Neighbourhood Forums do not belong to the City Council, to local councillors, to the committees they elect or to anyone else… except their members. It is important for Forums to keep a list of members. In the past, many Forums have said that ‘everybody over 16 who lives in our area is a member’. This, however, creates some practical difficulties:
- If the quorum at public meetings is expressed in terms of a proportion of total members, it could make most public meetings inquorate.
- Legally, someone cannot be made a member of an association against their will. If some people in the area do not want to be members of the Forum, it is their right not to be.
- Keeping personal information (like names and addresses) of people who have not agreed to be members could lead a Forum to become liable under Data Protection laws.
- There is no reliable public list of who lives in an area (people can opt for their names to be removed from the public version of the electoral roll). Forums should keep their own list of who has signed up to be a member.
The last point, above, is of particular relevance to ensuring equal opportunities. A Forum cannot apply an equal opportunities policy relating to membership and participation in meetings if it does not know who its members are.
Building up a list of members can be done by:
- Setting eligibility for full membership – in general, ‘anybody over 16 that lives in the area is eligible to become a member’ of their neighbourhood forum.
- Agreeing any classes of associate membership – in general, this is available to anyone over 16 living outside the area but with an interest in it. Forums may also want to consider extending associate membership to people younger than 16 who live in the area.
- Including a tick box for membership on ‘signing in’ sheets at public meetings and by including a membership sign up form on the forum’s website and on printed materials.
- Appointing a committee member to act as membership secretary with responsibility for keeping an up-to-date list of members.
Membership Forms – provides templates for signing in sheets etc.