Elections to the Council of Governors
Independent company Civica Election Services (CES) runs the elections for the Council of Governors.
The formal election documents for 2020 are:
Please direct all enquiries to the Returning Officer, Ciara Norris. Call 020 8889 9203 or email ciara.norris@cesvotes.com
Rules and regulations for elections to the Council of Governors
Elections to the Council of Governors take place every year for those governors who have come to the end of their term, or who have stopped being a governor during the previous year. Governors are usually elected for three-year terms, starting on 1 February. They can be re-elected twice, serving up to nine years.
Our Constitution contains the rules for elections and the circumstances under which a person cannot stand as a Governor. These elections take place under the Department of Health's model rules for elections.
Members can only stand as a Governor for the constituency of which they are a member (that is, staff members can only be Staff Governors).
CES sends ballot papers to all members in the constituencies where seats are being contested, to vote on who should represent them.
For the election regulations and information about the Trust, please contact Jean Clark, Trust Secretary. Call 01603 421233 or email jean.clark@nsft.nhs.uk.
Information on the Council and the role of the Governor
The Council represents the interests of our Foundation Trust members and partner organisations. They feed back information to the members who elected or appointed them.
Governors must act in the best interest of the Trust and in accordance with the seven principles of public life – the Nolan Principles:
- selflessness
- integrity
- objectivity
- accountability
- openness
- honesty
- leadership
The Council meets six times a year in public and Governors should attend these meetings. There are also subgroups of the Council.
If you would like to stand as a Governor, we hope the following information is useful:
- Information for people interested in standing for election as a Foundation Trust Governor
- Details of future Council meetings held in public are on the Events Calendar, together with the agenda and papers when they are available
- Papers from previous Council of Governors meetings held in public and the Board of Directors meetings held in public are also on the Events Calendar
- Our Code of Conduct
- Govenors Expenses Policy
- Monitor also publishes information on the statutory duties for governors