Northern Society of Chartered Accountants

Stand up and be counted for Northern England – ICAEW Council elections 2017 31 January 2017

Elections will take place for members of ICAEW Council in 2017. Nominations are open from 31 January until 12 noon on 3 March 2017.

This is a fantastic opportunity to get involved, share your professional experience and ensure ICAEW continues to be a world leader of the accountancy and finance profession for future generations of chartered accountants.

Help shape the future of your profession and represent Northern England in 2017

ICAEW members join the Council for a number of different reasons. Being a Council member offers a valuable experience in an environment that might be different from your day-to-day role. You get the opportunity to network with your peers and other professionals; and to have your voice heard in helping to develop the profession.

A vacancy arises in the Northern England constuency in 2017 due to retirement by rotation. (The Northern England constituency covers the same area as the Northern Society of Chartered Accountants – North East England, Teesside, northern Yorkshire and Cumbria).

ICAEW members with a registered address in the Northern England constituency at 1 January 2017 are eligible to stand for ICAEW Council – please read the summary below and more detailed information is available at icaew.com/councilelections.

Deadline for receipt of nominations is 3 March 2017. Members will be invited to vote from 11 April and the deadline for receipt of voting will be 2 May 2017. Successful candidates will take up their post on 6 June 2017 and serve for a 4 year term.

ICAEW Council Member Role Profile

Would you like to play a greater part in building our future: in reaching out to all our members, building our international profile, building our influence, building inclusiveness and inspiring the next generation of ICAEW Chartered Accountants, wherever in the world they may be.

Council members have three distinct roles:

The Representative Role
Ensuring the views across our profession are heard in helping to set the strategy and maintain the role of ICAEW as a professional body: both collectively through contributions to the decisions of Council and individually through your representation on Council;

The Holding to Account role
Upholding the public interest and holding the Board to account for the delivery of our strategic priorities; and

The Approvals role
Approving annually the Operational Plan and Budget and satisfying itself that our Principal Risks are being addressed by the Board, taking into account the recommendations and advice of the Audit Committee.

Role requirements

• Member of ICAEW with an address in the constituency you are standing in ;
• Ambassador and advocate for the accountancy profession and ICAEW culture ;
• Ensure good governance and uphold the integrity. reputation and values of ICAEW ;
• Attend Council meetings, Council Conference and the Annual and Special meetings ;

Key knowledge and skills

You will have:

• excellent written and oral communication skills (for internal and external engagement), including listening and persuasion.
• the confidence to participate in constructive discussion and debate in Council to help ICAEW drive our strategic priorities forward.
• the ability to interact with members to explain and promote the activities of ICAEW and to gather their views to enable you to represent them at Council.
• the skill and passion to act as an ambassador for ICAEW.

You will uphold the values of ICAEW.

Though not a requisite of being a Council member, you may have, or be willing to gain, the following key knowledge or skill sets:

• Knowledge and experience of business management and/or the accountancy profession encompassing strategy development, objective setting, monitoring and control.
• Knowledge of the requirements placed externally on ICAEW and internally through the Charter and bye-laws and Council’s role in meeting those requirements.
• Understanding of the business landscape ICAEW operates in and also of the needs of a commercial, not-for-profit, business-orientated environment.
• An understanding of how government policy is influenced, formulated and implemented at national and international levels.

Support and training

You will receive induction and training in your new role as a Council member. ICAEW provides formal and informal support and advice as and when required to ensure you get the best out of your time on Council and if you are asked to attend ICAEW or external events, you will be fully briefed.

Term of office

Council members normally serve a four-year term.

Time commitment

Being a Council member requires a reasonable time commitment. There are four Council meetings per year, normally held at ICAEW’s London premises in early June, September/October, December and March. Meetings usually start at 10:00 and last until about 16:00.

The June meeting follows on from the annual and special meetings on the first Tuesday of the month. There is also a residential conference, normally over two days at the beginning of July. You will also need to allow time to prepare for each meeting.

Notice of elections

Notice of elections has been issued by Michael Izza, ICAEW Chief Executive, and notes that Members of Council should reflect the diversity of our membership and we welcome applications
from across the profession. If you intend to stand for election to ICAEW Council, you can find further information and complete your candidate application online at icaew.com/councilelections.
The deadline for nominations is 12:00 GMT on 3 March 2017.

Eligibility to stand

To stand for election, you need to meet the eligibility criteria:

You need to be a member of the ICAEW, and have a clean disciplinary record; and
You must also have a registered with an address in the constituency you are standing in, by 1st January 2017.

How to put yourself forward as a candidate?

Full information on the procedures is available on the ICAEW website, but as a short summary you need to:

• Complete your application online via ICAEW nomination system;
• Submit a 300 word candidate statement and recent photograph; and
• You will need five nominators from your constituency.

Further guidance is in the ICAEW Council candidate support pack available on icaew.com/councilelections