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Advisory Panel on the Archaeology of Burials in England (APABE)

Terms of Reference: Purpose, constitution and conduct

1. Purpose: The purpose of the Panel is to provide well-informed advice on matters relating to the archaeological treatment of burials in England and related matters, with appropriate consideration of relevant religious, ethical, legal, archaeological and scientific issues.: 1.1 The Panel may give advice on specific matters and may also advise and comment on general issues of principle or policy.; 1.2 The Panel is not a decision-making body.
2. Supporting bodies: The Advisory Panel is supported by the Church of England, English Heritage and the Ministry of Justice, each of which has statutory or legal responsibilities relating to the archaeology of burials in England.: 2.1 The Panel is however independent; and, as such, its advice is not official advice from the supporting bodies, and does not commit the supporting bodies in any way.
3. Standing Committee and Consultative Forum: The Panel will be made up of a standing committee of 6 members (chair, secretary, one elected member and three appointed members), and a consultative forum of up to 24 members.
4. Chair and Secretary: The Panel will elect the chair and secretary from among its members; they will act in these capacities for the standing committee and for the full advisory panel.: 4.1 The terms of office of the chair and secretary will be three years.; 4.2 If the chair or the secretary resigns, they will be replaced by election at the next Panel meeting.
5. Other members of Standing Committee: The Church of England will appoint one standing committee member, English Heritage will appoint one, the Ministry of Justice will appoint one, and the Panel will elect one (in addition to the chair and the secretary).: 5.1 Terms of membership of the standing committee will be three years for elected members, and as determined by their appointing bodies for appointed members.; 5.2 The appointing bodies will be free to replace or nominate substitutes for their appointees at any time.; 5.3 If an elected member resigns, a replacement will be elected by the Panel.
6. Work of the Standing Committee: The standing committee will conduct most of its business by correspondence, but will meet in person as required.: 6.1 The agendas of meetings will be determined by the chair and secretary and will be circulated by the secretary at least one week before the meeting together with any necessary supporting papers. The first substantive item will normally be a review of business done by correspondence in the intervening period.; 6.3 If either the chair or the secretary are unable to attend, they will nominate another full member to act in that capacity for that meeting.; 6.4 Four members (including any nominated representatives) are required to make up a quorum.; 6.5 Draft minutes of meetings will be prepared by the secretary and sent out to members within two weeks of a meeting; corrections should normally be returned to the secretary within two weeks of receipt of the draft minutes.; 6.6 Minutes will be available to the public once they have been circulated and corrected.; 6.7 The committee shall be free to agree to invite others to attend meetings as observers.
7. Consultative Forum: The standing committee will appoint the members of the consultative forum, who will number up to 24 members, consulting the members of the Forum as appropriate and seeking always to maintain sufficient breadth and diversity to provide good advice on the full breadth of relevant matters.: 7.1 Appointments will be ad personam; the committee will pay due regard to ensuring that the forum is reasonably representative of the broader professional community.; 7.2 Terms of membership of the advisory forum will be for three years, and will be renewable.
8. Full panel meetings: The full panel, consisting of the standing committee and the consultative forum, will normally meet once a year; but may meet more often if there is need.: 8.1 The dates of meetings will be decided and notified to members at least eight weeks in advance.; 8.2 The agendas of meetings will be determined by the chair and secretary and will be circulated by the secretary at least two week before the meeting together with any necessary supporting papers.; 8.3 The first main item will always be to receive a report from the chair on the work of the standing committee since the last full panel meeting.; 8.4 If either the chair or the secretary are unable to attend, they will nominate another full standing committee member to act in that capacity for that meeting.; 8.5 Four standing committee members are required to make up a quorum.; 8.6 Draft minutes of meetings will be prepared by the secretary and sent out to members within two weeks of a meeting; corrections should normally be returned to the secretary within two weeks of receipt.; 8.7 Minutes will be available to the public once they have been circulated and corrected.; 8.8 The standing committee shall be free to agree to invite others to attend meetings as observers.
9. Giving advice: Requests for advice or action should be made to or forwarded to the secretary, who will copy them to all the other members of the standing committee and to any consultative forum members whose knowledge or experience is thought to be relevant.: 9.1 Any comments by members will be sent to or copied to the secretary.; 9.2 Advice or comment will not normally be sent out in the Panel’s name unless there has been appropriate consultation, and people have been given reasonable time to reply; and should normally have been agreed or approved by at least three members of the standing committee before being sent out. This may however be relaxed where urgent response is needed.; 9.3 The report of the chair to the full panel will include copies of all advice and comments sent out in the Panel’s name, and copies of standing committee minutes.; 9.4 Panel members may at any time ask the secretary for copies of panel correspondence, minutes and related papers and these will be provided within reasonable time.
10. Confidence: It is important that the standing committee retains the confidence of the members of the consultative forum.: 10.1 Any panel member who believes that the standing committee no longer has the confidence of the full panel, should raise his/her concerns with the chair and/or the secretary.; 10.2 If these concerns are not resolved, the panel member should consult other panel members and, if at least four of them agree, they should send written notice to the secretary setting out their reasons for loss of confidence. In this event, the secretary must send this notice out to the full membership and set a date, within a reasonable time, for an extraordinary meeting of the full panel to discuss this. If at the end of this discussion at least half the members of the consultative forum who are present vote that they have no confidence in the standing committee, the secretary must immediately communicate this to the three supporting bodies and the standing committee will be suspended until the matter has been considered by them.
11. Conflicts of interest: It is inevitable that members may from time to time find themselves in situations where there is or appears to be a conflict of interest.: 11.1 When this happens, members must declare their interest, and seek the advice of the meeting, through the chair, as to whether they should take part in discussion, remain silent or withdraw; they will normally not participate in any related vote.
12. Expenses and funding: Consultative forum members will be able to claim travel expenses by second class rail or by private car to attend meetings.
13. Changes to this document: This document will be reviewed annually by the standing committee; any proposed changes will be discussed at the next full panel meeting.

Compiled by Simon Mays, English Heritage.