Council election procedures 2008
The Society’s Council has decided that its policy in relation to Council elections should be published each year to enable the membership, in particular candidates in the election, to be fully aware of the Council’s current views on the matter.
1. Canvassing The Council’s previous restrictions on canvassing
at elections were designed to give candidates an equal opportunity of
presenting their views to the membership. However, some felt that the
restrictions gave an unfair advantage to existing members of Council
and other well known candidates. Other bodies do not commonly apply canvassing
restrictions to their elections. Furthermore, with the growth of internet
use, restrictions on canvassing have become increasingly hard to enforce.
The Council feels that the electorate is capable of assessing the merits
of candidates and that excessive or negative campaigning is unlikely
to advance the cause of those who indulge in it. As a result, the Council
has decided that the former restrictions on canvassing should not apply
to candidates for election to the Council. Further guidance on publicity
is given at item 8 below.
2. Nominations Nominators should be persons eligible to vote for
the candidate they are nominating. However, nominators are not required
to be from the same branch as the candidate. In other words, a candidate
for one of the pharmacist places not reserved to a national constituency
must be nominated by 10 pharmacists from any branch.
A candidate for one of the three pharmacist places reserved to a national constituency
must be nominated by ten pharmacists whose registered addresses are within
that constituency (from any branch).
Pharmacy technician candidates are nominated by five registered pharmacy technicians.
A prospective candidate may not be one of the nominators for his or her own
candidature.
Nominators are expected to have some personal knowledge of the prospective
nominee and to be reasonably satisfied that he or she is suitable to serve
as a member of the Council. A nominator may not withdraw his nomination of
a prospective candidate once made.
3. Particulars of work and declaration of relevant interests In
addition to the nomination form, the declaration of adverse decisions,
the retention fee declaration and the “Declaration and undertaking” form,
candidates must supply information on the extent and type of work undertaken
by them within and for the profession of pharmacy, and a declaration
of relevant interests, by the deadline of noon on Friday 29 February
2008 in order for their nomination to go forward.
3.1 Particulars of work These details are published in The
Pharmaceutical Journal and in the election booklet and are standardised under the following
headings: (a) name and town; (b) professional qualifications (optional);
(c) age (years); (d) registration number; (e) current positions held;
(f) previous positions held (with dates). For both (e) and (f), the information
is further subdivided as follows: (i) occupation branch of pharmacy and
position held; (ii) public service positions where relevant to pharmacy;
(iii) positions held as an officer or member of the governing body or
committee of a pharmaceutical organisation, including a branch or region
of the Society; (iv) positions held as an officer or member of the governing
body or committee of any organisation associated with health or healthcare,
science or education where relevant to pharmacy.
(Candidates, if they wish, may make further reference to their history or experience
in their election statements.)
3.2 Declaration of relevant interests Candidates’ statement of
relevant interests must be made under the following headings. All items
(a) through to (g) are obligatory. Candidates who have no interests to
declare for a particular item must write “Nil” for that category
of interest. Where their interests are already noted in their particulars
of work they may write “As above”.
The aim of declaring interests is not to satisfy curiosity but to support transparency
and probity. The guiding principle when completing the statement of relevant
interests is that matters should be declared which in the perception of others
might be seen to give material or other advantage to the individual candidate
or her/his close family members, either directly or indirectly (for example
to a business or another organisation).
(a) Employment: full and part time employment, giving details of employer and
nature of duties, including paid directorships of companies, (public or private),
full time paid employment, and part time paid employment; (b) paid offices
held (for example, chairman or treasurer, etc of any type of organisation) —for
which the candidate is paid [where this includes membership of any other healthcare
organisation the candidate should indicate the nature of such membership and
any office held]; (c) other paid activity, including consultancies, self-employed
work (eg. contract work), and contributions to professional and scientific
publications for which the candidate is paid; (d) sponsorship, including any
awards, sponsorship, bursaries, grants for research, etc; (e) unpaid activity,
including membership of organisations, committees, etc not listed above — for
which the candidtate is not paid; (f) family interests, including financial
interests of the candidate or close family members that might be considered
relevant to their position as a member of Council; (g) beneficial interests
in shareholdings, including the names of companies or other bodies in which
the candidate has, either on his or her own behalf or on behalf of or with
his or her spouse or infant children, a beneficial interest in shareholdings
of a nominal value greater than one hundredth of the issued share capital.
The particulars of work and declaration of interests, when put together with
the election statement and particulars of professional qualifications (see
item 5 below), should not exceed 630 words in total.
4. Eligibility criteria
(a) Candidates for election to the Council must be: (i) members of the Society
or registered technicians, if applicable, on the practising part (Part 1)
of the relevant Register, who are normally resident in Great Britain, the
Isle of Man or the Channel Islands; (ii) eligible to serve as a charity trustee.
Those specified by the Charities Act 1993 as being ineligible to act as trustees
include: anyone who has been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty
or deception (excluding a conviction which is spent for the purposes of the
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974); anyone who has been adjudged bankrupt
or where sequestration of his of her estate has been awarded and (in either
case) he or she has not been discharged (except where leave to act as the
director of the charity has been granted under s. 11 of the Company Directors’ Disqualification
Act 1986); anyone who has made a composition or arrangement with, or granted
a trust deed for, his creditors and has not been discharged in respect of
it; anyone who has been removed from office as a trustee by order of the
Commissioners or the High Court; anyone who has been removed by the Court
of Session in Scotland from being concerned in the management or control
of any body; anyone subject to a disqualification order or undertaking under
the Company Directors’ Disqualification Act 1986, or a disqualification
order under equivalent NI legislation, or an order under the Insolvency Act
1986 for failure to pay a county court administration order (except where
leave has been granted under section 11 of the CDDA 1986, or the equivalent
provision in NI, or section 429 of the Insolvency Act 1986 as appropriate).
A person who is disqualified from being a charity trustee is ineligible because
some members of Council may be appointed trustees of the Society’s charitable
funds (and the purported appointment of such a person would actually be void).
It is a criminal offence to serve as a trustee when disqualified from doing
so.
(b) No person shall be eligible for election to the Council if he or she has
failed to pay by the date and time fixed for the return of nomination forms
any retention fee or penalty then due and payable by him or her to the Society.
(c) No person may be elected as a member of Council for more than three consecutive
terms of office, each of up to three years.
(d) No person who has served as a member of the Council for three consecutive
terms of office shall be eligible for re-election until a period of three years
after leaving office has expired.
(e) Any member of the Council elected in the first election to the reformed
Council (2005) who had served six or more consecutive years on the Council
immediately prior to that election is eligible to serve only one consecutive
term from the date when the reformed Council took office.
(f) Any member of the Council elected in the 2005 election who had served less
than six consecutive years on the Council immediately prior to that date is
eligible to serve three consecutive terms from the date when the reformed Council
took office.
(g) Three places on Council are reserved for pharmacists who are normally resident
in each of three national constituencies: England, the Isle of Man and the
Channel Islands, Scotland and Wales.
Pharmacists filling these reserved places shall be elected by ballot of pharmacists
whose addresses in the Register are in the relevant national constituency.
A pharmacist shall only be eligible for election in a national constituency
if he or she lives or works wholly or mainly in that constituency.
(h) A pharmacist may be nominated as a candidate in a national constituency
and as a candidate for election to any place on the Council not reserved to
a national constituency in the same election. In such a case, the candidate
receiving the highest number of votes in a national constituency shall be deemed
to have been elected in that constituency and any votes he or she has received
in respect of a place on the Council not reserved to a national constituency
in the same election shall be void.
(i) In the 2005 election, the three pharmacists elected in national constituencies
and the three pharmacists elected with the highest numbers of votes to places
on the Council not reserved to a national constituency were elected for a period
of three years. The six pharmacists elected with the next highest numbers of
votes to unreserved places on the Council were elected for a period of two
years. The remaining five elected pharmacists were elected for a period of
one year. Of the first pharmacy technician members, the one elected with the
highest numbers of votes was elected for a period of three years and the other
for a period of two years.
5. Election statements Candidates’ election statements are sent
direct to each voter with the voting papers, thereby allowing candidates
the maximum freedom of expression. The Council considers that this is
the most practical method of presenting to the electorate the views of
each candidate.
The election statement, particulars of work and professional qualifications
and declaration of relevant interests when put together should not exceed 630
words.
The Returning Officer shall not be required to publish an election statement
and associated material of a length greater than that specified. The Returning
Officer shall also not be required to publish anything that in his or her opinion
may contain falsehoods or misrepresentations, abusive or defamatory material
or material likely to incite hatred or public unrest, or which would amount
to the commission of a criminal offence or render the Society potentially liable
to civil proceedings. The Returning Officer may in consultation with the candidate
issue a statement of clarification if in his or her opinion any part of an
election statement refers to matters outside the current functions, powers
and duties of the Society.
Provision 11 of the Council Code of Conduct states that “Members of Council
should support in public the policies of the Council. Where a member of Council
feels compelled publicly to oppose a Council policy, the Council should be
informed in advance. The member of Council may then express his or her personal
views on the matter but, in so doing, must first explain the Council policy
and the reasons for the Council’s decision. Members must in any case
avoid any action that would undermine confidence in the competence of the Council
and its members or in the Council’s decision-making process.”
An exception to this provision is made solely in the case of the election statement
of a Council member who is standing for re-election to the Council. The Council
has decided that a Council member should be able to express his or her personal
views in the election statement without first having to explain the Council’s
policy and the reasons for the Council’s decision. A Council member would
still be bound by the requirement to avoid any action that would undermine
confidence in the competence of the Council and its members or in the Council’s
decision-making process.
6. Adverse decisions Declaration of adverse decisions is in keeping
with principles of transparency and probity but declaration of allegations
or pending investigations is not required.
Every candidate for election to the Council is therefore required to sign a
declaration (included in the papers provided to candidates), either (a) attesting
that he or she has not received a criminal conviction or police caution nor
been the subject of any finding, penalty or censure issued by the Council,
or a Committee of the Society or any other regulatory or public body, or any
other decision by any person or body that the candidate considers relevant,
or (b) setting out details and particulars of any criminal convictions, police
cautions and finding, penalty or censure issued by the Council, a Committee
of the Society or any other regulatory or public body received by him or her,
and any other decision by any person or body that the candidate considers relevant.
Details of adverse decisions declared and/or details of adverse decisions not
declared but known to the Returning Officer will be published with the voting
papers. As part of the validation process a candidate’s fitness-to-practise
record with the Society will be checked. The fitness-to-practise record includes
decisions by the Society’s fitness to practise committees, including
warnings issued by the Investigating Committee (previously Infringements Committee,
Law Committee or Ethics Committee).
In addition, when submitting their annual retention fee members are also required
to declare an adverse decision, of which they have not advised the Registrar
previously. The form provides guidance on the types of decisions that need
to be declared. These records will also be checked.
Candidates should think carefully about any incidents in the past which may
fall within the definition in this declaration and if they are in any doubt
as to whether a decision is relevant, they should seek guidance from the Returning
Officer before submitting their nomination. Convictions which are regarded
as spent in all GB jurisdictions need not be declared.
If any member of Council is the subject of any investigations or proceedings
against him or her by any UK or overseas regulatory authority or public body,
or is charged with a criminal offence, he or she must inform the President
promptly and in writing. It is intended that the Council shall be empowered
to decide whether the member of Council should be suspended from any Council
office, including Council membership, and that it may also do so as a neutral
interim action while the investigation or proceedings are under way.
7. Information and assistance The Society does not seek to influence
the election of Council members. Beyond the dissemination of the particulars
of work and professional qualifications and declaration of relevant interests,
election statement and declaration of adverse decisions with the voting
papers, and provision of a page on the Society’s website to facilitate
any necessary contact with candidates, the Society will provide no information
or assistance to election candidates over and above what it would normally
provide to any member in fulfilment of its statutory and chartered duties.
8(a) Publicity: Contributions to The Pharmaceutical Journal The following
reflects the principle of equal coverage being made available to all
candidates, should they wish to avail themselves of it: (i) Candidates
are expected to send no more than two letters, of which each must be
on a different topic, for inclusion in The Journal, from the date that
nominations are closed to the final date for the return of voting papers
to Electoral Reform Ballot Services. (ii) The Journal will consider a
maximum of two letters from each candidate for inclusion in issues dating
from the publication of the nominations to the final date for the return
of voting papers to Electoral Reform Ballot Services. (iii) Each letter
must be no longer than 400 words. (iv) Letters must be about issues,
not personalities and should not criticise other candidates negatively — material
that contravenes the above will be amended or removed; (v) The editor
reserves the right to remove or amend material, or refuse publication
outright, at his or her discretion; (vi) The Journal will not publish
articles of any sort from candidates during the election period, unless
they are part of a commissioned series or planned some time in advance
or otherwise commissioned at the editor’s discretion. (vii) Candidates
are expected not to submit paid advertisements relating to their candidacy
for inclusion in The Journal from the date that nominations are closed
to the final date for return of voting papers to Electoral Reform Ballot
Services. Any such advertisements received from known candidates will
not be published during this period. (viii) Contributions to The
Journal on behalf of candidates will be treated in the same manner as contributions
from candidates themselves.
8(b) Publicity: Contributions to other publications or forums,
including internet sites or discussion groups, branch or regional newsletters,
house or member organisation magazines It is expected that anything written
by, on behalf of or about candidates should not be libellous or untrue
in matters of fact. Candidates are asked to refrain from negative campaigning.
Candidates should bear in mind that, under the Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians
Code of Ethics, they are required to behave with integrity and honesty, to
adhere to accepted standards of personal and professional conduct and not to
engage in any behaviour or activity likely to bring the profession into disrepute
or undermine public confidence in the profession.
8(c) Publicity: Notes to editors Should an editor or editors choose
to pose questions to candidates, they are asked in the interests of fairness
to ensure that all candidates are given the opportunity to respond to
the questions and that the length of the responses be restricted.
The Society does not forward questions to candidates. Editors may send questions
to candidates direct at their registered addresses; it is for the candidates
to ensure that adequate forwarding arrangements are in place for mail where
necessary. However, those who wish to pose questions to the candidates are
encouraged to notify the Society of their intentions and where they have done
so notification to this effect will be posted on a candidates’ page on
the Society’s website. Travelling candidates with no access to their
mail are encouraged to visit this page on a regular basis.
9. Sponsorship and election expenditure The Council does not place any
specific restrictions on sponsorship or election expenditure. Any use
of sponsorship should, however, be in keeping with the requirements of
the Code of Ethics.
10. Hustings Outside organisations or Society regions or branches may
arrange hustings events if they so wish provided all candidates are given
an equal opportunity to present their views. There will be no restriction
on the reporting of hustings events by the pharmacy media. It may be
difficult for all candidates to attend such meetings. If a candidate
cannot attend, he or she should have an opportunity of submitting a statement,
equal in length to the opening statements of candidates who are able
to attend, to be read by the Chairman or some other appropriate person.
Jeremy Holmes
Chief Executive and Registrar |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal