AGM 2011 vote
Welcome to the AGM 2011 vote page. Here you will find information about the resolutions that were voted on at the AGM at RCN HQ in London on 26 October.
Vote results in detail
Here are the results of the vote.
If members appointed the President, Chair of Council or any other Council member as their proxy they will have voted in the way that the member indicated. If no indication was given, they voted in favour of the resolutions. View the proxy voting by RCN Council document [Word 16KB] to see how each Council member holding proxy votes cast them.
N.B. Special Resolutions require 2/3 majority of those voting to be carried.
Special Resolution 1: To make health practitioners full members of the RCN and be represented through the establishment of two seats on RCN Council.
Votes in favour: 22,979 (81.2%)
Votes against: 5,312 (18.8%)
Total number of votes cast: 28,291
This resolution met the required two-thirds majority and is carried. View the ERS statement [Word 27KB].
Special Resolution 2: To enable RCN Council to approve annual subscription rate increases over the current rate of up to 2% above the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in any given year, with the proviso that members are asked to review this arrangement with a vote in general meeting every five years.
Votes in favour: 15,556 (56.6%)
Votes against: 11,946 (43.4%)
Total number of votes cast: 27,502
This resolution failed to meet the 18,334 votes needed to meet the two-thirds majority and is therefore not carried. View the ERS statement [Word 27KB].
Special Resolution 3: To amend the RCN Royal Charter to ensure that in the unlikely event of the RCN being wound up, any surplus would be distributed among the members of the College.
Votes in favour: 27,760 (98.4%)
Votes against: 439 (1.6%)
Total number of votes cast: 28,199
This resolution met the required two-thirds majority and is carried. View the ERS statement [Word 27KB].
What were the key resolutions members voted on?
1. To make health practitioners full members of the RCN and be represented through the establishment of two seats on RCN Council.
Before this vote was passed health practitioners (for example health care assistants and assistant practitioners) could only be associate members. This meant they received all the benefits of membership, but could not stand for election or nominate someone else to join RCN Council.
In 2010 64.23% of you voted “yes” to the proposal, which was a clear majority, but just short of the two-thirds needed to pass.
As so many of you supported this proposal, RCN Council believed it was important to give members the opportunity to vote on it again. Council listened to members’ concerns and the resolution was been amended to create a separate constituency for health practitioners, much like the students constituency. This gives two guaranteed seats on Council for health practitioners, but they cannot stand for any other Council seat, nor be eligible to stand as President, Deputy President or any of the other officer roles. It guarantees that health practitioners have a voice in the RCN but the majority of seats on Council would still be reserved for registered nurse members.
2. To enable RCN Council to approve annual subscription rate increases over the current rate of up to 2% above the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in any given year, with the proviso that members are asked to review this arrangement with a vote in general meeting every five years.
This resolution received 56.6% of the vote so did not pass. This means the Standing Orders of the College continue to state that the membership must agree to every subscription increase.
In 2005, members gave RCN Council special dispensation to set the rate for five years, with a maximum increase of 6% irrespective of the prevailing rate of inflation. The new resolution would have formalised this arrangement but with tighter controls – Council would only be able to authorise an increase of up to 2% above inflation without a membership vote.
In 2010 66.08% of you voted to give Council this power permanently. This narrowly failed to get the two-thirds of votes needed to pass.
Council has listened to members’ concerns about this issue, and the proviso was added that the membership must vote on the arrangement every five years. In addition, the proposed measure of inflation was changed to CPI rather than the Retail Price Index (RPI). This means that Council would be able to plan the RCN’s finances in this difficult climate, but also allowed it to be reviewed by members on a regular basis.
3. To amend the RCN Royal Charter to ensure that in the unlikely event of the RCN being wound up, any surplus would be distributed among the members of the College.
This new, special resolution was necessary to confer mutual trading tax status on the RCN as a membership organisation alongside the tax concessions the RCN can receive as a special register trade union through providing provident benefits to members.
The old clause in the Charter reflected the previous charitable status of the RCN. Mutual trading status is a status recognised by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) which applies to organisations whose surpluses are created by virtue of the members trading with themselves and, as such, ensures that surpluses generated in this way are not subject to tax. It is a status accorded to trade unions, membership organisations and similar associations provided they have constitutional arrangements in place to return any surplus funds back to members, with no arrangements for them to go to anyone else.
Members voted yes on this proposal to ensure that the RCN can attain mutual trading status through being a membership organisation.
When will the changes be made?
The first resolution, which passed with 81.2% of the vote, comes into effect immediately. The second resolution did not receive the two-thirds majority of the vote required to pass. The third proposal passed with 98.4% of the vote. As it is an amendment to the Royal Charter it will now go forward for formal approval by Her Majesty the Queen.