In this section:
Committee of Management
Introducing the Committee of Management
What is the Committee of Management?
The Society is a mutual Friendly Society. Since it began in 1905 it has been for
its members. This means that a group of 12 members have been elected to take responsibility
for the overall running of the Society; these people are known as the Committee
of Management or CoM.
How are they elected?
They are elected every two years at the Society’s Conference, along with the Society Secretary. The Society’s Rule Book determines the number of CoM members we can have. At present we have twelve.
There is no restriction on the number of people who can be nominated, and we
always hope to get a wide range of candidates from which Conference can choose. Members
who are elected serve for two years and may serve a maximum tenure of eight years
before standing down. The member may stand for election again after a two year
break. Members aged 70 years or over may not stand for election. Immediately after
each Conference, the newly-elected CoM get together to elect from amongst their
number, a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Deputy Secretary.
What do they do?
The Committee of Management is a Non-Executive Board and they possess a wide
range of experience and a good balance of long-serving and new members. They are
responsible for three main areas:
- Strategic direction of the business of the Society
- Compliance with current legislation (including the Society’s own Memorandum and Articles and Conference Resolutions)
- Monitoring and oversight of operational activity.
How does the CoM work?
Members of the CoM are all unpaid volunteers and they meet together as a group
around six times a year to monitor progress with the Society’s business plan and
to make key decisions. In addition to the main CoM meetings each year, there are
a number of other sub-committees, boards, working groups and other events with
which individual CoM members are involved.
There are three main boards or sub-committees:
- Society Governance & Democracy
- Strategic Business Planning
- Nominations Committee
These consist of four or five CoM members plus senior staff, and their role is
to carry out more detailed work on specific topics in order to support the full
CoM. We also have sub-committees to deal with Audit and Remuneration issues.
There are several other groups, including the Board of the Friendly Healthcare
Organisation Limited (the subsidiary company which runs Best Health cash plan),
Trustees of the Friends of Benenden Hospital Trust and the Benenden Charitable
Trust: four CoM members also act as Trustees of the Society’s Pension Plan.
If you would like to know more about the role and work of our Committee of Management,
please contact the Society Secretary.
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