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Accountability
Each Committee is responsible, via a Chairman, to the HGCA Board for its activities. Regular contact between Board and Advisory Committees is essential for the effective operation of the HGCA and this is achieved by a number of ways including:
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Advisory Committee Chairmen attending plenary Board meetings
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Advisory Committees being required to present annually to the Board
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Advisory Committees including in their number at least one Board member
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Overall funding proposals being approved by the Board
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Committee membership being ratified by the Board
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HGCA Chairman and the CEO attending Committees from time to time
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Regular meeting of Advisory Committee Chairmen with HGCA Chairman and the CEO
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In some instances, the Advisory Committee Chairmen are themselves Board members
Membership
Stakeholder organisations are responsible for nominating individuals to be Committee members, whose background, qualifications and competence match that required to fulfil the role of the Committee. The HGCA CEO is responsible for ensuring that stakeholder organisations are aware of Committee requirements. Ideally the appointments should be consistent with the spirit of the Nolan recommendations; appointments are initially for a period of three years, with the option of further three-year extensions subject to experience and expertise. The size of Committees is a balance between that required for effective representation of sectoral experience and that for effective operation of a working committee.
Enthusiasm and Commitment
The role of Committee members is a demanding one, which not only requires preparation for attendance at Committee meetings, but contributions to project monitoring and to delivering and reporting activities. To be effective the Committee members must be prepared to commit the time to these responsibilities and do so with energy and enthusiasm. In the present difficult environment for the agricultural industry, finding this contribution is likely to be increasingly difficult.
Committee Chairmen
Advisory Committee members are responsible for electing their own Chairmen. The role of Chairman is crucial to the work and effectiveness of each committee. It is important, therefore, that candidates are not only prepared and able to take on the additional commitments, but that they are capable at operating at a broader and higher level. An effective Chairman has to be able to command the support of levy payer organisations as well as operate with Board members, HGCA executive staff and Agriculture Departments. Platform presentations and press contact are also likely to be regularly required. Given the role outlined above, the appointment of a Chairman should ideally be for a period of three years, with the option of a further three years subject to review and agreement. This builds continuity and experience into the system and allows for the process of succession to be more effectively planned.
Identification of potential successors should be the responsibility of outgoing Chairmen and the succession process itself the result of discussions between individual Chairmen, the HGCA CEO, and the relevant stakeholder organisation.
Member Responsibilities
Communication
Effective communication is a two-way process and a key role for every Committee member. The specific needs of levy payers can only be identified by asking them, and levy payers will only know if they are being met by receiving the service/information or being informed of progress. To ensure a Committee is focusing on key issues for the industry will depend on reliable, representative information being received to enable appropriate decisions to be made on which activities should be selected and supported. A Committee member will, therefore, need to be in regular contact with his own industry representatives eg farmers, millers etc and should be taking every convenient opportunity to discuss problems and issues within their industry and then to report back to them on what HGCA is doing to address them. This will ensure that the committee member, and hence the committee, receive current, up-to-date information representing the industry from a sectoral and geographical viewpoint.
Experience
In all cases the Advisory Committees have responsibility for the selection, monitoring, delivery and reporting of project based activities. Examples would include:
BCE - mission, forums
MD - promotional projects, awards
MI - publications, seminars
R&D - projects, conferences
The success of any of these activities will depend on an effective relationship between Committee members and staff in all four stages of project management outlined above. Inefficiency or incompetence at any stage will lead to failure of the activity to meet its objectives. Committee members, therefore, must be experienced in 'project management' and be capable of contributing to all stages, in various degrees, to deliver successful projects. This is a particularly important role in conjunction with staff, because if you become too close to an issue, as staff may be, then it is difficult to achieve an appropriate balance and perspective.
Expertise
All Committees deal with technical subjects which will require a degree of understanding by committee members if they are to make meaningful contributions. While it is inappropriate to request or expect 'experts' it is important that committee members do have relevant expertise in some of the technical areas dealt with by their committee. Ideally, the expertise should be associated with their current professional activity but equally could be through involvement with other organisations.
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