Holding the Board of Trustees to account: the Council is the guardian of the spirit of the Trust and its long-term objectives.
Its main responsibilities:
- Ensuring accountability
- Shaping policy development
- Inspiring support
The Council is made up of 52 members, 26 elected by the members of the National Trust and 26 appointed by organisations whose interests coincide in some way with those of the National Trust.
The breadth of experience and perspective which this mix of elected and appointed members brings enables the Council to fulfil its role of holding the Board of Trustees to account.
It helps to ensure that the Trust takes full account of the wider interests of the nation for whose benefit it exists and to act as the Trust's conscience in delivering its statutory duties.
All members of the Council are elected or appointed for an initial term of three years and are eligible to re-stand. Members normally serve for two or three three-year terms. In order to ensure a balance of continuity and freshness approximately one-third of the membership retires each year.
Initially the Council will meet three of four times a year. How the Council arranges its business will be a matter largely for the Council itself to decide.
It is envisaged there will be one major discussion item on a particular aspect of the Trust’s work on the agenda for each meeting. In addition there will be a regular pattern of business throughout the year. There will also be an annual visit to a Country/Region.
The Senior Member
There is a Senior Member of the Council who is elected by the Council by ballot. They chair Council discussions, following up with the Chairman any widely shared concerns.
They lead the process for the appointment of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Trust and chair the nominations committees for their appointment.
The Senior Member will also lead a review of the governance arrangements in 2008/09.
What happens if the Council identifies serious concerns about the actions of the Board of Trustees or of some members of the Board of Trustees
It can appoint a small group to investigate and to consider the matter before the Council as a whole decides on the appropriate way forward. Such a Committee of Inquiry should only be set up if it is supported by at least two-thirds of the members of the Council present at the meeting.
The Council has the power to dismiss one or more, or all, members of the Board of Trustees. This power is to be used only in exceptional circumstances such as if in the opinion of the Council the behaviour of an individual or individuals or of the Board of Trustees as a whole, is likely to damage the organisation.
A decision to dismiss a member or members of the Board of Trustees would need to be approved by at least 35 of the Council’s 52 members.
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