Frequently asked questions
What is the Foundation Trust Governors’ Association?
The Foundation Trust Governors’ Association is primarily about learning and development and provides a space and opportunities for foundation trust governors to meet, exchange views, debate and learn from each other.
What is the connection with The King’s Fund?
The King’s Fund are hosting the Association and providing expert input into the development, events, website provision and ongoing support to the Association.
What is the subscription fee?
The full membership subscription is £3,700 for one year - this has been set for the first and second year and will not increase for 2008/2009. Members who join during the first six months of the subscription year will be charged the full fee. For anyone joining after the first six months, the subscription fee will be halved. Our subscription year runs from September to September.
What does the subscription fee cover?
The subscription fee covers the annual operating costs of the Association. These include the development and operation of the website, development plenaries, executive committee meetings, staff costs at The King’s Fund and administration costs.
What are the governance arrangements for the Association?
The Association has an Executive Committee of 14 governors – and these were elected by single transferable vote in August 2007 by the member foundation trusts. The elected Chair is Sharon Carr-Brown, a governor at The Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Who receives remuneration?
Representatives and executive committee members do not receive any remuneration from the Association for attending Association meetings. Most do receive travel expenses from their trusts, but that should be agreed locally. Executive committee members who attend any council of governors’ meetings at non-member trusts will be able to claim travel expenses out of the Association’s marketing budget.
When will the next elections be?
The next round of elections will be in 2009 when a proportion of the Executive Committee places will be available for re-election.
How many Foundation Trusts are members of the Association?
At the time of writing (September 2008) there are 54 foundation trusts in the Association.
Which governors can access the website and attend the development events?
This is entirely at the discretion of the member foundation trust. Membership of the Association means that all the governors at that FT are able to register and access the website. The Association does request that two governors are nominated as representatives, and they should be content to pass information between the Association and their respective Council of Governors.
Does it always need to be the same governors who attend the development events?
No – the foundation trust can rotate these. We only ask that we are kept informed of this and that those who attend are happy to pass information and learning back through their organisations.
Where will the development events be held?
There will be two national plenaries each year. One of these will be in London and one in another regional centre somewhere else in the country.
What happens at the development events?
The first development event of the Association took place in October 2007. It included a number of debates around the role of the governor and how to engage with and develop the membership of foundation trusts. There will normally be a business part to the event where the membership may be asked to vote on certain matters relating to the operation of the Association.
Who is entitled to vote?
Each foundation trust has one vote in the business votes – so one of the representatives at the development events may vote. If there is more than one representative at the event, they may decide between themselves who will vote on their foundation trust’s behalf.
What next?
To talk to an Executive Committee member about the Association, simply contact Stacey Lally, the co-ordinator of the Association at ftgovernors@kingsfund.org.uk or call 020 7307 2628.
The Foundation Trust Governors’ Association is primarily about learning and development and provides a space and opportunities for foundation trust governors to meet, exchange views, debate and learn from each other.
What is the connection with The King’s Fund?
The King’s Fund are hosting the Association and providing expert input into the development, events, website provision and ongoing support to the Association.
What is the subscription fee?
The full membership subscription is £3,700 for one year - this has been set for the first and second year and will not increase for 2008/2009. Members who join during the first six months of the subscription year will be charged the full fee. For anyone joining after the first six months, the subscription fee will be halved. Our subscription year runs from September to September.
What does the subscription fee cover?
The subscription fee covers the annual operating costs of the Association. These include the development and operation of the website, development plenaries, executive committee meetings, staff costs at The King’s Fund and administration costs.
What are the governance arrangements for the Association?
The Association has an Executive Committee of 14 governors – and these were elected by single transferable vote in August 2007 by the member foundation trusts. The elected Chair is Sharon Carr-Brown, a governor at The Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Who receives remuneration?
Representatives and executive committee members do not receive any remuneration from the Association for attending Association meetings. Most do receive travel expenses from their trusts, but that should be agreed locally. Executive committee members who attend any council of governors’ meetings at non-member trusts will be able to claim travel expenses out of the Association’s marketing budget.
When will the next elections be?
The next round of elections will be in 2009 when a proportion of the Executive Committee places will be available for re-election.
How many Foundation Trusts are members of the Association?
At the time of writing (September 2008) there are 54 foundation trusts in the Association.
Which governors can access the website and attend the development events?
This is entirely at the discretion of the member foundation trust. Membership of the Association means that all the governors at that FT are able to register and access the website. The Association does request that two governors are nominated as representatives, and they should be content to pass information between the Association and their respective Council of Governors.
Does it always need to be the same governors who attend the development events?
No – the foundation trust can rotate these. We only ask that we are kept informed of this and that those who attend are happy to pass information and learning back through their organisations.
Where will the development events be held?
There will be two national plenaries each year. One of these will be in London and one in another regional centre somewhere else in the country.
What happens at the development events?
The first development event of the Association took place in October 2007. It included a number of debates around the role of the governor and how to engage with and develop the membership of foundation trusts. There will normally be a business part to the event where the membership may be asked to vote on certain matters relating to the operation of the Association.
Who is entitled to vote?
Each foundation trust has one vote in the business votes – so one of the representatives at the development events may vote. If there is more than one representative at the event, they may decide between themselves who will vote on their foundation trust’s behalf.
What next?
To talk to an Executive Committee member about the Association, simply contact Stacey Lally, the co-ordinator of the Association at ftgovernors@kingsfund.org.uk or call 020 7307 2628.