Oversight

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Members shall be invited to join the ITT for a period of 12 months after which the wider Directorate, Secretariat and the Chair will review the membership composition. 

The date of the membership will take effect from the first meeting. 

Membership of the ITT is offered in a personal capacity to individual experts to ensure continuity. 

Substitutes during meetings will only be allowed at the discretion of the Chair. 

Members shall advise the Chair / Secretariat if they are not able to attend a meeting. 

The members are encouraged to submit written views / comments on agenda items. 

ITT is expected to meet around six times per year, potentially with some topic-specific subgroup meetings to make initial rapid progress. 

It is likely that meetings will mainly be held via video conferencing and will typically last between 2 to 3.5 hours, although it will be for the group itself to decide if, the sessions will require less or more time. 

Members may wish to host some meetings at their own premises. 

Members will be expected to read papers and other material in advance to enable full participation. 

Some email communication will also be required.

a) Each member shall have the right to be fully heard as equal partners. There will be genuine dialogue.

b) On tough and difficult issues, members shall adopt a win / win frame of mind and fully exploit the synergy such a team brings. 

c) Whilst achieving consensus should be the aim, ITT should not seek unanimity at the risk of failing to recognise different views or approaches on an issue. Once a position (or major/ minor positions) is established by the group, the members shall support that decision and recognise their responsibility not to undermine the authority of the group.

a) There shall be a minimum of 40% ITT members in attendance for the meeting to proceed. 

b) For a voting, there shall be at least 50% ITT members in attendance. 

c) If there is less than 50% attendance, the decision will be in abeyance until subsequently ratified though quorate meeting or by correspondence. 

d) In the event of a tie, the Chair will have a casting vote. 

e) Special attendees, guests and secretariat are not eligible to vote. 

a) The main communication route will be via agendas, minutes of meetings and supporting documents circulated in advance. These will be approved by the Chair, circulated to all members and copied to various key personnel. 

b) Regular updates, progress and minutes of the ITT meetings shall be published on the main ITT website (www.inclusion.earth) The minutes shall clearly show firm agreements and areas under discussion. Certain parts of the minutes may be withheld at the discretion of the Chair or the directorate. 

d) In general, work in progress that has not been finalised shall not be published unless the ITT membership feels otherwise. 

e) Arrangements shall be made to draw the attention of key stakeholders when new items have been published on the website and superseded documents shall be properly archived. 

f) All external communications shall be carried out through existing channels. 

a) Due to the sensitivity of this work, all ITT members shall agree not to discuss or share any documents external to the group, nor shall any work be replicated in any form. All correspondence will only be via the ITT Board and the Chair. 

b) ITT will strive to be as transparent and open as it can be by publishing documents on websites as and when ITT believes is appropriate. 

The Chair and the members may agree to form “Supplementary Working Groups (SWGs)” on an ad hoc, voluntary basis for specific issues. Summary terms of reference shall be agreed by the ITT board. 

It is important to review the relative effectiveness of ITT as a team and the contribution of each stakeholder and identify any performance and progress gaps on a regular basis in light of these terms and conditions. 

Reviews will be undertaken by the directorate and the ITT Chair. The review may include but not limited to:

• Stakeholder feedback 

• Commissioner feedback 

• Subcommittee feedback 

• Individual feedback 

The findings of this review shall be shared with the members.  

The Chair and members shall declare any interests that are relevant to the overall work of ITT and the specific agenda item under discussion. 

Secretariat shall review and maintain such declarations and publishing details as part of routine progress update. 

Members shall withdraw from discussion of matters in which they feel that they cannot act impartially. Where this occurs, it shall be reflected in the official record of the meeting.   Members of the Licence to Recruit Certification Mark ‘Appeals Board’ cannot work for, or have any commercial relationship with, Inclusion Crowd Ltd. The appeals process must be fully independent, with the appeals board being selected from the current Think Tank directorate.  

a) The Chair shall be responsible for, 

i. Effectively chairing meetings 

ii. Ensuring ITT is effective 

ii. Operation and output of ITT. 

iii. Ensuring every member has a fair opportunity to be heard and that no views are ignored or overlooked. 

iv. Allowing genuine dialogue to take place and diversity fully explored and discussed. 

v. Endeavour to achieve a consensus of opinion.

vi. Ensure the secretariat accurately documents the proceedings and there is clear audit trail showing how decisions were made. 

vii. Ensure there is a right balance of skills to fulfil the aims of ITT. 

viii. Ensure voting is carried out fairly, should it be necessary to vote on an issue. 

ix. Ensure all members have a good grasp of the underlying subject matter expertise and if necessary arrange training to enable them to fulfil their roles and ensure records are kept of member’s performance as necessary.

x. Ensure good knowledge management principles are adhered to.

a) Members shall ensure they understand why they have been appointed and in what capacity, and the role they are expected to play on the group. Members shall understand the nature of any expertise that they are asked to contribute. Members with a particular expertise have a responsibility to make the group aware of the full range of opinion within the discipline.

b) Members shall confirm before accepting an invitation to serve on the ITT that they are clear about the period of appointment and that they can fulfil the commitment required in terms of continuity, meeting attendance, group’s business and preparation for meetings. 

c) A member’s role on the ITT shall not be constrained by the expertise or perspective they were asked to bring to that group. Members shall regard themselves as free to question and comment on the information provided or the views expressed by any of the other members, notwithstanding that the views or information do not relate to their own area of expertise. If members believe, the group’s method of working is not rigorous or thorough enough they shall raise this initially with the Chair and subsequently Directorate. They have the right to ask that any remaining concerns be put on the record.

d) Members joining ITT for the first time shall undergo an induction process. This shall cover the following issues, 

i. Explanation of the group’s vision and aim. 

ii. The role of the group. 

iii. Basis of decision-making. 

iv. The groups work plan.

v. The role of the secretariat and other officials. 

vi. Roles and responsibilities of members.

vii. Conflicts of interest declared.

viii. The commitment required for meeting attendance, group business and preparation for meetings. 

ix. Confidentiality of proceedings and papers.

x. How members shall deal with media enquiries.

xi. Disclosure of members’ personal details to the public, bearing in mind personal security and other considerations. 

xii. The rules governing declarations of outside interests, potential conflicts of interest, and gifts and hospitality. 

xiii. How conflicts of opinion are resolved.

xiv. Terms of appointment of the Chair and members

The secretariat shall, 

i. Support the ITT members by assembling and analysing information and recording conclusions of meetings. 

ii. Advise members on relevant process and procedure. 

iii. Bring to the attention of the ITT Chair and members emerging issues of concern so as to inform the group’s deliberations. 

iv. Arrange regular briefing meetings with the Chair.

v. Be an impartial facilitator and guard against introducing bias during the preparation of papers, during meetings, or in the reporting of the group’s deliberations. 

vi. Ensure that the proceedings of the ITT meetings are documented in sufficient detail and within a reasonable period after a meeting so that there is a clear audit trail showing how the group reached its decisions. 

vii. Project manage the work to ensure success completion.

viii. Maintain an updated register of Issues and risks.