The IHBC’s Council – its Board – has agreed to hold the Institute’s 2020 AGM on 3 December as an online, ‘virtual’ event, with voting planned on the new Corporate Plan (‘CP25’) and on modernising governance though the proposed new ‘Articles’, all with more details to come, including arrangements for the postponed Council+ programme.
image :IHBC AGM 2019
…the next step in the modernisation of the IHBC as a specialist and professional body and charity for the 21st century…
On the IHBC’s new governance and draft ‘Articles’, the IHBC writes:
The early development of the IHBC’s current proposal to adopt new Articles at the 2020 AGM on 3 December… culminated in the IHBC’s 2019 AGM adoption of the ‘Proposal for future governance of the Institute’. The recommendation to members of the new Articles here marks the next step in the modernisation of the IHBC as a specialist and professional body and charity for the 21st century.
Members are encouraged to continue their historic support for the developments agreed in 2019…
Since the adoption of the 2019 ‘Proposal for future governance…’, the IHBC has been working hard with our legal advisers, Knights, and national charity regulators in England and Wales and in Scotland to agree a text that represents the ambitions agreed then. We opened the consultation on the draft new Articles in January 2020. Although in-person discussions had to stop in the Spring due to the pandemic, the consultation has remained open, operating alongside the discussions with legal advisers and charity regulators.
Over the summer the IHBC received ‘in principle’ approval from the regulators on a text only slightly modified from the consultation draft, with the adjustments noted below.
Members are encouraged to continue their historic support for the developments agreed in 2019 through even more energetic support for the adoption of the new Articles at our AGM December 2020.
Regarding the Articles proposed for adoption at the 2020 AGM, Members should note that:
- They offer a framework, intended for testing in the coming years, that can be adjusted to make sure they are fit for our charitable and operating purposes. This approach reflects the ongoing ‘experimental evolution’ that proved so successful in the ‘IHBC+’, started in 2015, while the adoption of the Articles themselves will represent the conclusion of that programme.
- They will be underpinned by Bye Laws to be drafted in accordance with the adopted Articles, based first on current practice
- As they will be formally promoted to the IHBC’s 2020 AGM, the IHBC’s National Office has been directed to organise opportunities for member engagement. Members of any category (Affiliate, Associate or Full) who would like to get involved with these should keep up to date by monitoring the IHBC’s NewsBlogs updates. If you are not receiving NewsBlogs you can sign up HERE, or to adjust your contact address use the link in the last email you received; for queries email contact@ihbc.org.uk. Inevitably, and necessarily, such engagement will take place largely online. However the Board has agreed that such limitations are an acceptable limitation given both the extended consultative pathway leading to the draft, as well as the current stage of the process following regulatory approval, which is concerned with adoption of the approved text.
If you have specific queries on the Articles please email governance@ihbc.org.uk or the relevant officer.
Adjustments to the consultation draft Articles made during the membership and regulatory scrutiny are:
- At the request of the Scottish regulator OSCR, revision of the Object at 2.1.a to ‘Conservation and enhancement of the historic environment’, from ‘Conservation and enhancement of the built and historic environment’
- The Director/Chief Executive is no longer proposed as a member of the Board as the new Articles should ensure that board members will be sufficiently engaged in the operation of the charity. The issue can be reviewed at a later date.
- Proofing and allied corrections in the draft text.
See the Articles as proposed to the AGM HERE
See the NewsBlog launch of the consultation on the Articles HERE
Search for background updates on progress in Membership Matters, formerly the IHBC’s Membership Update
See the NewsBlog update on the IHBC’s 2019 AGM
See the ‘Proposal for future governance of the Institute’ adopted at the 2019 AGM, which forms the basis for the Articles being proposed for adoption at the 2020 AGM.
See more background and links to 2020 AGM planning
