Thames Valley Faculty

Approved by the Members at Annual General Meeting 4th November 2003)

Interpretation

1. The Interpretation Act 1978 applies to these Bye-Laws as to an Act of Parliament.
2. Words and phrases used in the Charter, Ordinances and Bye-Laws of the College mean the same in these Bye-Laws.

Faculty name

3. The name of the Faculty shall be the Thames Valley Faculty of the Royal College of General Practitioners (referred to in these Rules as "the Faculty").

Geographical area

4. The area of the Faculty shall be Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.

Terms of Reference

5. The terms of reference of the Faculty are to further the College object in the area referred to in Bye-Law 4 of these Bye-Laws, subject to the Charter, Ordinances and the Bye-Laws of the College.

Membership of the Faculty

6. The members of the Faculty shall be those members of the College practising or employed in the area referred to in Bye-Law 4 of these Bye-Laws or, if retired or otherwise not practising or employed, residing within that area. The Board may in addition grant the privileges of membership of the Faculty to individual members of the College not qualified for membership of the Faculty under the foregoing provisions of this Bye-Law.

Associates of the Faculty

7. The associates of the Faculty shall be those associates of the College practising or employed in the area referred to in Bye-Law 4 of these Bye-Laws or, if retired or otherwise not practising or employed, residing within that area. The Board may in addition grant the privileges of associateship of the Faculty to individual associates of the College not qualified for associateship under the previous provisions of this Bye-Law. Associates may attend general meetings of the Faculty, but shall not be entitled to vote.

General meetings

8. The Annual General Meeting of the Faculty shall be held once in each Faculty year (defined for this purpose as running from 1st November to the next following 30th October) on a date and time decided by the Board. Notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be sent to all members and associates of the Faculty not less than 21 clear days before the meeting.
   
   Not more than 15 months shall elapse between successive AGMs.
9. The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be:
   1. To approve the minutes of the previous general meeting;
   2. To receive the results of elections to the Board;
   3. To receive the Annual Report of the Board;
   4. To approve the Accounts of the Board for the preceding financial year to 31 March;
   5. Members' motions; and
   6. Such other business as the Chairman may allow.
10. Any 10 members of the Faculty may by requisition to the Chairman or Honorary Secretary demand that an Extraordinary General Meeting of the members Faculty be convened, on not less than 28 days' notice, for the purpose of considering any motion set out in the requisition.
11. The quorum of general meetings of the Faculty shall be 20. If within 15 minutes of the time appointed for the beginning of the meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting shall be abandoned and, in the case of an Annual General Meeting, the Board may take such decisions as could have been reached by that meeting as if the meeting had been dispensed with under Bye-Law 8 of these Bye-Laws.
12. The Provost or other officer designated by the Board shall chair all general meetings of the Faculty. In the absence of both the Provost and the designated officer, any other officer designated by the Board to do so shall preside. In the absence of the Provost and any officer designated to preside, the members present at the meeting shall elect one of their number to chair the meeting.
13. The rules of debate at general meetings of the Faculty shall, subject to the discretion of the Chairman of the meeting, be those applicable to general meetings of the College, with the necessary adaptations.
14. All questions at general meetings of the Faculty shall be decided by a majority of the members present and voting, and the Chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote, regardless of whether he or she has already voted.

Officers of the Faculty

15. The officers of the Faculty shall be a Provost, Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer and such other officers as the Board shall decide from time to time. The term of office of the officers shall be such period, not exceeding three years at a time, as shall be decided by members in general meeting.
16. The Chairman and Honorary Treasurer of the Board shall be elected by the members of the Faculty, in such manner as the Board shall decide, and every member shall be entitled to vote. No election need take place if only one candidate is duly nominated for any particular vacancy. If a system of single transferable voting is adopted, it shall be carried out in accordance with the procedures advised by the Electoral Reform Society. Other officers of the Faculty may be elected in the same manner as the Chairman and Honorary Treasurer, or be appointed by the Board, as decided by the members of the Faculty in general meeting.

Faculty Board

17. The management of the affairs of the Faculty shall be vested in a Faculty Board (referred to as "the Board" in these Bye-Laws), which is empowered, subject to the provisions of the Charter, Ordinances and Bye-Laws of the College and any directions of the Council, to act on behalf of the College and the Faculty. The Board may regulate its own procedure, subject as previously stated.
18. The members of the Board shall be the Provost, Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer and such other officers and other members as are decided by the members of the Faculty in general meeting. The Board may include co-opted members, who are not members of the Faculty or of the College.
19. The Board may appoint such committees or sub-committees for such purposes as it thinks fit.
20. The Board and any of its committees or sub-committees may if the Chairman of the body concerned agrees meet wholly or partly by telephone or video conference, provided all members have been sent the papers for the meeting (including by electronic means). The quorum for meetings of the Board shall be 9.

Faculty representative(s) on College Council

21. The Board shall be responsible for nominating the Faculty representative(s) on the College Council.

Accounts and financial arrangements

22. The Honorary Treasurer of the Faculty shall be responsible for drawing up the Accounts of the Faculty for the previous 12 months to 31st March, including a balance sheet and profit and loss account. The Accounts as so drawn up shall be sent to the Honorary Treasurer of the College, for inclusion in the Annual Financial Report of the College.
23. The banking account(s) of the Faculty shall be held at the Lloyds TSB Bank, or such Bank as the Board may from time to time decide, subject to the approval of the Honorary Treasurer of College. Appropriate procedures shall be put in place by the Board, subject to the approval of the Honorary Treasurer of the College, for signature of cheques.

Amendment, revocation or re-making of Bye-Laws

24. These Bye-Laws may, subject to the approval of the College Council, be amended, revoked and re-made by resolution of the members of the Faculty in general meeting, passed by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.

Reviewed Summer 2012