Members questions for AGM

How will the governance review embed member leadership and democratic decision-making at all levels of organisational structures and processes?

The governance review is inherently about member leadership. The governing body of BAOT is comprised of occupational therapy members elected by the wider membership. The review aims to enhance the governing body’s decision-making via an improved constitution, better support, diversification of skills and improved structures and processes around Council, the RCOT Board and their committees. Embedding member democracy at all levels of the organisational structures and processes is not a stated objective of the governance review.

RCOT, as the subsidiary charity, already has many mechanisms for members to share their views and shape our work through:
•    membership surveys, research and polls
•    member’s participation and input shared during meetings, events and workshops
•    questions, queries and feedback shared with us through all our communication channels 
•    dedicated working groups established 
•    a new member impact panel to gather comments and thoughts from members on a variety of issues and topics.

We also have RCOT Advisory Groups supporting our Workforce Strategy implementation across all four nations, Expert Advisory Groups where members with lived experiences provide recommendations, guidance and challenge and volunteers who have shaped and are leading our new professional, practice and regional networks.  

Will RCOT commit to answering every question, asked by every member, at every AGM and publish minutes within week?

Members can submit questions in advance by email or post or ask these live during the AGM if you are attending in person. 

Submit questions by email: Send your questions to Odeth Richardson, Chair of Council to hello@rcot.co.uk Please use AGM in your email subject line.

Submit questions by post: Send these for the attention of Kate Monro, Head of Governance and  Compliance, British Association of Occupational Therapists Limited, 106-114 Borough High Street, London SE1 1LB. 

We have 35 minutes for members questions during the AGM and we'll respond to as many questions as we can during this time.

We won't be responding to AGM questions on social media. We'll publish questions and answers on this page. Some questions may take longer to answer and where questions cover similar topics we may group these together. 

AGM and Council meeting minutes are approved by Council at their next meeting and published after. The AGM minutes will be approved by the end of July and published after. 

I would like to know why the AGM is not a hybrid event that the wider membership can attend.  There has been a push from the communities project to improve the digital offer and seek wider engagement with members, so having at the AGM as an in person event seems to go against widening participation for all members.

After several years of virtual AGMs, this year, the AGM will be held in person as part of our members’ day. The costs of livestreaming an in-person event, particularly an AGM are prohibitive as we have to meet additional legal requirements, and we feel would not represent the best use of member’s money. 

With the introduction of RCOT Communities, an in person Members’ Day and AGM complements the online engagement this platform provides and means we are offering a mix of online and in-person opportunities for members. 

 We know the in-person AGM won’t suit all our members and for that reason we’re holding three governance drop-ins in advance of the AGM for members to come and meet with Council members and SLT and discuss any issues relating to the resolutions – or other matters.  Attendance at these drop ins will help us assess demand for a hybrid event next year. Register for a governance drop-in. 

All members can vote for the resolutions by proxy if they are unable to join us for the AGM. This includes an option to vote online. 

Since the specialist sections were closed in September last year, the number of events that members can access has significantly reduced and of the vents advertised in OT news these carry a significant cost. We are now more than 6 months on since the specialist sections have closed and there seems to have been little progress in developing and implementing the communities of practice, and in fact I am finding that RCOT is offering a poor level of support and opportunities to engage will fellow members with similar interests.

Together with members and our volunteers, we’ve been reimagining our communities and creating a model which builds on the strength of the Specialist Sections to offer more inclusive, diverse and equitable communities for our members to benefit from as part of their membership. New volunteers have been recruited and we have been working together to shape the design of the new networks and RCOT Communities to ensure it works for our occupational therapy profession prior to launching to the wider membership.

RCOT Communities is now live and available for members and you can now join a range of practice, professional and regional networks. Look out for your activation email that will support you to create your account on the new website and access and explore the networks.. If you would like support to help identify suitable networks to join based on your interests and specialisms please let us know.  

One of the first priorities within our new networks is to understand who network members are and what their needs are to help inform the planning of CPD activities and events both in person and virtually both within networks and across networks, identifying common themes and ways to meet these needs impactfully.