Councillors are normally appointed for three years. They are required to attend Council meetings and during the periods between Council meetings to read, comment on and take decisions on matters raised to them by the Executive or senior Officers of the Society. On occasion Councillors will be asked to represent the Society at external events; this will be by invitation and on such occasions the Society will pay expenses.
The relevant extract from the Bye-laws (revised 2015), copied below, sets out the role.
SECTION XVI of the Bye-laws - Responsibilities of Councillors
- As the Trustees of the Society, which is a registered charity, members of Council shall be responsible collectively for the policy and management of the Society in accordance with charity legislation. They shall be subject to restrictions imposed by charity legislation regarding payments to trustees, and other matters.
- Members of the Council who, after one year of service, have been absent from half or more of the Council Meetings which they have been eligible to attend since election, without reason which, in the Council's opinion, is adequate and unlikely to operate for the remainder of their term of Office, shall be deemed to have resigned from Council.