CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper I 26^th August 2022

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Title: ELEC­TION OF BOARD DEPUTY CONVENER

Pre­pared by: DAV­ID CAMER­ON, DIR­ECT­OR OF COR­POR­ATE SERVICES

FOR DECISION

Pur­pose

This paper noti­fies board mem­bers of the forth­com­ing end of appoint­ment as a board mem­ber of the cur­rent Board Deputy Convener.

The paper noti­fies board mem­bers of the need for an elec­tion to the role of Board Deputy Con­vener seeks agree­ment of Board mem­bers to the pro­cess for con­duct of that election.

The paper reflects on the con­sid­er­a­tion of these mat­ters by the Board’s Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee at its meet­ing on 12 August 2022.

Recom­mend­a­tions

It is recom­men­ded that the Board con­siders the pro­pos­al of the Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee and agrees to:

a) Note the term of appoint­ment of the Board Deputy Con­vener to the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity board will end on 30 Septem­ber 2022.

b) Note the pro­pos­al to con­sider amend­ment to Stand­ing Orders at the 9 Septem­ber board meet­ing, to allow a tem­por­ary amend­ment to the term of office of the Board Deputy Con­vener for one year to 30 Septem­ber 2023, for the next elec­tion of the Deputy Con­vener only.

c) Agree the prin­ciple of pro­cess and timetable for the elec­tion pro­cess for the Board Deputy Con­vener as a postal (or elec­tron­ic if feas­ible) bal­lot under exist­ing busi­ness con­tinu­ity arrange­ments, com­men­cing fol­low­ing the board meet­ing of 9 Septem­ber 2022.

Inform­a­tion

1. The cur­rent Board Deputy Con­vener will come to the end of their appoint­ment as a Cairngorms NPA board mem­ber on 30 Septem­ber 2022.

2. The rel­ev­ant parts of the Nation­al Park Authority’s Stand­ing Orders are presen­ted in Annex I to this paper.

Pro­cess of Election

1. The board have agreed inter­im amend­ments to its Stand­ing Orders over the dur­a­tion of the Cairngorms NPA’s imple­ment­a­tion of busi­ness con­tinu­ity arrange­ments. The

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CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper I 26^th August 2022

1. Stand­ing Order amend­ments include a change from a vot­ing pro­cess that requires in per­son attend­ance at meet­ings to a postal vot­ing sys­tem. This ensures full par­ti­cip­a­tion by all mem­bers where they are unable to attend a meet­ing for any reason.

2. These amend­ments to stand­ing orders remain in force, not hav­ing been form­ally repealed by the board. This pos­i­tion reflects the Cairngorms NPA’s ongo­ing evol­u­tion of meet­ing arrange­ments as the Author­ity estab­lishes new, for­ward look­ing hybrid meet­ing arrange­ments with a com­bin­a­tion of in per­son and vir­tu­al attendance.

3. As there is some expect­a­tion that the Septem­ber 2022 board meet­ing will remain a hybrid meet­ing, and in the con­text of amend­ments to Stand­ing Orders not yet being form­ally repealed, it appears appro­pri­ate that the board again adopt a postal vote pro­cess for the elec­tion of the Board Deputy Convener.

4. Altern­ately, the board may wish to revert to the under­ly­ing stand­ing orders as set out in the Annex to this paper.

5. The Stand­ing Orders state at sec­tion 4) d) ii) that ​“Only Mem­bers who are present may vote”. This is cla­ri­fied fur­ther in para­graph 10: ​“Par­ti­cip­a­tion will nor­mally be in per­son and must be in per­son for meet­ings arranged to con­duct elec­tions of Con­vener and Deputy Con­vener and elec­tions of Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Con­vener and Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Deputy Con­vener”. There­fore, it is clear that repeal­ing busi­ness con­tinu­ity amend­ments and revert­ing to Stand­ing Orders pro­vi­sions for the con­duct of an elec­tion will allow only those mem­bers present in per­son at the meet­ing where an elec­tion will take place to par­ti­cip­ate in that election.

Feed­back on Elec­tion Process

1. The board has oper­ated a pro­cess of open feed­back on the con­duct of elec­tions dur­ing the peri­od of oper­a­tion of busi­ness con­tinu­ity amend­ments to its Stand­ing Orders.

2. This feed­back has been con­sidered through the Audit and Risk and Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee. The Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee at its meet­ing on 12^th August 2022 did not con­sider that any changes were required to be recom­men­ded to the Board as a res­ult of the feedback.

Tim­ing of Election

1. The tim­ing and pro­cess of the Board Deputy Con­vener is poten­tially a sens­it­ive mat­ter giv­en that this falls at a point where some mem­bers may be com­ing to the end of their mem­ber­ship of the board, and in advance of new mem­bers poten­tially join­ing in Octo­ber. The board needs to con­sider when the elec­tion should be held in the con­text of forth­com­ing changes in board membership.

2. Com­men­cing the pro­cess imme­di­ately will mean that the elec­tion will be determ­ined in part by mem­bers com­ing to the end of their term of office. Delay­ing the elec­tion until after the end of the cur­rent Deputy Convener’s term will allow new loc­al author­ity nom­in­ees join­ing the board par­ti­cip­ate in the pro­cess. Timetables therefore

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CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper I 26^th August 2022

have to bal­ance con­sid­er­a­tion of mem­bers’ know­ledge and under­stand­ing of can­did­ates with input of new mem­bers to an elec­tion for a board office that will have rel­ev­ance to their tenure.

Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee Considerations

Pro­cess of Election

1. The pre­ced­ing inform­a­tion was con­sidered by the Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee at its meet­ing of 12 August 2022.

2. Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee agreed that the con­tinu­ation of a postal elec­tion con­tin­ues to be required at this time to ensure all mem­bers eli­gible to vote have the oppor­tun­ity to do so. The Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee has asked officers to con­sider wheth­er a postal bal­lot may be replaced by some form of elec­tron­ic vot­ing. This will be con­sidered and only imple­men­ted where officers are con­fid­ent that a secure, con­fid­en­tial sys­tem which accom­mod­ates our vot­ing sys­tem can be imple­men­ted in the timetable that may be required and with­in staff resourcing capacity.

3. The Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee con­cluded that no oth­er changes to Stand­ing Orders would be brought for­ward in this regard at this time.

Tim­ing of Elec­tion and Wider Considerations

1. The tim­ing of the elec­tion was agreed as a sens­it­ive mat­ter giv­en the cur­rent turnover of board members.

2. On bal­ance, the Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee con­sidered it import­ant to have a Deputy Con­vener in place to sup­port the gov­ernance and lead­er­ship require­ments of the Author­ity. As such, the views of the Com­mit­tee sup­por­ted an elec­tion being held imme­di­ately to seek to ensure the Author­ity has a Deputy Con­vener in place.

3. In reflec­tion on the sens­it­iv­ity of tim­ing of this elec­tion, the Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee and with pro­ced­ur­al advice from seni­or officers, recog­nised the poten­tial to pro­pose a tem­por­ary amend­ment to Stand­ing Orders to vary the term of elec­tion for the Deputy Con­vener from three years to one year, to allow for a Deputy Con­vener to serve until end Septem­ber 2023 and an elec­tion to be held for the term from Octo­ber 2023 to Septem­ber 2026 at an appro­pri­ate point in 2023, which would allow for new board mem­bers to participate.

4. The Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee were of the opin­ion that an elec­tion at this point for a single year fol­lowed by an elec­tion for the stand­ard three-year term in 2023 is the best course of action.

5. The recom­mend­a­tion of the Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee is there­fore that:

a) The board meet­ing of 26 August notes an intent to vary stand­ing orders to allow for a tem­por­ary amend­ment to the term of office for the Deputy Convener,

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CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper I 26^th August 2022

b) with the next elec­tion of Deputy Con­vener to be a one year term to 30 Septem­ber 2023.

c) The board meet­ing of 9 Septem­ber will con­sider this amend­ment to Stand­ing Orders as part of a recom­mend­a­tion to com­mence a postal (or elec­tron­ic) vote for the Board Deputy Con­vener to serve to 30 Septem­ber 2023 in line with exist­ing busi­ness con­tinu­ity elec­tions processes.

d) No oth­er changes are pro­posed to the elec­tion pro­cesses at this time.

1. In mak­ing this recom­mend­a­tion, the Gov­ernance Com­mit­tee recog­nises that board mem­bers may wish to con­sider wider options, the main options being:

a) Status Quo — Com­mence an elec­tion pro­cess imme­di­ately fol­low­ing the 26 August board meet­ing for the Deputy Con­vener to serve the three year term spe­cified in stand­ing orders with no amend­ments to exist­ing process.

b) Delay elec­tion for a peri­od to allow for the com­mence­ment of appoint­ment of new board mem­bers. This would also require a change to Stand­ing Orders.

Dav­id Camer­on 15 August 2022 davidcameron@​cairngorms.​co.​uk

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CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper I Annex I 26^th August 2022

Extract of Board Stand­ing Orders

Con­vener and Deputy Convener

1. In accord­ance with sched­ule 1, para­graph 11, of the Act, the board elects the Con­vener and Deputy Con­vener from among its num­ber. The elec­tion of the Con­ven­or shall take place at a spe­cial meet­ing arranged for that pur­pose to be sched­uled pri­or to the end of the exist­ing Convenor’s term of appoint­ment. The pro­cess of elec­tion for Con­vener shall be con­duc­ted by the Prop­er Officer. The pro­cess of elec­tion will be as follows:

a) The Prop­er Officer or their author­ised rep­res­ent­at­ive will seek nom­in­a­tions from mem­bers of the NPA at least 15 work­ing days pri­or to the meet­ing. Any mem­ber may pro­pose anoth­er NPA mem­ber as Con­vener, and a third mem­ber must second the nom­in­a­tion for it to be val­id. Nom­in­a­tions must be received and val­id no later than sev­en work­ing days pri­or to the meet­ing, to allow a final list of val­id nom­in­ees to be cir­cu­lated by the Prop­er Officer to all mem­bers pri­or to the meet­ing in accord­ance with sched­ules for issue of Board papers for the meet­ing. Pro­posers and seconds of nom­in­a­tions may be delivered in any per­man­ent form – email, let­ter, recor­ded oral mes­sage provided that the form provides a means of per­man­ent record of the pro­pos­al or second of a nom­in­a­tion to the sat­is­fac­tion of the Prop­er Officer. The mem­ber nom­in­ated must also provide a per­man­ent form of record that they con­sent to being nom­in­ated for the role in question.

b) Each can­did­ate who has a val­id nom­in­a­tion will be asked if they wish to make a short state­ment to the meet­ing. Can­did­ates will be lis­ted on a bal­lot paper and invited to speak in the order in which their val­id­ated nom­in­a­tion is received by the Prop­er Officer, with first val­id nom­in­a­tion received lis­ted and speak­ing first. Each can­did­ate may sup­ply a writ­ten state­ment with their nom­in­a­tion papers. These state­ments shall be cir­cu­lated by the Prop­er Officer to all mem­bers in advance of the meet­ing at which the elec­tion shall take place.

c) Mem­bers who are absent from the meet­ing may be put for­ward for elec­tion, nom­in­ate or second a can­did­ate, provided they have made appro­pri­ate, signed writ­ten state­ments pri­or to the meet­ing to the Prop­er Officer their con­sent to being nom­in­ated. A state­ment by a can­did­ate who is unable to be present at the meet­ing may be read at the meeting.

d) Elec­tion will be by abso­lute major­ity, using a single, trans­fer­rable vote sys­tem as follows:

i. Mem­bers will be asked to state clearly on their vot­ing paper their pre­ferred can­did­ate in their order of pref­er­ence, e.g. can­did­ate A = 1, can­did­ate C = 2, can­did­ate B = 3 etc.

ii. Only Mem­bers who are present may vote.

iii. Once all votes are cast and col­lec­ted, the Prop­er Officer sup­por­ted by a second officer will count all first pref­er­ences. If this count gives rise to a can­did­ate hold­ing a major­ity of votes, they shall be declared as elec­ted to the

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CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

Form­al Board Paper I Annex I 26^th August 2022

role. If this count does not give a major­ity for a single can­did­ate, the can­did­ate receiv­ing few­est votes shall be excluded and their votes real­loc­ated to remain­ing can­did­ates on basis of any second pref­er­ences stated.

iv. This pro­cess will con­tin­ue until one can­did­ate emerges with an abso­lute major­ity of the votes cast by those mem­bers present and voting.

v. Where there is an equal­ity of votes among those can­did­ates who have least votes, then a decision on who is to be excluded will be determ­ined by lot.

vi. Where there is an equal­ity of votes with only two can­did­ates for a pos­i­tion, then a decision on who is to be elec­ted will be determ­ined by lot.

vii. If it is the case that there is only one can­did­ate for either pos­i­tion, then that per­son will be declared elected.

viii. Vot­ing will be by secret bal­lot. Each round of bal­lot­ing will be coun­ted by the Prop­er Officer and wit­nessed by a second mem­ber of staff. Bal­lot papers will be retained for inspec­tion by any mem­ber of the Board or the Chief Exec­ut­ive for a peri­od of sev­en days.

1. Where any part of the elec­tion pro­cess is required to be determ­ined by ​“lot”, this will be achieved through the pro­cess estab­lished as an Annex to these Stand­ing Orders and in force at the time of the election.

2. The dur­a­tion of the office of Con­vener and Deputy Con­vener will be 3 years (unless the mem­ber con­cerned ceases to be a Mem­ber of the NPA, or resigns from the pos­i­tion of Convener/​Deputy Con­vener before the end of the period).

3. For cases in which a Convener/​Deputy Con­vener resigns or ceases to be a Mem­ber, the elec­tion pro­cess will apply as the first item of busi­ness at the next board meet­ing fol­low­ing the vacancy arising.

4. The above pro­cess in para­graphs 4 – 5 will also apply to the elec­tion of Deputy Con­vener, which shall take place after the elec­tion of Con­vener if both posts are to be decided at the same meeting.