Recruitment to the Asthma UK Council of Trustees
Vacancy: Chair of the Council of Trustees
Candidate pack and role description
Contents
1. Welcome letter from Matthew Smith: Chair of Asthma UK’s Nominations Committee
2. About Asthma UK
3. Expectations of Chair
4. How to apply / recruitment timetable
Appendix:
Chair job description
Nolan Principles on Public Life
National Council for Voluntary Organisations Code of Conduct for Trustees
1. Welcome letter from Matthew Smith: Chair of Asthma UK’s Nominations Committee
(Matthew Smith is Special Counsel at Bircham Dyson Bell Solicitors and has more than 20 years’ experience of advising on public law. He has been a Trustee since 2012.)
Dear Applicant,
I am delighted that you are interested in applying to be the Chair of the Council of Trustees for Asthma UK. This pack includes key information about Asthma UK – who we are and what we aim to achieve, how we work, the challenges we face and how the Chair’s role contributes to our effectiveness in meeting the needs of people with asthma.
There are over 5 million people living with the condition, of which more than 1 million are children. Three people still die of asthma every day in the UK and yet two thirds of these deaths are preventable with better routine care. Whilst there have been breakthroughs in medications, there are around 250,000 people for whom current treatments do not work. The cost of asthma to the NHS, each year, is well over £1billion, including over 6 million primary care appointments.
In 2013 we recruited a new Chief Executive, Kay Boycott (who has a background in the commercial, as well as not-for-profit sector), to lead the organisation through a new phase of re-positioning and growth. Our charity is not large with c.80 employees, and an income of just under £10 million. However, we punch above our weight and are well respected externally for research funding, policy influencing and our information and support services. We are also starting to build a reputation in asthma digital health with the publication of the Connected Asthma report and the launch of a new pilot innovation approach called Asthma Lab. Against a backdrop of considerable sector change we have re-evaluated our income portfolio and focused on further modernising our fundraising. We have a comprehensive test and learn programme to develop a new model of income generation more in tune with changing donor attitudes and preferences.
We have also strengthened the Council over the last 2 years bringing even more expertise and strategic insight to help us realise the enormous untapped potential for the Charity. Our current Chair, Professor Rob Wilson, will come to the end of his term in at the Annual General Meeting in 2018 (usually June or July). We are now looking to appoint his successor to lead the Council of Trustees. As well as the commitment to excellent governance we expect in all Trustees, we want a Chair who can provide strategic leadership to ensure we can sustainably maximise our impact for people with asthma in a rapidly changing environment for charities, the NHS and our workforce. For Asthma UK in particular, the opportunities, and potential risks, presented by the growing availability of data and digital technology to personalise care and supporter experience is likely to be a major feature of Council conversations for years to come.
The expectations of the Chair are dealt with in more detail in section 3 of this pack, but we envisage the Chair's commitment amounting to a minimum of 2 days per month.
The position of Chair is un-remunerated, but all reasonable expenses, including travel expenses, are paid. Most importantly, this is an opportunity for a gifted individual with specific skills to help us stop fatal asthma attacks and work towards curing asthma. If you are excited by this opportunity and the work we do, then we would be delighted to hear from you.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew Smith
Chair of Nominations Committee, Asthma UK
2. About Asthma UK
Our vision for the future
Every 10 seconds someone in the UK has a potentially life-threatening asthma attack, and three people die from asthma every day. Tragically many of these deaths could be prevented, whilst other people have asthma so severe current treatments don’t work. This has to change. That’s why Asthma UK exists.
We work to stop asthma attacks and, ultimately, cure asthma by funding world leading research and scientists, campaigning for change and supporting people with asthma to reduce their risk of a potentially life threatening asthma attack.
Our long-term vision is to ‘Stop asthma attacks. Cure asthma.’
What we do
We fight asthma in three ways; fund world class research, campaign to improve the quality of care and provide expert advice and support.
· Research: We fund new avenues of asthma research, and asthma scientists, with the aim of halving the time it takes for new discoveries to start helping people with asthma. New technologies and collaborations will increase the chances of scientific breakthrough and we are determined everyone with asthma should benefit. Our 2016-21 Research Strategy outlines our ambition to increase our impact beyond direct funding by convincing others to invest more in the top fifteen asthma research priorities identified through the European Asthma Research & Innovation Partnership and partnering on major research collaborations to ensure the needs of people with asthma are at the heart of new discoveries. We use our deep understanding of the unmet needs of asthma in asthma research to influence investment in other large funders of asthma research.
· Improve quality of care and access to treatments: We constantly challenge complacency around asthma. We raise awareness of issues and solutions to ensure there is consistent delivery of the basic care that research has proved time and time again substantially reduces the risk of an asthma attack, and new treatments with promise to transform the lives for those for whom current treatments don’t work.
· Advice and support: We help people to manage their daily life with asthma effectively by providing access to the best available information, advice and digital solutions to reduce their risk of an asthma attack. We are currently piloting a new approach to digital health called Asthma Lab.
We are passionate about making real change for people with asthma and making the most of scarce resources by constantly challenging ourselves to focus on activities we think will have the greatest impact, especially for those at highest risk of an asthma attack. We are driven to tackle the unwarranted complacency that surrounds asthma as a condition and are open to, and enthusiastic about, forming partnerships with others who share our vision.
Our guiding vision is to stop asthma attacks and cure asthma. Our 2014-17 Strategy comes to an end in September. This strategy prompted a major transformation, with investment in new skills and technologies to help us grow our reach and impact for the millions of people with asthma. We are currently developing the 2017-20 strategy to continue this trajectory. What won't change is that we are operating in a world of constant change; new research areas, innovations in healthcare delivery and a raft of new technologies and platforms that are radically altering the way people communicate, educate and trade. We also continue to strive to do the very best we can for those we are privileged to serve, and ground everything we do in the latest world-class evidence.
The Council of Trustees is encouraging Asthma UK to adapt to the changing external environment, invest in innovation and use our reputation as an ‘honest broker’ to drive even more ambitious partnerships with the voice of people with asthma at their core. We have a world-class reputation in asthma research and those activities are our ‘crown jewels’ that must be maintained. We constantly look at how we can improve our effectiveness, testing what does and doesn’t work, and seeking to be agile in this time of unprecedented change for not-for-profits, healthcare and society as a whole. This includes looking at new ways to generate funds to ensure we can sustain our work for people with asthma until our vision is achieved. It has also meant developing a culture that makes the most of the assets and resources we do have; rather than focusing on what we might lack.
We believe Asthma UK appeals to people who:
· Are driven by achieving real impact for the people we serve
· Appreciate and get behind a clear vision and scale of ambition, but are comfortable with flexing and adapting plans and priorities in response to a changing environment or new learning
· See the potential for charities to harness the power of technology and data to transform outcomes for their supporters
· Are intellectually curious, open minded and value opportunities to learn
· Can see the benefits of being small enough for agile decision making
· Base their decisions on best available evidence and the insights from people with asthma
· Enjoy working collaboratively and valuing the skills and contributions of others
· Relish the challenge of harnessing small budgets to achieve real impact for millions of people and have the confidence and initiative to bring bold thinking to big questions
On the whole, it doesn’t tend to suit people who:
· Aren’t excited by the opportunities offered by digital, data and technology
· Like certainty or struggle to adapt to ongoing change and innovation
· Don’t enjoy debate or facilitation, and lack confidence in offering their point of view
To find out more about the work of Asthma UK you may find the following resources useful:
Asthma UK website: www.asthma.org.uk
Asthma UK strategy and Annual Report and Accounts: www.asthma.org.uk/about
3. Expectations of the Chair
The work of the Asthma UK Council of Trustees
Asthma UK’s Trustees are responsible for the organisation’s vision, mission, strategic direction and governance. The Council is also duty-bound to ensure that the Charity complies with all legal and statutory requirements. You will appreciate that, as the stewards of Asthma UK’s assets, Trustees are required to ensure that those assets are properly secured and deployed. Trustees monitor the progress of Asthma UK relative to documented targets and have the authority to appoint and / or dismiss a Chief Executive. In short, our Trustees ensure that Asthma UK continues to work, and prosper, for the benefit of people with asthma. The Chair of the Council plays a key role in driving a high-performance Council and cohesion amongst Trustees, and between Council and the Executive.
We envisage the Chair's commitment will be a minimum of 2 days per month, with some flexibility as circumstances arise.
Council meetings
There are 5 Council meetings per year which the Chair is expected to attend. They take place in London, generally in the afternoon. One of those meetings will also be a full Away Day to discuss strategic issues in more depth, and is usually held in May / June.
Committee Meetings
The Chair is likely to attend certain meetings of Council committees - Finance & Audit, Remuneration and Nominations. It is not expected the Chair is automatically a member of all Committees. For example, the current Chair is a member of one Committee, but chooses to attend other Committees on an ad hoc basis should this be necessary / useful.
Committees generally meet 3-4 times per annum.
Chief Executive line management
The Chair, who reports to the Council of Trustees, line manages the Chief Executive. This includes setting annual objectives, conducting an annual performance review and regular one-to-one meetings. Whilst not anticipated to be an onerous time commitment, the Chair is also expected to be available at short notice to give support to the Chief Executive if any significant risks emerge. The Chair also plays a major role in any period of transition from one Chief Executive to another, including in appointing and supporting a new Chief Executive, should a vacancy arise.
Other duties
The Chair may be asked to:
· give ad hoc support to the Senior Executive Team;
· act in an advisory capacity to help the wider Asthma UK team on specific issues (s/he should be prepared to allocate some time to this role, although the form can be flexible); and
· represent the Charity at key events, and meetings with stakeholders.
Code of conduct
Our Chair and Council of Trustees must comply with high standards of behaviour. We expect all Trustees to adhere to the Nolan Principles of Public Life and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations Code of Conduct for Trustees. These are outlined in the Appendix.
Specific Chair qualities sought:
The Chair will hold the Council and the Executive Team to account for how the Charity achieves its mission and vision and provide inclusive leadership to the Council of Trustees. The Chair will also support, and, where appropriate, challenge the Chief Executive and ensure that the Council functions as a unit and works closely with the entire Senior Executive Team of the Charity to achieve agreed objectives.
Within the group of 5.4 million people in the UK who suffer from asthma, there are very different forms of the condition and different experiences of how it is treated and impacts people's lives. Asthma UK wishes to support everyone with asthma to reduce their risk of an asthma attack, but this is only feasible through the use of mass communication channels, especially digital, so that we can achieve the reach and the personalisation of messages that is needed to drive change. How charities raise their income is also changing dramatically, and whilst Asthma UK is embracing new fundraising models, this needs continual strengthening and refinement to ensure best value and experience for our donors. As well as our internationally respected research funding programme, we are also increasingly using our expertise and networks to make the case for increased investment in asthma research and broker innovative collaborations.
The successful candidate is likely to have the following skills and experience:
· Evidence of high professional standing, proven leadership profile