Advisory Board Member Job Description

Role description for a member of the Newcastle City Learning Advisory Board (JE DRAFT APRIL 2021)

Background and principles

Newcastle City Learning (NCL) is a service of the local authority and has an Advisory Board to oversee the strategic direction of the service and support the Service Manager.   NCL is the post-16 delivery service “providing opportunities in Newcastle for all to learn, improve and grow”.

 

Members of the board have responsibility for the strategic direction of the service, holding the service leaders and managers to account for the quality of the provision and ensuring the finances are well used to  deliver the outcomes for which it has been set up.

 

Advisors should focus on strategic direction and avoid becoming involved in day-to-day operational decisions and matters which are the responsibility of the Service Manager.

 

How members should conduct themselves

In carrying out their role, Advisory Board members are expected to adhere to the Nolan Principles for holders of public office:

 

• Selflessness: Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.
• Integrity: Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.
• Objectivity: Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.
• Accountability: Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.
• Openness: Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.
• Honesty: Holders of public office should be truthful.
• Leadership: Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and be willing to challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

 

Role Description

 

Statutory duties

• To ensure that the organisation meets with its duty to deliver appropriate, high-quality learning experiences to meet the needs of the residents, employers and stakeholders within the city of Newcastle.
• To ensure the organisation uses its resources exclusively in pursuance of its objects: the organisation must not spend money on activities which are not included in its own objects, no matter how worthwhile or charitable those activities are.
• To contribute actively to the Advisory Board role in giving strategic direction to the organisation, setting overall policy, defining goals and setting targets and evaluating performance against agreed targets.
• To promote the voice of stakeholders and the local community
• To safeguard the good name and values of the organisation.
• To ensure the effective and efficient administration of the organisation via the Service Manager.
• To ensure the financial stability of the organisation by working with the Local Authority to ensure that the organisation is financially secure

 

Other responsibilities

In addition to the above statutory duties, each governor should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to help NCL’s Advisory Board reach sound decisions and ensure the organisation fulfils its objects.

 

Useful skills and experience

Knowledge or experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Adult education
• Social enterprise
• Further education funding
• Ofsted
• Teaching, learning and assessment
• Accountancy
• Legal /contract law
• Inclusion and meeting the needs of minority communities
• Partnership work with other bodies who may be involved in supporting adults and young people within the city

 

Signed …………………………………………………

 

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