Questions to the Board & public access to Board
meetings
Questions to the Board
Public access to Board meetings
Members of the public are welcome to attend Tower Hamlets Homes
Board meetings. These meetings are somewhat different to residents
meetings you may have attended in the past, so we have put
together some guidelines to follow should you wish to
attend or ask a question at a Board meeting.
How will I know what is going to be discussed at a Board
meeting?
The Agenda and any associated papers will be
available 5 working days before the meeting is due to take place.
They will be posted on Tower Hamlets Homes website as well as being
available on request. You can also request a copy
from the Governance Officer whose contact details are given
below.
Are there any special ‘rules’ that apply at Board
meetings?
Members of the public are welcome to attend as
observers only and may not participate or ask questions. In
order to ask a question of the Board you must submit your
question in advance. The guidelines to do this are given below.
Some information to be discussed at Board
meetings is considered to be either confidential or exempt, based
on definitions in the Tower Hamlets Homes Constitution.
When confidential or exempt information is to
be discussed, members of the public will be asked to leave the
meeting and will be re-admitted once the discussion is
finished.
In the unlikely event that any member of the
public is considered by the Chair to be behaving in an
inappropriate manner they may be asked to leave.
I would like to ask a question to the Board, how do I go about
this?
Questions to the
Board should be submitted to the Head of Communications &
Governance at least 5 working days in advance of the Board meeting
(questions relating to items on the agenda, will need 3
working days notice).
Questions to the Board should be in writing.
The Head of Communications and Governance can help you prepare your
question if you need any help. You must give your name and address
when submitting a question as anonymous questions are
not accepted.
Questions to the board should be on
general or strategic issues. Questions
concerning individual circumstances should be directed to
service managers, or the complaints
procedure as appropriate, and will not be answered at the Board
meeting.
The first 10 minutes of every Board meeting is
set aside to address questions submitted in advance, as set
out above, from members of the public. The Chair will read the
question and the response which will be recorded in the minutes.
Supplementary questions arising from the answers given will not be
allowed at the meeting. If for any reason it is not possible to
give a response during the meeting, the member of the public asking
the question will receive a written response within 10 working
days. Subject to the Data Protection Act, and at the request of the
members of the public, a copy of the answers will be placed on the
Tower Hamlets Homes website.
What about Committees of the Board?
Committees of the Board are non-decision
making and will not therefore be open to the public.
Who do I contact for help and advice?
If you want to submit a question, or want
further information about public access to Board meetings,
please contact:
Sesi Afewu
Governance Officer
Tower Hamlets Homes
Jack Dash House
2 Lawn House
Close
London
E14 9YQ
Tel: 020 7364 5015
Email: contactus@towerhamletshomes.org.uk