31/10/2023
** BACP Open Letter of Concern ** - “….the issues that we outline below, represent a pattern of governance, and in particular Board actions, that falls short of its duty to protect the integrity of the charity and its members and, by default, runs the risk of incurring significant reputational damage to the profession to undermining public trust in what we do.”
Hi all - it is important that everyone reads this letter which has been released today. It is an open letter of concern to the BACP Board and Senior Staff Team regarding concerns around governance and risk of bringing the profession into disrepute. It has been signed by; Professor John McLeod (lead signature), Maria Albertsen, Paul Atkinson, Richard Bagnall-Oakley, Nicola Barden, Professor Tim Bond, Una Cavanagh, Professor Divine Charura, Professor Mick Cooper, Dr Elizabeth Cotton, Dr Philip Cox, Dominic Davies, Professor Windy Dryden, Dr Patricia Joyce, Myira Khan, Julia McLeod, Professor Ian Parker, Dr L.J. Potter, Dr Seb Randall, Professor Andrew Reeves, Heather Roberts, Dr Jeannette Roddy, Dr Alistair Ross, Professor Andrew Samuels, Dr Caryl Sibbett, Erin Stevens, Vanessa Stirrum, Janet Tolan, Professor Sue Wheeler, Dr John Wilson
You too can sign - If you are a member of BACP and would like to sign then please do leave a comment stating your name and BACP membership number on the website where the letter is hosted: www.therapistconcerns.co.uk. If you are not a member of BACP but would like to show your support then you can do so by leaving a comment with your name and related profession/organisation.
I’ll copy and paste the text from the letter below. However, do pop over to the website to sign and show your support. It would also help if you could across your social media.
Thank you, Maria 😊
TEXT FROM LETTER:
OPEN LETTER TO TRUSTEES AND SENIOR STAFF BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY
For the attention of:
Natalie Bailey (Chair, Board of Trustees); Sekinat Adima, Punam Farmah, Ewan Irvine, Alwyn Li (Board Members/Trustees)
Anna Daroy (Chief Executive Officer); Philippa Foster, Ben Kay, Jamie Redmond (Senior Leadership Team)
Martin Bell, Grace Gardiner, Emma Hayes, Caroline Jesper, Adam Pollard, Clare Symons, Judy White (Senior Management Team)
Professor Lynne Gabriel OBE (President); Luciana Berger, Jabeer Butt OBE, Julia Samuel MBE (Vice Presidents)
29th October 2023
Dear colleagues
The counselling and psychotherapy profession is facing a situation of unprecedented economic, political, technological and environmental challenge. The BACP has a unique role in relation to supporting mental health, well-being, justice, equality, and constructive social change. To fulfill this potential, BACP needs to be able to harness the vast talents, knowledge and experience of all of its members, as well as working in an effective and collegial manner alongside like-minded organisations, communities and occupational groups. Throughout our careers, in a range of areas of practice, training and research, all of us who are signing the present letter have consistently viewed BACP as a model and example of how people with different perspectives can resolve difficult issues through open dialogue. At the present time, BACP is falling short of this ideal.
In the light of this situation, we have decided to write this open letter to you, albeit with heavy hearts and following much deliberation. Many of us have been individual members of BACP for many years, have served the Association in various roles in a voluntary capacity, and have been part of organisations that stood alongside BACP in the furtherment of the profession. We all share the same motivation to ensure high-quality, ethical and trustworthy therapeutic interventions for the clients and communities who use our services. BACP’s charitable objectives also speak to this endeavour. We are willing to do whatever we can to support the Board to re-affirm and if necessary re-imagine the purpose and mode of operation of the Association, and are confident that many other members would also wish to contribute to this task.
A series of events over the last two years have caused us to be increasingly concerned about the general direction of BACP. In recent weeks, these concerns have gained more momentum with material posted on social media (and not refuted by the Association). Taken together, the issues that we outline below, represent a pattern of governance, and in particular Board actions, that falls short of its duty to protect the integrity of the charity and its members and, by default, runs the risk of incurring significant reputational damage to the profession to undermining public trust in what we do. It is critical the Board works to the Nolan principles of selflessness; integrity; objectivity; accountability; openness; honesty; and leadership. The multiple losses of BACP Board and staff members over the past 12-18 months, culminating with the recent invocation of Article 36 to remove a Board member (Kate Smith), suggests that these principles are not being appropriately invoked or upheld.
There are three primary areas that cause us particular concern:
1. The unexplained departure of highly experienced and highly regarded staff, including the CEO, Deputy CEO, COO, Head of HR, Head of External Relations, EDI Lead and Data Protection Lead, amongst others. Of course, we all make career decisions to move on to new and different work opportunities. However, the speed and sequence of these staff departures is worrying, as is the destabilising impact on the work of BACP in terms of the loss of experience, skill and consistency of work. We need to state that, as a group in unison, we would like to offer our support to the staff team at BACP, who we believe – and have experienced – to be talented, generous, committed and wise in undertaking their work and have, without question, played an integral part in the furtherment of the profession. We honour their work and are dismayed by the high levels of work-related stress that they are currently
encountering, as reported through social media and other channels of communication.
2. The pattern of departure of highly-experienced Trustees, six of whom have left the Board through resignation prior to their term of office ending. This too speaks of dysfunctional governance and, at the very least, also speaks of a Board lacking sufficient experience to steer the Association through its work. This reached a point of crisis when Kate Smith, an elected Trustee of the membership, was removed from the Board through Article 36 of the Articles of the Association; an action with no precedent in recent times and which marks the 7th departure in a short time span. At the time of writing the Board have failed to provide the membership with an explanation of the events that led up to one of their elected Trustees needing to be removed in this way.
3. It is not appropriate for the Association to launch a 5-year strategy without consultation with members or staff prior to its official launch. We feel duty bound to remind the Board that BACP belongs to the membership: Trustees are stewards of the Association on behalf of members. While final strategy decisions clearly sit with the Board, is it not reasonable that funds and other resources – primarily accrued through professional membership fees – should be committed to 5-year projects without an adequate consultation process. This speaks of either a lack of understanding of the role of Trustee, or a disregard for the views of the membership, or both.
Our over-arching concern is that the Association lacks effective strategic leadership, with a Board that is not functioning in an appropriately rigorous and transparent manner (for instance, there is no Deputy Chair in post, as stipulated in Article 33), and is disconnected from the membership. We are also aware of assertions, from multiple sources, that have been made about conduct and actions within the Association that are inconsistent with the charitable aims of the Association and that have the potential to bring the entire profession into disrepute.
Each of the individuals listed below are signing this letter in an individual capacity and with a positive intention, in the hope that restorative work can be undertaken by the Board to establish a more constructive way forward and to repair its relationship with its staff team and the membership. In particular, we believe that it is crucially important to ensure that the membership can regain confidence in Board processes, policies and decisions.
We call on the BACP Board of Governors to undertake the work of restoring the effective functioning, accountability and good reputation of the BACP, in an urgent, thorough and transparent manner. Our strong preference is for this process to be carried out on the basis of consultation and consensus. However, we are aware that, if necessary, it would be possible for us to take further action in accordance with procedures outlined in the Articles of Association. We hope for BACP and the profession that such an outcome can be avoided.
Even at this late stage, we would ask that BACP leaders engage in a conversation to take forward positive actions to repair the relationship between the BACP Board, its staff and its membership. In the spirit of progression, we invite you to take steps to talk openly about what is happening not only with ourselves, but with any other individuals and groups within the broad and diverse BACP constituency who might wish to be involved.
This letter will be circulated as widely as possible to BACP members.
Yours sincerely,
Professor John McLeod (lead signature)
Maria Albertsen
Paul Atkinson
Richard Bagnall-Oakley
Nicola Barden
Professor Tim Bond
Una Cavanagh
Professor Divine Charura
Professor Mick Cooper
Dr Elizabeth Cotton
Dr Philip Cox
Dominic Davies
Professor Windy Dryden
Dr Patricia Joyce
Myira Khan
Julia McLeod
Professor Ian Parker
Dr L.J. Potter
Dr Seb Randall
Professor Andrew Reeves
Heather Roberts
Dr Jeannette Roddy
Dr Alistair Ross
Professor Andrew Samuels
Dr Caryl Sibbett
Erin Stevens
Vanessa Stirrum
Janet Tolan
Professor Sue Wheeler
Dr John Wilson
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
The purpose of this website is to work at resolving differences between BACP and their membership to ensure that the excellent work of the profession continues. You can add your signature at the bottom. OPEN LETTER TO TRUSTEES AND SENIOR STAFFBRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY For...
