NCT Petition - update

Dear NCT Member Thank you for signing the petition calling for an EGM. A group of us have come together in this campaign and we wanted to give you an update on progress to date. The Petition As you know, the petition has attracted well over 400 signatures (400 online plus dozens of paper signatures). This is an amazing achievement given the limitations on our ability to communicate directly with members. We asked the Board to circulate details of the petition but, unsurprisingly, they declined to do so. In contrast NCT has recently been promoting their Volunteer Survey, with numerous mailouts and videos, yet the response rate was similar to what we have achieved with this petition. Our petition has two aims; to have the opportunity to have our questions answered, and to be able to vote in a binding resolution to have Seána and Bryan reinstated. The Town Hall Meetings Instead of offering a formal EGM at which we could send proxies, the Board opted to hold four informal ‘Town Hall’ meetings in Manchester, London, Glasgow, and Belfast, at inconvenient times, and with greater financial cost to the charity. We have heard from most of the people at these meetings (please feel free to contact us if you wish to give your feedback) and have been able to confirm the answers to some of our key questions. These are listed in the Appendix at end of this email. We are deeply concerned that Bryan and Seána were removed inappropriately, and that the Board has acted in a way which has caused internal damage to NCT, for no good reason. A straw poll in our closed facebook group among those who attended the meetings has confirmed that members who attended now have decreased confidence in the Board. A few said their confidence in the Board remained unchanged, but they clarified that this was because it was already low going into the meeting. No-one has expressed increased confidence following the meetings. The Andrew Hind review Andrew Hind made it clear at the meetings that the remit of his review specifically excluded the actions of the Board in removing trustees. In our view, this has severely limited the credibility of the review, and we cannot support its recommendations until after an independent review of the recent problems. Three of the recommendations are particularly concerning: - The suggestion that members should no longer see the minutes of Board meetings - The recommendation that NCT should no longer have an Hon Treasurer and Hon Secretary on the Board - The recommendation that NCT’s President should no longer be a trustee. The events of the past six months have proved beyond doubt exactly why our President must be a trustee. The survey closes this Thursday, 8th June. Please ensure you complete it - here is the link. Charity Commission Advice In addition, we wrote to the Charity Commission to express our concerns. We received back a helpful email which included the following: ‘The Commission cannot get involved in supervising the forthcoming elections. However, we have informed the charity that issues about the election process have been raised with us. This includes the terms of office of certain trustees moving from three to four years. We have advised that they need to look at this matter promptly. They have been reminded: 1) That they need to ensure the forthcoming elections and appointment of trustees are conducted properly. 2) About how important it is that the charity’s elections, appointment processes and Annual General Meeting are run in accordance with the governing document. 3) If mistakes have been made in the past, the charity needs to consider how they are best dealt with in the charity’s best interests. We have also highlighted the need to ensure that the skills and experiences of appointed trustees complement those of the elected trustees. We have advised the trustees to consider whether there are any further steps they can take to engage constructively with the former trustees or with any members that have concerns about the charity and its governance. One of the specific matters you raised was that the two former trustees have not been offered mediation. I can confirm that it is a decision for the trustees as to how to resolve the dispute (we cannot for the reasons above insist they mediate) and they will be accountable for those decisions. I can confirm that we have provided advice to trustees that they should consider whether there are any further steps that can be taken to engage constructively, particularly with the former trustees, including considering mediation, if that is appropriate.’ The Board have continually stated that they follow advice at all times. We now expect them to follow this strongly worded advice from the charity regulator. Our ‘Asks’ We are now asking the Board for four things: 1. Offer mediation to Bryan and Seána (or reinstate them immediately as per the terms of our resolution) 2. Ensure that the three trustees who are due to step down this year at the end of the three year term for which we elected them, actually do step down or put themselves forward for re-election. This means there should be five trustee vacancies (not including the President) rather than two. 3. Ensure that they do not fill appointed spaces until the skills gaps are clear following the election. 4. Hold an independent review into the Board’s actions in forcing these trustees out, and the associated governance issues. How you can help We believe NCT is at a crossroads. We understand that we are now a large organisation and that therefore it is sensible to take a corporate approach at times. However we also need to stand up for NCT’s values, and we firmly believe that the way in which this issue is resolved will set the tone for our charity for years to come. There is a risk that, having completed the four ‘Town Hall’ meetings, the Board may believe this issue is now going to go away. Therefore we need your help. Please can you consider the following: 1. Fill in the survey on the Andrew Hind report (closes Thursday) 2. Email the Board, highlighting some or all of the four ‘asks’ listed above. The email address is trustees@nct.org.uk Feel free to copy us at nctgeneralmeeting@outlook.com if you wish. 3. Continue to encourage people to sign the petition - including your partner if you are in a joint member household. Keep in touch Our email address is nctgeneralmeeting@outlook.com and our closed facebook group is www.facebook.com/groups/NCTgeneralmeeting We have increasing numbers of members contacting us and wanting to get involved. We firmly believe that these issues can be resolved in the best interests of NCT, and that we can heal this breach. We’d like to thank you again for your support in this campaign. NCT is powered by its members, volunteers, and practitioners, and we are looking forward to moving forward positively as one body, working confidently with a Board that we can trust. Yours faithfully The Campaign Team: Karen Griffith (Former Wales Regional Coordinator, Member of Wales Regional Team, Branch Volunteer) Cathy McCusker (NI Regional Coordinator, Bumps & Babies Coordinator, MSLC rep, Branch Volunteer) Elaine Lambe (Former West Midlands Regional Coordinator, Member of Regional Team, Breastfeeding Peer Supporter) Ruth Farthing (Joint Branch Coordinator) Susan McDowell (Antenatal Teacher) Pamela Quiery (Fundraising Coordinator, MSLC Rep) Leslie Altic (NCT Student Practitioner, Branch Deputy Treasurer and Secretary) Kathryn Masterson (Area Link for Scotland Regional Team) Hannah Cooper (Branch Coordinator, Regional Area Link) Aine Fegan (Antenatal Teacher) Aisling Cooper (Branch Coordinator, First Aid Coordinator, Newsletter Coordinator, Regional Area Link) Emma Fraser (Branch Parent Support Coordinator, Student NCT Practitioner, Branch Volunteer) Claire Hackett (Membership Coordinator, First Aid Coordinator, Branch Volunteer) Appendix 1: Information confirmed/questions answered at the ‘Town Hall’ meetings After the four meetings, and having coordinated feedback from members who attended each meeting, we have concluded the following: - Bryan and Seána’s account of the events leading to their removal as trustees is entirely accurate. - The Board’s communications about this have contained inaccuracies and misleading statements. - The Board have acted outside their remit as defined by our governing documents - The legally privileged advice was not, in fact, a ‘package’. - The only suggestion that it would be helpful if trustees were invited to step down came in the PR advice from Bell Pottinger. - The suggestion that ‘no individual trustee was to blame but trustees have collective responsibility for the decision to co-brand’ is untrue. NCT Trustees did not make the decision to co-brand. - The statement that ‘NCT Board was legally responsible for the decisions of Trading Board’ is untrue. - This was a PR issue, not a legal one. - The Board gave different responses at different meetings; for example in Manchester they stated clearly that Terms of Reference had been written for the Bednest Incident Team, before confirming in Glasgow that no Terms of Reference had ever been produced. - Seána only released her statement because NCT had drafted an inaccurate statement which was set to damage the reputations of all the 2012 trustees. - The CEO stated he had been acting alone when he threatened to suspend Bryan and Seána’s NCT membership. Although the power to suspend membership rests with him, his delegated authority powers prevent him from being involved in the removal of trustees. This is a serious issue and it is clear he overstepped his authority. - The trustees confirmed they had supported the CEO in doing this. - The Board were unable to explain why they hadn’t used the correct procedure (Code of Conduct/Companies Act) if they wanted to remove trustees. - The fact of the trustees’ departure was not used in any material way at the inquest or otherwise. The catastrophe threatened by the PR company did not materialise, and NCT did not say or do anything differently as a result of the trustees no longer being in place. - Seána was informed in February that the reason why she could not be reinstated was ‘because of the way in which we gave evidence at the inquest, it would seem cynical to reinstate you’. We have now confirmed that their departure was not used at the inquest in any way. The CEO did indicate that he felt his testimony was ‘more confident’ or ‘more authentic’ because the trustees were gone. This was the only justification offered for both removing trustees and refusing to reinstate them. - Some trustees seem not to understand NCT’s group structure, our governance rules, or the Board’s accountability to members.