Board meetings, while held in public, are not public meetings: this means that the public are very welcome to attend but cannot take part in discussions. We welcome feedback and questions from the public, and our Chair is happy to conduct a short question session at the end of each public Board in order to respond to questions which have been submitted in writing in advance of the meeting.

Subject matter for questions

Anyone may submit a written question on any matter within the powers and the duties of the Trust.

The Chair reserves the right to refuse any written question that:

• is not within the powers and duties of the Trust to answer
• is defamatory or offensive, or related to individual members of staff
• would require the disclosure of confidential or exempt information
• is deemed to be overtly political
• is substantially the same as a question that has been answered before

In addition, the Chair may decide not to deal with complex or lengthy subjects in the question session and may choose to respond with written answers instead, or ask for the query to be submitted as a Freedom of Information request.

Process for submitting questions

Questions will be answered if submitted in writing to the Trust Secretary by no later than 10am at least four working days before the date of the Board meeting. Questions must show the name and address of the person submitting the question and, if submitted on behalf of an organisation, the organisation’s address must also be stated.

No more than two questions may be submitted by any person at any meeting (within the stipulated deadlines stated above), to allow us to deal with a fair cross-section of questions. We will normally provide a written response in time for the meeting, which will usually be read out by the Chair.

Procedure at the Board meeting in public

The Chair will first close the Board meeting and then announce the start of the question session, usually lasting up to 15 minutes. If the person who has submitted the question is present, they will be invited to read out their question, with the Chair then reading out the written response. If the questioner is not present, the Chair may choose to read out the question before giving the answer.

Discussion will not normally follow at the question session except that the Chair may allow one additional oral question to be put after an answer. If the response to this oral question is not easily available, then a further written answer may be provided at the Chair's discretion.

For further information on this process and for the submission of questions please email the Trust secretary.