Outside body

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has a Council of Governors who provide a link between local communities and the Trust’s Board of Directors.

The Council of Governors, collectively, is the body that provides local accountability to the Trust’s service users, carers, staff, stakeholders and the wider public. The Council consists of 30 individuals, made up of both appointed and elected governors.

The concept of an NHS foundation trust rests on local accountability, which governors perform a pivotal role in providing. The governors represent the interests of members of the Trust as a whole and the interests of the public, contributing to the future direction of our Trust; holding the non-executive directors (collectively and individually) to account for the way our Board of Directors performs. The Council of Governors shares information and key decisions with foundation trust members.

The Trust has 30 governor seats over four constituencies:

Public Governors - There are eight seats available for public governors. Public governors provide local accountability and help to increase the involvement of the general public.

Service User and Carer Governors - There are ten seats available for service user and carer governors. Service user and carer governors have a personal understanding of issues and bring a valuable perspective when representing the views of other service users and carers.

Staff Governors - There are six seats available for staff governors. Staff governors bring a staff member viewpoint to the discussion and have the opportunity to provide information from the staff’s perspective.

Appointed Governors - Appointed governors are from a pre-defined list of partner organisations (which must include the local authorities in which we provide our services).There are six seats available for appointed governors. Appointed governors bring the perspective of our partners and ensure they are informed of our plans.

The role of a governor is very important, it is to:

• provide a link between the Board of Directors and the local community
• influence the forward/strategic plans of the Trust
• hold the non-executive directors individually and collectively to account for the performance of the Board
• appoint or remove the Chair and the other non-executive directors
• approve the appointment of the Chief Executive
• decide who will be the Trust’s auditor.