CTSI Council: autumn 2016 In this feature Conference Ethics and Standards Committee CTSP Reporting back CTSI governance, Conference structure, and ethics and standards were all topics discussed at the first of the institutes new-style council meetings, held in October. Sue Powell outlines discussions T he rst of CTSIs new-style council meetings started with a minutes silence for Lord Borrie, former director general of the Ofce of Fair Trading and former president of CTSIs sister company, the Institute of Trading Standards Administration (ITSA), who died on 30 September. Sara Barry, the new chair of CTSI, led members through a full agenda, which began with a presentation to Christine Heemskerk to thank her for her work as chair of the institute over the past year. CTSI Board Carol Brady, CTSI Board chair, summarised some of the areas discussed at recent board meetings, including CTSIs decision to suspend funding for Young Consumer of the Year, and to stop match-funding branch donations to the College of Fellows. Council was advised that the College of Fellows is looking at whether there is anything that it can do to assist with Young Consumer of the Year. Membership income only pays for six per cent of CTSIs activities, so there is a real need to maximise investment income and commercial opportunities. CTSI update Leon Livermore encouraged branches not to hold large sums of money in their accounts, but to invest these in members. He reminded branches that money held in branch bank accounts shows up in CTSIs statutory accounts as part of the organisations prot and loss, something of which most branches probably arent aware. Livermore summarised changes to stafng at CTSI since the last council meeting in April, and highlighted the skeleton strategic plan for 2017-2020, which had been circulated to council members. This has four key objectives qualication delivery, delivering income, leading debates and supporting members which will be eshed out before passing to Decembers board meeting for approval. There was an update on the Business Regulatory Solutions (BRS) project that is being run jointly with national law rm Ashfords, and it is hoped that the website will be launched to Ashfords partners within the next few weeks. There was a debate about the implications of Brexit and the opportunity this presents in terms of business advice and offerings. Council agreed that there was a role for CTSI to play in keeping trading standards ofcers (TSOs) up to date in terms of communications. This would also be looked at in relation to lead ofcers and how they can be kept abreast of developments that will affect their ability to respond to consultations and advise colleagues. Membership income only pays for six per cent of CTSIs activities, so there is a real need to maximise investment income and commercial opportunities HOW WEVE CUT THE COST OF COUNCIL Councils autumn meeting for 2016 was held at the Mercure Hotel, Leicester, in October. This was the first of the new-style council meetings, following changes made to the format after a governance review, and in an attempt to reduce costs of governance to CTSI. The meeting was held in one day instead of over two, and accommodation for those that stayed the night before the meeting was in a less-expensive hotel close to the meeting venue. There were also fewer board members in attendance, and it was represented by its chair, Carol Brady. Liverpool case update Livermore updated council on Melissa Drings report as director of policy, because Dring was unable to attend the meeting. Council was advised that a settlement had been reached with Liverpool City Council following Stephanie Hudsons challenge over the loss of 15 posts in the trading standards service. Livermore advised that Liverpool had agreed to carry out a further review, and thanks were recorded to Jonathan Kirk QC and The 36 Group, as their time had been given pro bono to work on this case. Thanks were also recorded to the lead ofcers for their time and for their reports that had been submitted to council. Chartered trading standards practitioner The strategy for chartered trading standards practitioner (CTSP) was discussed, along with the review of the qualications framework. Council members were invited to discuss the purpose of CTSP and what it represented, and it was agreed that it needs to be about professional competence. The executive at CTSI will work on putting together a structure for CTSP, which will involve council and heads of service. TAP TO NAVIGATE PAGES 1 Credits Sue Powell is the nationally elected CTSI 2 To share this page, in the toolbar click on You might also like Meeting of minds December 2015 Council representative. Images: Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock Qualifications review The discussions around the qualications framework were heated. The paper, to which all CTSI members should have had access prior to the council meeting, was discussed in terms of the favoured option for the future format of the qualication. Council agreed that the best option was the second set out in the paper, comprising a part-modular structure at level six, with an exit point at level ve, where students are able to choose those modules to study at stage two. The CTSI executive will work on building the qualication so that it is ready to go for the 2019 exam cycle. Review of CTSI Conference Livermore advised that Conference is a high-risk area for CTSI, because it is high prole, takes more than 18 months to plan, and the budget is around 300,000. Future options for the structure of Conference were reviewed and suggestions from council and from those attending this years conference in Telford will be taken forward with a view to developing the structure and format of Conference in future years. It was agreed at council that Conference is a major opportunity for members to gain Continuing Personal Professional Development (CPPD), and that this may well inuence decisions about how Conference is delivered. The role of the CTSI Ethics and Standards Committee Conference is a major opportunity for members to gain CPPD, and this may well influence decisions about how Conference is delivered Although the CTSI Ethics and Standards Committee wasnt discussed at this council meeting, it was thought to be helpful to explain its role to CTSI members. In October 2014, council established the committee to be responsible for ethics and standards, to scrutinise decisions made by the executive and board, and to offer advice, as requested, ahead of any decision made by the executive or board. It was accepted that the members of the committee should be independent of branches and sections, and it was agreed that the three nationally elected members of council currently Sue Powell, John Hillier and Brian Stone would form the committee. The purpose of the committee is to help ensure the business relationships that CTSI enters into are ethically responsible and in line with the values of the institute. Previously, council had approved a set of guiding principles enabling identication of organisations CTSI should do business with. This is in an effort to strike the right balance between upholding the values of our institute and profession, while enabling the organisation to pursue its commercial objectives. In most cases, it should be relatively straightforward for the executive or board to make a decision about whether a business relationship between the institute and an external body meets the standard required, but in some cases further guidance may be needed and the committee can offer this. It was agreed that doing business did not necessarily have to have a nancial element to it, but would be interpreted as doing business in any context. While the CTSI board remains legally accountable for all decisions made, the committee is also able to scrutinise decisions as directed by council. Council may request such scrutiny directly and/or if it thinks appropriate in response to any relevant concerns raised with council by any member, section or third party. The terms of reference (ToR) for the committee were agreed at the council meeting in April. The ToR incorporate the recently agreed principles about which organisations CTSI should do business with, and these can be found on CTSIs website. Should members have any concerns about the ethics of any decision by CTSI, they should as with other matters be raised with council under the standard agenda item matters raised by members, branches or sections. After consideration by council, scrutiny by the committee can be called for if necessary. If any urgent matters arise between council meetings, these should be raised with CTSI, via Leon Livermore. If the response from CTSI does not satisfactorily answer those concerns, then the matter can be referred to council, which will consider the issue at that time. More information This is just a avour of the areas discussed and the papers for the council meeting are available on the members area of CTSIs website. If you have questions about the meeting, contact your branch rep, or me, Brian Stone and John Hillier as your nationally elected representatives. TAP TO NAVIGATE PAGES