Charter vote

[Defblade]

The Charter issue, a short summary of what I understand:

The Society says the Charter MUST be changed, and NOW, which some/many people disagree with. It seems fairly certain that there's no rush, and rather than rush now to setup vs the "bogeyman" of the GPhC, we could wait a bit and see what's needed.

I, and a few others, would rather just ditch the Charter (and therefore Privy Council involvment) completely.



But most knickers are twisted due to the new council arrangements - 3 regional elected boards, and a central assembly drawn from those. There seem to be 3 comments against:

1) expensive set up vs one central council with regional committees dependent (And Wales and Scotland may need subsidising, assuming Scotland stays joined in!)

2) much more difficult to vote out the assembly members in the case of another SOS setup

3)if the 3 regional boards disagree on something, it's not clear what will happen. Proposal is for assembly to meet maybe 6 monthly, so proper (rather than ring-round-straw-poll) nationwide response will be slow; assembly may have to adjudicate problems - again slow, and may lead to lockup if a solution can't be found between regions.

[DavidS]

I, and a few others, would rather just ditch the Charter (and therefore Privy Council involvment) completely.

Me too, BUT

what I didn't realise is that the society has had a charter for ages and ages. I think its just now that the Privy council has been sticking its nose in, and having a charter has been more of a liability than a blessing.

Anyway, if we vote NO now, we can take our time about what to decide after. Or leave, and rejoin if we like the result.

There still seems to be a lot of spin and playing politics going on, however, which I find a bit of a turn-off. I suppose some is inevitable.

[Jeff]

A vote that is not used is a crime against democracy.
johnep

[Jeff]

By the way I've just voted as I am able to interpret the question as allowing me to vote against something that would enable the establishment of the new Professional Leadership Body.

Jeff

[DavidS]

Well, Its 12.02 on Monday 20th July, and the polls are closed (unless your letter is stuck in the post, in which case it will count til this time tomorrow).

Predictions?

[Scamp]

My prediction is that the 'No' vote will win

I actually think that they have shot themselves in the foot with the 'Yes Campaign' - if they had kept quiet about and not insisted on bombarding us with shiney orange adverts full of spin then most who are indifferent to the society (99% of current members at a guess) would not have bothered voting. I include myself in that statement - I have however bothered to vote 'No' as a direct response to the 'Yes Campaign'

[Tony Schofield]

From RPSGB press release

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain today pledged to continue to build a
professional leadership body fit for the 21st century after members voted to accept the changes
to the Society's Royal Charter in the Special Resolution Ballot.

The ballot was the highest turnout achieved in recent years, with 10,698 votes cast in total,
equating to a 22.3% voter turnout. Of those voting, 77.7% of members agreed to accept the
Charter changes.


Seems like they didn't shoot themselves in the foot after all