Constitution

I General Purpose

The National Counselling Society is a Learned Society whose purpose is the advancement of the knowledge of counselling, which we do through a number of activities such as conferences and newsletters; and the fostering of professional counselling expertise through training, accreditation and continued professional development of our members, and protection of the public by promoting ethical and competent practice from our members and providing a complaints procedure for clients. Membership is mainly restricted to practising, professional counsellors and counsellors in training. The purpose of the National Counselling Society is to support, protect and promote the vocation of counselling, psychotherapy, and related talking therapies and to protect the clients of counsellors if appropriate. The Society is to represent, promote and support these vocations in the United Kingdom for the benefit of its members. The Constitution is the pre-eminent document of the Society and should a conflict occur between the Constitution and any other document, the Constitution shall be deemed to be valid.
The Society shall maintain good standards by the promotion of research and education in the field of counselling, by the publication of articles, case studies and other related materials, by the recognition of good practice, and by the promulgation of information and advice to its members. It shall maintain good standards of training and CPD by setting and administering the accreditation of training courses and CPD. It shall set the context of standards using the litmus test of “safety, competency and ethics” and shall apply qualitative assessment to all procedures, recognizing the subjectivity of counselling and the personal qualities of counsellors as key elements in the vocation.
The Society shall maintain good professional and practical standards by its accreditation of training schools and courses and by its registration of individual counsellors, and by other measures deemed necessary by the Society.
The Society shall maintain good financial standards by the implementation of clear financial responsibilities for its members, e.g. professional insurance for individual members and training schools; by monitoring the legalities of refund policies of training schools, by giving impartial advice to its members as to the financial implications and responsibility of practice, and by other measures deemed necessary by the Society.
The Society shall maintain good ethical standards by the implementation of a Code of Ethics and Complaints Procedure binding on all members, whether organisational or individual, and of whatever grade. As a professional membership organisation it shall be bound by a robust complaints procedure and its membership functions and complaints functions shall be separated where appropriate in the interests of public protection.

II Structure and Legalities

The Society shall not be run for personal profit, all surplus monies to be re-invested in the running of the Society and for the benefit of its members. The Society shall be run as a Company Limited by Guarantee and its accounts shall be publically available via Companies House.
The Trustees of the Society shall bear ultimate responsibility for the enforcement of its Constitution. The Trustees may only claim reasonable personal expenses qua their role as Trustees.
Dual Roles are allowed: A Trustee may be an Administrator or Council Member.
The Trustees shall appoint a suitable candidate to act as Society Administrator.
The Trustees shall be responsible for creating a Society Council on a three yearly basis applying appropriate competency criteria.
The Trustees shall appoint a Chair to act as Chief Executive Officer of the Society.
The Trustees may create, appoint and dismiss members constituting an Advisory Panel. This Panel with have powers of recommendation only.
Constitutional Amendments can be made either by the Trustees or by a unanimous vote of the Council and will be added to the Constitution. Amendments made by the Council shall be listed as “awaiting ratification.” Said Amendments must be voted on by the membership at large within one year of their addition to the Constitution, or they will lapse on the anniversary of their addition and may not be reinstated for one further year. A 2/3 majority of the number of votes cast ratifies an Amendment; below this rejects the amendment for three years. Amendments made by the Trustees are not required to be ratified in this manner.
Constitutional Amendments can be proposed by a voting member and must be seconded by eight supporting voting members before proceeding to a ballot. A 2/3 majority of the number of votes cast ratifies an Amendment; below this rejects the amendment for three years.
The method of elections, ballots, proposal and seconding are the responsibility of the Council who may modify same, by unanimous vote, provided they adhere to the principle that all voting members justly and fairly receive due notification of their rights to vote, propose, second, stand for election and amend the Constitution. The Society Administrator shall be responsible for administering all such procedures.
1Members and Trainers have no rights or responsibilities beyond those specifically delineated in this Constitution. Acceptance of initial application for membership, designation of membership grade or training member level of membership, and continuation of membership are entirely at the discretion of the Society and any membership may be amended or revoked at any time.

III Trustees & Administration

The Trustees shall be three in number. Death or resignation may result in the co-option of a replacement. They shall appoint by open interview the Society Administrator and also appoint the Society Chair.
The Society Administrator shall be appointed Secretary to the Trustees and shall exercise said responsibilities.
The Society Administrator shall be paid a fee commensurate with his or her duties, to be negotiated with the Trustees. A standard contract of employment shall be provided. The Trustees shall appoint additional members of staff as required who shall be answerable to him or her as line manager.
The Trustees shall draw no salary from the Society and receive no dividends or payments save only those legitimately incurred expenses in the execution of their duties.
It is the responsibility of the Trustees to ensure that all Society monies not spent on the running of the Society be disbursed for the furtherance of the Society in particular and the profession in general.
The Trustees shall have emergency powers to: suspend or remove the Society Administrator or suspend or remove the Society Council or individual members thereof under the following circumstances: (a) gross professional misconduct (b) criminal activity (c) demonstrable gross negligence of duties. Such emergency powers, if used, require a duly constituted meeting and unanimous vote. In such cases where such use becomes appropriate, (i) no greater than one month should elapse before fresh elections/co-option or appointment of a new Administrator, whichever is appropriate; (ii) the membership should be informed and every effort made to restore normal Society functioning as soon as possible.
The Society Administrator shall be responsible for the day to day running of the organisation, for maintenance of records and the answering of general correspondence, for the maintenance of the accounts, and for general member satisfaction in the workings of the Society.
The Administrator shall be accountable to the Council for issues pertinent to the above.
The Society must be guided by the expressed wishes of the members through regularly held ballots (every two years) on issues pertinent to the Society.
The Administrator must fairly and impartially administer the Society according to existing written guidelines, the Code of Ethics and Constitution.
1The Administrator may co-opt additional members of the Council in the event of the resignation or removal of same.

IV Society Council

Section II, Articles 6,7, 9 & 11 pertain to the Society Council, elections, establishment, and to the abilities of the Society Council to change the Constitution subject to the ratification of its members.
The Society Council shall be responsible to the members of the Society for (a) the strategy and forward direction of the Society (b) the maintenance of the relationship of the Society with other bodies, the public, and the media (c) the implementation, with the Society Administrator, of issues voted upon by the members.
The Council shall be appointed or elected against competency criteria as appropriate.
The Council may remove one of its members by unanimous vote in the case of non-performance of duties. The Administrator may then co-opt a new member (cf. Section III, Article 11)
The Council shall consist of a Chairman appointed by the Trustees who shall be the chief executive officer of the Society, and, in addition:
1. The Society Administrator (Ex Officio)
2. The Society Development Officer – responsible for strategy, accreditation and development
3. The Society Complaints Officer – responsible for complaints and discipline
4. The Society Press Officer – responsible for the external profile of the Society
5. The Society Journal/Website Officer – responsible for Journal & Website
6. Other officers and portfolios deemed necessary by the Society Council.
The Council is responsible for the review, maintenance & implementation of guidelines, procedures and rules for individual membership; guidelines, procedures and rules for organisational membership; the Code Of Ethics, Complaints Procedure, Constitution (Cf IV,1) and all other documentation relevant to the Society (e.g. membership forms, insurance schemes, etc.)

V Membership - Individual

All Membership is dependent upon paid up dues set by the Society and any variance in amount or payment method will be duly notified to members by the Society. Membership is fully defined in the current Individual Membership Guidelines. Article II, 11 of the Constitution applies to all members.
All Members of all Grades are bound by The Society Constitution; The Society Code Of Ethics, & The Complaints Procedure.
No award of Membership should be taken to imply that the Society is responsible for the practice of the practitioner to clients or to the public.
Members incur no rights beyond those outlined in the Membership Guidelines as current.
A Voting Member is defined as an Accredited Member or Fellow of the Society. Only Voting Members may vote, propose constitutional changes, or stand or be co-opted to the Society Council.
Honorary Membership may be given by unanimous vote of the Society Council for services to the Society or the profession. Honorary Grades should not be considered Professional Members for the purposes of professional insurance, inclusion in the therapist’s directory, or any other issue pertaining to professional practice. Honorary Grades should be clearly indicated by the suffix (Honorary) to the Grade.
Members may be suspended or excluded as appropriate where (a) their dues are not paid (b) they are in violation of the Code Of Ethics and the Complaints Procedure is applied (c) they deliberately act in a manner prejudicial to the Society.
Members who wish to terminate their membership should do so in writing to the Society and must return their membership certificates at their own expense. Members are responsible for cancelling their membership subscriptions with their own banks and if a member terminating or intending to terminate their membership does not cancel their membership dues, they shall be deemed to remain a member in good standing until the period for which those dues fall expires.
All Certificates remain the property of the Society and must be returned at the termination of membership on request.
Voting Members may propose changes to the Membership Guidelines, to be proposed and seconded by Voting Members and submitted to the membership at the time of the Society Council Elections. A majority vote will carry the change which shall be binding upon the Society for a minimum of 2 years.
The Society Chair may at his or her discretion terminate any membership without prejudice on the refund of one year's fees (if any paid).

VI Membership – Organisational

Organisational Membership shall be divided into Accredited and Approved (the latter with a certain number of Approval Points). A further category of Affiliated Registering Body shall apply. All Membership is dependent upon paid up dues for which due reminder will be given by the Society Administrator. Article II, 11 of the Constitution applies to all Organisational Membership.
All Organisational Members are bound by The Society Constitution; The Society Code of Ethics, & The Complaints Procedure.
No Level of Organisational Membership should be taken to imply that the Society is responsible for the practice of the organisation to clients or to the public.
Approved and Accredited Status shall be defined by and dependent upon the Organisational Membership Guidelines document of the Society, as current.
Organisational Members may be suspended or dismissed as appropriate where (a) their dues are not paid (b) they are in violation of the Code of Ethics and the Complaints Procedure is applied to them (c) they deliberately act in a manner prejudicial to the Society.
Only those Organisational Members current with the Society may advertise as such; no Organisational Member may advertise that any Level of Membership is “pending.”
Organisational Members incur no voting rights as such; however, proprietors of organisational members who are Voting Members of the Society may vote in the normal manner.
Voting Members may propose changes to the Organisational Guidelines to be proposed and seconded by Voting Members and submitted to the membership at the time of the Society Council Elections. A majority vote will carry the change which shall be binding upon the Society for a minimum of 2 years.
The Society Chair may terminate at his or her discretion any organisational membership without prejudice; however, said termination will allow any students of the organisation currently in training at the time of the termination to be assessed as if the organisational membership was still in force.

VII Ethics & Complaints

The Society, its Trustees, Administrator, Society Council, Individual and Organisational Members are bound by the Code of Ethics and Independent Complaints Procedure, as current.
The Code of Ethics and Independent Complaints Procedure shall be made public.
The Society Complaints Officer shall respond to all initial complaints.
The Society reserves the right to reject anonymous complaints.
The Code of Ethics and Complaints Procedure shall be amended from time to time by a vote of the Society Council.
Voting Members may propose changes to the Code of Ethics to be proposed and seconded by Voting Members and submitted to the membership at the time of the Society Council Elections. A majority vote will carry the change which shall be binding upon the Society for a minimum of 2 years.

VIII External Relations

Conflicts Of Interest. A Society Council Member in good standing who becomes appointed or elected to a Society Council position (or similar position of responsibility) of competitor organisation automatically honourably suspends their membership of the Society for the period of their office. This suspension is without prejudice to themselves. No current holder of such an office can stand for the Society Council.
The Society shall, through the Society Development Officer, maintain good relations with other appropriate organisations and with government. If the Society affiliates or joins other organisations (for which a majority vote of the Society Council is required), it shall not cede any powers or roles without following the procedures for a Constitutional Change.
The Society Administrator shall maintain good relations with the General Public.
The Society Press Officer shall maintain good relations with the Press.
The Society may, at its sole discretion, prohibit applications from members belonging to organisations with which it does not wish to affiliate, and remove members who belong to said organisations, at any time.

X Miscellaneous

The Society shall act to conform to relevant legislation
The Society shall maintain a cooperation agreement with the Royal Society For the Promotion Of Health