Terms of reference and constitutions

Most SABs, prior to the Care Act 2014, had developed a formal agreement to underpin their governance and activity. These agreements varied in length and complexity and took several forms:

The Care Act does not make any specific requirements of SABs with regard to governance, infrastructure and links to other local multi-agency partnerships. The Statutory Guidance (14.114) states that ‘local SABs decide how they operate but they must ensure that their arrangements will be able to deliver the duties and functions under Schedule 2 of the Care Act’ In effect, this means that SABs need to seek cooperation and collaboration from their member agencies in implementing their strategic plan.

In order to achieve this, a SAB will need to agree its governance and structure in documentation such as terms of reference and/or a constitution, which could include:

The SAB should seek legal advice on the content and structure of its governance documentation. The source of this advice should be clearly identified as it might be seen as a conflict of interest with the SAB’s independence from its membership.

Issues to consider include: