Standard of conduct for meetings in public

Nolan Principles

The Trust welcomes the engagement and feedback from members of the public and is committed to the Nolan Principles of Public Life:

• Selflessness
• Integrity
• Objectivity
• Accountability
• Openness
• Honesty
• Leadership

This Standard applies to all staff and members of the public who attend meetings of the Board of Directors, Council of Governors or the Annual Members Meeting.

Meetings

A meeting held in public, such as a Board or Committee meeting, is one where members of the public are permitted to attend to observe a formal meeting of a Board or Committee or other decision-making body. Observers at such meetings are not permitted, however, to participate in the discussions.

Meetings held in public differ from public meetings which are open to the public and are specifically designed to allow members of the public to participate in discussions. The Council of Governors and Annual Members Meeting are public meetings and members of the public may be invited to ask questions.

Whilst we do not expect disruptive behaviour at our meetings held in public or our public meetins, we hope being clear about expectations will assist with them running smoothly.

Standards of Conduct

1. Questions related to items on the agenda can be submitted by members of the public in advance. This must be done in accordance with the process set out at Board papers. The Agenda is normally published a week in advance of the public meeting.
   
2. Members of the public wishing to attend a public meeting of the Board, the Council of Governors or Annual Members Meeting must request to do so in advance of the meeting by contacting the Governance Team: ghn-tr.corporategovernance@nhs.net
   
3. Space in the meeting rooms is limited and therefore members of public attending the meeting will need to bring with them the email confirmation from the Corporate Governance Team that their request has been accepted to ensure there is sufficient seating. Those who do not provide the email confirmation may not be able to attend the meeting.
   
4. All attendees are expected to be courteous, kind and appropriate in their behaviours whilst attending the meeting. Disruptive behaviour is not acceptable. The Chair reserves the discretion (under common law), if they consider they have reasonable grounds for believing individuals are or would disrupt the meeting by disorderly conduct, to exclude those persons at any time.
   
5. The following are not permitted:
   
   1. Standing – all attendees must be seated for health and safety reasons in addition to the expectation as to behaviours.
      
   2. Placards, posters, flyers or leaflets are not permitted in the meeting room and must be left outside.
      
   3. Unless a question has been submitted as per the relevant process i.e. Public Questions for Board public attendees will not be permitted to ask a question.
      
   4. If the meeting has started members of the public may not enter the meeting room other than at breaks in the meeting. Attendees must remain seated during the meeting and should not leave whilst an agenda item is being discussed. If an attendee wishes to leave this should be done during an interval in the meeting and with minimal disruption to the conduct of the meeting.
      
   5. Phones and devices should be switched off and should not be used during the meeting, including recording of the meeting. Minutes of the meeting will be publicly available.

Should you have any queries regarding our Standards of conduct please contact the Governance Team via email: ghn-tr.corporategovernance@nhs.net