A constitution is the written document that says what your Forum is; what it exists to do; and the rules that its members agree to abide by. New forums need to agree a constitution. Existing forums should check that they are properly constituted and that their constitution is up to date.
Neighbourhood forums must be constituted. You need to have a set of rules that is agreed by the members and which can be used:
- by members, to hold the committee to account
- to settle disputes.
You need to make your constitution available to your members. The easiest way of doing this is probably to put it online on your own Forum website. If you don’t yet have a website, then you should make sure that, at meetings, a few copies of the constitution are always available for members to look at.
You also need a written constitution, for example, to:
- apply for a grant from Birmingham City Council, or any other funder
- open a bank account.
A standard template for a neighbourhood forum constitution is available from this site. You can use the standard template; use your existing constitution; or agree a new constitution. You should make sure, however, that your Forum’s constitution includes the basic information needed – outlined in ‘Writing a Constitution’ below.
Writing a Constitution – basic information needed