Governance Review Report for the Trustees of the The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain By Mike Taylor MSc FRSA DChA CG(Affiliated) Blackbird Consulting 19 October 2020 www.blackbirdconsulting.uk Governance review 201020.docx Table of Contents Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... 1 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 2 Background and scope .............................................................................................................. 4 Context ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 Scope of this governance review .................................................................................................................... 4 This report ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 What happens next? ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Fundamental principles ............................................................................................................ 7 1. How the constitution is constructed ........................................................................................................... 7 2. The RPS is a charity ...................................................................................................................................... 8 3. The RPS is a learned society and Members matter .................................................................................... 8 “Charity or Members” – which comes first? ................................................................................................... 9 Diversity .........................................................................................................................................................10 Models of governance ...................................................................................................................................11 High level insights gained through research ............................................................................ 15 Charity Governance Code survey ..................................................................................................................15 Interviews and written consultation .............................................................................................................16 Comparator analysis ......................................................................................................................................17 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 19 Principles .......................................................................................................................................................19 General recommendations for “non-constitutional” changes .....................................................................19 Clear and transparent documentation..........................................................................................................22 The charitable Objects of the RPS and the role of the Board .......................................................................22 Delegation .....................................................................................................................................................22 Nominations & Governance Committee .......................................................................................................23 Members’ Committee, Representatives’ Committee and others.................................................................24 Committee structure schematic ....................................................................................................................28 Board size and composition ..........................................................................................................................28 Elections and appointments ..........................................................................................................................30 The role of President and Chair.....................................................................................................................32 Holding the Board to account .......................................................................................................................33 Meetings and voting - online ........................................................................................................................34 Membership ..................................................................................................................................................34 Maintaining good governance ......................................................................................................................35 Considerations for the Charter......................................................................................................................35 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 36 Appendix A Elections review notes ............................................................................. 40 Appendix B Terms of reference .................................................................................. 42 Appendix C Interviews summary................................................................................ 43 Appendix D The author .............................................................................................. 55 www.blackbirdconsulting.uk Governance review 201020.docx Acknowledgments The author would like to extend thanks to all those who gave their time and consideration in interviews and written contributions: Mr Robert Albright HonFRPS (Past President) Mrs Nikki McCoy (Finance Manager) Dr Del Barrett ARPS (Past President) Mr John Miskelly FCA FRPS (Council, Honorary Treasurer, Chair Finance) Rachel Brown (Past Chair Youth Council) Mr John Page HonFRPS (Past President) Mr Evan Dawson (CEO) Sir Brian Pomeroy ARPS (Chair Awards, 2016 Mrs Heather Field (Council) Governance Review) Mr Andy Golding ASICI FRPS (Council) Dr Michael Pritchard FRPS (Director of Education) Ms Janet Haines ARPS (Council) Mr Ian Race (Co Chair Groups) Mr Peter Hayes FRPS (Chair Distinctions) Mr Roger Reynolds HonFRPS (Past President) Mrs Elaine Herbert ARPS (Chapters’ Representative) Mr John Riley (Co Chair Groups) Mr Simon Hill FRPS (Council, President Elect) Mr Roy Robertson HonFRPS (Past President) Dr Alan Hodgson ASIS HonFRPS (Council, Mr Barry Senior HonFRPS (Past President) President) Mr Bob Tapper ASIS FRPS (Chair Science) Mr Barry Hoffman ARPS (2016 Governance Review) Mr Jonathan Vaines LRPS (Co Chair Regions) Prof Ralph Jacobson HonFRPS (Past Mr Stewart Wall ARPS (Co Chair Regions) President) Jenny Warner (Charisma Charity Recruitment) Mr Anthony Luvera (Chair Education) Mrs Rosemary Wilman HonFRPS (Past Mr Douglas May FRPS (Chair 2016 President) Governance Review) www.blackbirdconsulting.uk Governance review 201020.docx 1 Summary In September and October of 2020, a review of the governance of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (RPS) was conducted. This report summarises the aims of that review, presents a high-level overview of the research conducted and learning gained, and a comprehensive and granular set of 80 recommendations for improvement of RPS governance. A draft of this report was presented to Council (which is also the Board of Trustees) of the RPS in early October and to key stakeholders who provided the Trustees with their initial feedback. It is understood that the Trustees will continue to review and consult on the recommendations of this report and will, in due course, decide which recommendations they wish to adopt and present to the Members of the RPS for approval. The recommendations of this report are based upon research made up of surveys, desk research and conversations with key stakeholders. The research is summarised in three detailed reports presented to the Trustees in late September. The views given by 30 stakeholders were very diverse and every attempt has been made to reflect the views of all contributors fairly and to be clear where the opinion of the author is distinct from those views. Because of the importance of this, a more detailed summary of learning gained from interviews is presented in Appendix C. As requested by the scope given, this report gives attention to the question of diversity and its role in good governance, particularly in the context of the RPS as a public benefit organisation of approximately 11,000 Members. In exploring this, the overriding and emerging theme has been one of trust: The trust in which the charitable Objects of the RPS are held by its Board and all RPS Members, and the balance of trust between RPS Members and the Board. Although the recommendations of this report are numerous and detailed, they are all directed toward furthering two aims: To facilitate the development of a strong and efficient Board, fit for furthering the Objects of the RPS in today’s environment;