Suspension and removal of statutory committee members and persons on the reserve list
14.—(1) The Appointments Committee must remove from a statutory committee any member—
(a)who resigns from membership of a statutory committee in accordance with these Rules;
(b)whose term of office has expired;
(c)who, in the case of a registrant member, has ceased to be entered in the Register;
(d)who, in the opinion of the Appointments Committee,—
(i)has ceased to be an appropriate person to be a member of a statutory committee (for example, by reason of misconduct or a criminal conviction),
(ii)has seriously or persistently failed to meet the standards of performance, conduct, attendance or participation in training required of a member of a statutory committee in the ordinary course of a member’s duties,
(iii)is unable to perform the duties of a member because of ill health,
(iv)has improperly disclosed confidential information obtained by the member in the course of membership of a statutory committee,
(v)has brought the Council into disrepute,
(vi)has failed to comply with the code of conduct for statutory committee members approved and published on the Council’s website by the Council(1), or
(vii)should no longer continue to be a member of a statutory committee in the public interest.
(2) The Appointments Committee must remove from the reserve list any person—
(a)who requests removal from the reserve list;
(b)who, in the case of a potential registrant member, has ceased to be entered in the Register;
(c)who, in the opinion of the Appointments Committee,—
(i)has ceased to be an appropriate person to be on the reserve list (for example, by reason of misconduct or criminal conviction),
(ii)would be unable to perform the duties of a member of a statutory committee because of ill-health,
(iii)has brought the Council into disrepute, or
(iv)should no longer remain on the reserve list in the public interest.
(3) The Appointments Committee may suspend a member of a statutory committee while investigations are being undertaken into that member’s suitability to remain as a member of that statutory committee.
(4) The Appointments Committee must afford any member of a statutory committee, or any person on the reserve list, who is under investigation the opportunity to make written and oral representations before reaching a decision on whether to remove that member from the statutory committee or that person from the reserve list.
(5) The procedure for the suspension or removal of a member of a statutory committee, and the removal of a person from the reserve list, is to be—
(a)drafted by the Appointments Committee and submitted to the Council for approval;
(b)considered by the Council, who may decide to amend the relevant procedure prior to approving it; and
(c)once approved by the Council, set out in writing by the Appointments Committee,
and a copy of the relevant procedure must be given to every member of a statutory committee or person on the reserve list.
The guidance can be found on the Council’s website at www.pharmacyregulation.org.