Chapter 1 - Whitley Councils

Appendix 3 - Constitution for Crown Prosecution Service - Headquarters Whitley Council

1. Membership
2. Meetings
3. Objectives and functions
4. Sub-committees
5. Decisions and agreements
6. Minutes and publication of proceedings
7. Finance
8. Amendment of the Constitution

1. Membership

1. The HQ Whitley Council, referred to hereafter as 'the Council', will consist of not more than 10 members. This will include the Chair, the Vice-Chair, and Secretaries. From this number not more than 5 shall be representatives of HQ Management, hereafter referred to as 'the Management Side'. The Trade Union Side members of the Council will be drawn from elected trade union representatives within HQ. The Trade Union Side will be elected in a manner agreed through consultation between the recognised unions.
2. The Chair of the Council will be from the Management Side and will be a senior member of HR Directorate. He/she, if unable to attend, will designate a senior member of the Management Side as Chair. The Vice-Chair will be from the Trade Union Side.
3. Each Side of the Council will appoint a Secretary. Minutes Secretaries for each Side - who are not members of the Council - may attend.
4. Accredited substitutes may attend to represent absent members or provide input to an agenda item on which they have particular expertise. This is subject to the limits set out in paragraph 1.1 and by agreement of the Chair and Vice-Chair through the joint Secretaries. In addition, the Trade Union Side may have a trainee accredited representative attend for the purposes of training, subject to the conditions mentioned above.

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2. Meetings

1. The ordinary meetings of the Council will be held as often as is necessary, and not less than once a quarter; the meeting in, or closest to, April will be the Annual General Meeting.
2. An agenda will be circulated to all members between 7 and 14 days before the meetings of the Council. It is expected that the Secretaries for both Sides will confer prior to this to identify necessary items. Items are encouraged from both Sides.
3. Business not on the agenda will be taken only by permission of the Chair and Vice-Chair. A special meeting of the Council may be called by the Chair or Vice-Chair. The business to be discussed at such special meetings will be limited to the matters given as grounds for convening the meeting.
4. The Council will draw up any additional standing orders and rules for the conduct of its business it may deem necessary, subject to the terms of this Constitution.
5. Matters peculiar to the members of only one union should be dealt with outside the Whitley Council at separate meetings held between members of the Management Side and representatives of the union in question.

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3. Objectives and functions

1. General objectives

   The general objectives of the Council will be:

   1. to seek co-operation and agreement between the Service and its staff in matters affecting HQ, by appropriate consultation;
   2. to provide negotiating machinery to deal with conditions of service within HQ;
   3. to provide a forum at which general grievances can be discussed.

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2. Functions

   1. The Council will provide a forum in which the commitment of both Sides to full and meaningful consultation, co-operation, and negotiation will be displayed in practice. The Council will also provide a forum to determine appropriate policy which is subject to this consultation, co-operation, and negotiation.
   2. The scope of the Council's discussion will cover all matters which affect the conditions of service of staff in HQ, and its functions will include the following, in so far as these matters are peculiar to the staff of HQ:
      1. general principles affecting conditions of service;
      2. the encouragement of training and further education of staff for higher responsibility in the organisation;
      3. the commitment by the Service to equality of opportunity for all staff and those seeking employment;
      4. improvement of office accommodation, organisation, and machinery, and the buildings containing these, complementing the terms of the Health and Safety Committee;
      5. proposed legislation so far as it has a bearing upon the position of members of staff in relation to their duties;
      6. terms and codes of practice under which proper consultation and negotiation will be conducted.
   3. The Council will also:
      1. provide a system of formal agreements, reached as a result of this consultation, co-operation, and negotiation which - wherever possible and/or appropriate - govern policy proper to the Council, for example, the rules governing Flexible Working Hours;
      2. take account of the ideas and experience of the staff channelled through a representational structure and thereby provide an appropriate role for staff in determining the policy affecting the conditions under which they carry out their duties.

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4. Sub-committees

1. The Council may, with the agreement of both Sides, appoint sub-committees to discuss particular issues which may not be appropriate to the main HQ Whitley Council or may best be dealt with in a smaller and less formal structure.

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5. Decisions and agreements

1. Decisions should be arrived at by negotiated agreement between the two Sides.
2. The decisions of the Council will be without prejudice to:
   1. the responsibility of the Trade Union Side to its constituent bodies;
   2. the authority of the Departmental Whitley Council as the only Whitley joint body competent to deal with general questions and to establish departmental policy.
3. Agreements reached within the HQ Whitley forum will be signed by the two Secretaries or the Chair and Vice-Chair, be reported to and agreed by the Management Side Secretary of the Departmental Whitley Council, and will then be operative.
4. It will be the duty of the Chair to ensure that decisions and agreements reach the proper executive authority without delay.

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6. Minutes and publication of proceedings

1. The Council will keep minutes of its proceedings, a draft to be circulated to the Trade Union Side Secretary not more than 14 days subsequent to a meeting. The minutes will then be agreed as a true account by both parties.
2. Only statements issued under the joint authority of the Trade Union and Management Sides of the Council will be published, and will be as full and informative as possible. Each Side may circulate a note of the meeting, for information purposes, in the meantime but must clearly state that it is not the agreed minutes.

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7. Finance

1. Each Side of the Council will be responsible for its own expenses; civil servants who are members of the Trade Union Side of the Council or of its sub-committees will be given facility time as detailed in the Departmental Facilities Agreement. They will be entitled to claim reimbursement for travel and subsistence costs under the Department's arrangements.

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8. Amendment of the Constitution

1. The Constitution of the Council may be amended only at an annual general meeting and will be effective only with the agreement of the Management Side Secretary of the Departmental Whitley Council. Notice of amendment of the Constitution must be given and circulated to the members of the Council at least 21 days before the meeting.

Signed ............................................. for and on behalf of the Management Side

Date ................................................

Signed ............................................. for and on behalf of the Trade Union Side

Date ................................................

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