The Tenants' Forum's constitution was written by the forum when it was formed. It sets out how the forum is organised and its fundamental principles. It lays down rules to ensure fairness and accountability, and how its members are expected to behave.

1. TITLE & AIMS
The name of the organisation shall be Babergh District Council Tenants’ Forum, hereinafter referred to as the Forum. Babergh District Council is hereinafter referred to as the Council.
The aims of the Forum shall be:

To promote the interests of the Council Tenants;

To influence the practices and policies that govern the provision of housing services in the District;

To maintain an effective partnership with the officers of the Council who manage  housing services in the District, and to communicate positively and effectively with the members of the Council;

To assess, consider and contribute to decisions about what performance information to present to Council Tenants in an annual report;

To generate ideas and proposals which may benefit the Council Tenants;

To inform the Council Tenants about all matters of concern to them on a regular basis 

To consult Council Tenants on all matters of concern to them;

To encourage the formation of neighbourhood Council Tenants’ associations, and support them when they are established.

2.  EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The Forum shall act without discrimination, prejudice or bias in any form for or against any individual, regardless of gender, age, race, politics, religion, physical ability or disability, sexual orientation or background.

3.  MEMBERSHIP

Membership of the Forum shall be limited to sixteen existing tenants of the Council (hereinafter referred to as the Forum Members).

Other tenant group representatives can only be Forum Members if they are duly elected or co-opted on to the Forum and in no other circumstances.

4.  MEETINGS

The Forum shall meet at least once every two months.  Meetings are to be held where there is access for disabled people.
 
The chairperson and/or vice chairperson of the Council’s Housing Panel, the Council’s Tenant Services Manager, the Council’s Head of Housing and other Council officers and guests with an interest in the Forum’s business may attend the Forum’s meetings, unless the Forum chooses to exclude them. 

The quorum for a meeting shall be one third of the Forum Members.

All Forum Members shall give their signed agreement to the Code of Conduct Agreement which details the Standing Orders, Code of Conduct and Confidentiality Agreement at the beginning of their term of office (As shown in appendices A, B and C).

5.  ELECTION OF MEMBERS

The Forum shall hold elections once every three years in the month of May.  An election will only be necessary if the total number of valid nominations exceeds 16.  This election will be held for the area where the nominations exceeds the number of Forum seats on the Election Evening.
 
For the purposes of the election, the District shall be divided into wards according to the density of council housing in the area.

Prospective members of the Forum shall be proposed and seconded by existing tenants of the Council.  Nominations shall be received by the Council’s Tenant Services Manager not later than four weeks before the Annual General Meeting.

All candidates shall be given a written briefing approved by the Forum, explaining its role.  All candidates shall be telephoned or visited by existing Forum Members to ensure that they fully comprehend the role and purpose of the Forum.

All candidates are expected to attend the Election Evening

Voting shall take place at the Election Evening. Any Council Tenant who attends the Election Evening shall be eligible to vote in the election of Forum Members.

6. CO-OPTED MEMBERS OF THE FORUM

If there are vacancies on the Forum, it may co-opt members not less than four months before an election, subject to the following conditions:

The prospective co-optee shall be interviewed by a minimum of two Forum Members before being proposed and shall have been given a written briefing at least seven days before being interviewed. Priand the agendas must be sent to Forumority shall be given to the co-option of Council Tenants whose membership will maintain a balance of representation, taking into consideration area, and type of housing.

7. AGENDA AND MINUTES

The minutes for previous meeting  Members at least seven days before the meeting.

Items for the agenda shall be either agreed at the preceding meeting or submitted to the Chair of the Forum in writing at least fourteen days before the meeting or agreed by the Chair of the Forum and vice-Chair of the Forum, if necessary in consultation with the officers and/or members of the Council.

Urgent matters of business may be submitted to the Chair at the beginning of a meeting for consideration as additional agenda items. The Chair of the meeting shall decide the order of business.

At ordinary Forum meetings the minutes may be taken by an Council officer.  At Forum Members-only meetings a minutes secretary will be elected from the floor for the duration of the meeting.

Minutes must be checked by a Forum Member who was present at the meeting before circulation.

8. THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR OF THE FORUM

The posts of Chair of the Forum and Vice Chair of the Forum are appointed at the next Forum meeting following the Election Evening and will serve for a term of 3 years.

Nominees for these posts shall be proposed and seconded by Forum Members.  A ballot of Forum Members will be held if the number of nominations for each post is greater than one. 
The postholders period of office is to be no longer than two consecutive terms. 
There will be a yearly review of these Forum posts.

9.  ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Annual General Meeting shall be held at the offices of the Council offices each year.

The Annual General Meeting shall be open to all Council Tenants, with members of the Council’s Housing Panel, Council officers and guests invited by the Forum.

The Annual General Meeting shall consider the Chair of the Forum’s annual report, any recommended Constitution amendments and vote to agree on changes to the Constitution where necessary.

Any Council Tenant who attends the Annual General Meeting shall be eligible to vote.

Guests may address the Annual General Meeting on matters of interest to the Council Tenants, by invitation.

10. SPECIAL MEETINGS

Special meetings may be held if three or more Forum Members submit a request to the Chair of the Forum. 
Special meetings must be held within seven days of such a request, and Forum Members must be notified (by phone if necessary) at least four days in advance.

11. FINANCE

All the Forum’s training and administrative expenses and services will be provided by the Council from the housing revenue account, subject to agreement with the Council’s officers and members.
All reasonable approved expenses incurred by Forum Members will be met from the Council’s housing revenue account, i.e. travel expenses and caring expenses.

12. PROVIDING INFORMATION TO THE MEMBERS

The Forum Members will be provided with all relevant information, including the minutes of relevant Council meetings.

13.CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION

The Constitution may be altered at the Annual General Meeting, after discussion at a Forum Members-only meeting prior to the Annual General Meeting.

14.DISSOLUTION OF THE FORUM

The Forum may only be dissolved at a Special General Meeting called for that purpose and must be advertised at least fourteen days before that meeting.
A proposal to dissolve the Forum shall take effect only if agreed by at least two thirds of the Forum Members present at the meeting.

appendix A - Standing Orders

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appendix B - Code of Conduct

1. All speakers will address the Chair of the Forum.
2. All speakers must keep to the subject under discussion and not wander off the point - keep  it relevant!
3. Only one person may speak at a time - no ‘2nd meetings’.
4. Each person may only speak once on an issue until every other Forum member has had an  opportunity to speak, unless the Chair of the Forum gives permission for someone to   speak more than once.  The Chair of the Forum’s decision is final.
5. No Forum Member shall discriminate on the grounds of age, gender, race, nationality,   sexuality, political or religious beliefs, marital status, disability, HIV status or illness.
6. All Forum Members shall, at all times, treat other Forum Members with respect.
7. There will be no smoking at meetings.
8. Any Forum Member who appears to be under the influence of alcohol or non-prescription   drugs will be excluded from the meeting.
9. All Forum Members shall respect the confidentiality of everything they may hear at meetings.
10. All Forum Members shall be prepared to be wrong.
11. All Forum Members shall be aware of the time.
12. If any Forum Member does not abide by the code of conduct they may be given a warning  by the Chair of the Forum that they could be asked to leave the meeting, and that this may  be the first of three warnings.  The Chair of the Forum may give the member two further warnings. At the third case of disruption the Chair of the Forum will ask the meeting to vote on   whether to ask the Forum Member to leave.

appendix C - Confidentiality Agreement

1. All Forum Members have an equal responsibility to ensure that the confidentiality of both   fellow Forum Members and other Council Tenants is respected.
2. Any personal information volunteered by Forum Members in the course of training or during  meetings must remain confidential.
3. Prior consent from a Council tenant should be obtained if it is necessary to make a   personal reference to that individual at a meeting.
4. Where reports distributed to Forum Members are marked `Confidential` no information   about them will be passed to any person outside the Forum.
5. Forum Members must be aware that the content of many reports which are not marked   `Confidential` are often in draft form.  Details of these reports may be passed to others on   the proviso that their draft nature is also revealed.
6. Forum Members must keep all papers relating to the Council’s Housing Service in a secure  place.
7. Any request from the media to a Forum Member for information should be passed straight  to the Chair of the Forum.
8. Forum Members should not speak to the media on behalf of the Forum without the permission of the Chair of the Forum.
9. When Forum Members are speaking at meetings, conferences or training events they should remember that they are representing the Forum and are bound by the Constitution  and this Confidentiality Agreement.
10. Any audio or visual recordings of Forum meetings are prohibited unless the Chair of the   Forum agrees to a recording for the personal use of an individual Forum Member.
11. Any recording is only to be used for the individual concerned and is not for distribution to   others.
12. All Forum Members are asked to observe these procedures regarding confidentiality. Any breach of this confidentiality agreement may lead to dismissal from the Forum.