Preamble

The Company's Articles of Association require the Directors to establish an advisory committee: "the purpose of which will be to ensure that the Directors are aware of the views of interested parties on policy issues affecting the Company's activities, including the development, interpretation and application of national, European and international Standards, guidelines, procedures, regulations, practices and agreements applicable to accreditation bodies and conformity assessment bodies."

The members of the Company at the Extraordinary General Meeting on 6 October 1995 agreed that members of the committee should be nominated by parties who have a direct interest in the Company's activities as defined within its Memorandum of Association. They further stated that the members of the committee should articulate the views of the party which nominated them and that attainment of consensus should not be at the expense of registering the views of nominating parties.

Terms of Reference

The Policy Advisory Committee is required:

- To advise the Board of Directors on all policy matters concerned with the development and operation of UKAS activities as set out in the Company's Memorandum and Articles of Association;

- To communicate to UKAS the views of the UKAS stakeholder interest. If considered desirable by the Committee, such reporting may be through the attendance of the Committee Chairman at a UKAS Board meeting;

- To raise issues for the consideration of the UKAS Board and Executive and subsequently of the Committee;

- To respond to the requirements of the Board and Executive of UKAS for advice on specific issues, including the identification, analysis and documentation of relationships between UKAS and any related body in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011.

Constitution

The Policy Advisory Committee shall be constituted from the nominated representatives of the following parties with an interest in the operation of UKAS:

The Chairman of the UKAS Board and Chief Executive of UKAS will be ex-officio Members of the Committee. The members of the Company shall have the opportunity to approve the constitution and individual membership of the Committee. Constituent organisations will be requested to reaffirm their representation every three years.

At the invitation of the Chairman, other members of the UKAS Board and UKAS employees may attend meetings of the Policy Advisory Committee. On such occasions, the affiliation to UKAS of such attendees must be clearly stated in the minutes.

Chairman

The Chairman of the Policy Advisory Committee shall be elected from the membership of the Committee excluding members of the UKAS Board or employees of UKAS. The Chairman of the Policy Advisory Committee will be appointed by a straight majority of the members of the committee attending the meeting at which the duration of his/her tenure of the chair will also be agreed. The maximum continuous period of tenure is three years.

Secretariat

A Secretary of the Policy Advisory Committee will be appointed by the Chief Executive of UKAS.

Procedures

There shall be no votes on the issues discussed by the Policy Advisory Committee, except on matters concerning its own internal procedures and appointments.

The Chief Executive of UKAS will discuss the agenda for forthcoming meetings with the Chairman of the Committee before the agenda and papers are distributed to members.

The Chief Executive will ensure that the committee receives briefing papers on all matters of substance under current consideration by the UKAS Board and which have the potential to affect directly any of its external stakeholders. He will enable the Secretary to circulate such papers to committee members at least 2 weeks before meetings to permit time for consultation with their nominating parties.

Papers for meetings shall not be public documents. They will be circulated in advance, will generally carry the status of `Draft Policies' and may be copied with discretion by PAC members in order to consult as their constituencies, unless specifically described as confidential.

The Secretary will provide draft minutes of the proceedings of the committee within two weeks of each meeting. These minutes will be submitted to the following meeting for approval.  Draft Minutes of meetings may contain "Afternotes" provided they are clearly annotated as such, but should not include any new Action points.  Where UKAS believes new information may lead to a change in an agreed Action, this should be referred back to the PAC.

Frequency

The Policy Advisory Committee will meet at least 3 times per year at a time and location to be agreed by members.

PAC Members and Affiliations

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  Affiliation	Member
  National Physical Laboratory	Dr S Bennett (Chairman)
  Association of British Certification Bodies	Mr T M V Inman
  Association of British Certification Bodies	Mr N Hannah
  British Electrotechnical & Allied Manufacturers' Association	Ms A Humberstone
  British Measurement & Testing Association	Mr T Smith
  British Measurement & Testing Association	Mr P D Trainer
  British Retail Consortium	Mr K Hawkins
  British Standards Institution	Mr F Post
  Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply	Mr C Maund
  Chartered Quality Institute	Mr J Speirs
  Chemical Industries Association	Mr J Roche
  Confederation of British Industry	Dr M Jones
  Construction Industry Council	Mr D Lush
  Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs	Dr Amanda Fox
  Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills	Ms Radhika Sriskandarajah
  Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association	Mr C Tayler
  Federation of Small Businesses	Ms U Almen
  Food Standards Agency	Mr D Jones
  Health and Safety Executive	Mr P Papard
  Health Protection Agency	Ms V Bevan
  Independent International Organisation for Certification	Mr S Sutherland
  Institute of Directors	Mr J Walsh
  Intellect	Mr A Dransfield
  Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services
  Ministry of Defence	Mr K Thomas
  National Industries Liaison Group on Quality	Mr K Leyland
  Safety Assessment Federation	Mr. R Hulmes
  Society of British Aerospace Companies	Mr A Leather
  Society of Maritime Industries	Mr J Southerden
  Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders	Mr S Elvin
  United Kingdom Accreditation Service	Mr P Stennett
  United Kingdom Accreditation Service	Mr G Talbot (Secretary)