RCN Royal Charter and standing orders

The RCN was first granted a Royal Charter in 1928. On this page you can read the Royal Charter and standing orders.

Royal Charter

The RCN Royal Charter lays out the aims of the College and how it works.

Standing orders

The standing orders show how the College works to fulfil the aims of the Royal Charter.

Regulations

Our regulations comprise the policies and procedures of the RCN which implement the provisions in the standing orders.

The regulations are being updated and developed over time, and replace the previous RCN rules.  A copy of the rules remains here until all the new regulations are complete.

Rules

These are the current rules of the RCN. They are currently under review and will be replaced with a new set of regulations, designed to implement the provisions of the Royal Charter and standing orders.

We understand that some people require information in alternative formats. We are happy to supply any of the documents on this page in the format that best suits you (for example large print, serif font or sans serif font). Please email stephanie.wilson@rcn.org.uk or phone 020 7647 3642.

Updates to the documents

These documents have been reviewed as part of the Legal & Governance Review.

The membership accepted changes to the Royal Charter at the 2009 AGM to make sure that the RCN meets the requirements and the legislation governing charities. This was part of phase one of the Legal & Governance Review, and the changes came into force in April 2010.

At the 2010 AGM the membership voted to accept this new Royal Charter and set of standing orders to replace the then bye-laws as part of phase two of the review. This process was to make sure that the RCN's governance documents are easy to understand, reflect the way the College works today (including its role as a trade union), and can develop with the nursing profession in the future. The revised Royal Charter was sealed by the Privy Council on 12 May 2011, and the standing orders came into force in April 2011.

It is proposed that in future there will be four levels of governance regulation, and only changes at the very top level will need to seek Royal approval:

The current rules are being revised as part of phase three of the Legal & Governance review and will become part of the new set of regulations. These will fully describe how each of the new standing orders will be implemented. The branch, board and Congress constitutions, and the Council standing orders, will also be reviewed as part of this work.