to assist it to do so;
- It also approves the remuneration, allowances, and other terms of conditions of non-executive directors based on recommendations from the Nominations & Conduct Committee;
- It works with the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors to appoint or remove the Trust’s external auditors;
- It receives the annual accounts and the annual report;
- It approves the appointment of the chief executive, which is made by the non-executive directors;
- It provides the views of the Council of Governors into the Trust’s annual plan;
- It ensures a dialogue with members so that they can effectively represent their interests;
- It approves an application to enter into a merger or acquisition above a certain financial level and has established a Significant Business & Strategy Committee to assist it to do so;
- It approves increases of more than five per cent a year to ELFT’s non-NHS income.
The Council discharges these responsibilities in a number of ways, so in addition to attending Council meetings governors are involved in other activities. These include:
- Sitting on one of three specific committees or on a working group, carrying out detailed work on behalf of the Council;
- Joint visits with NEDs to our various services where governors engage with service users and staff to better understand the Trust and provide feedback that helps us improve;
- Leading key quality improvement initiatives which have transformed the way our Council is run and which improve the relationship with the Board of Directors and members;
- Supporting our campaigns to promote good health and fight stigma associated with long-term health conditions;
- Attending Board meetings where they observe the contributions of the non-executive directors and ask strategic questions when the meeting has concluded;
- Attending review days and events;
- Becoming involved in membership recruitment and selecting winners for staff and patient participation awards.