Following the adoption of new Articles of Association, a reformed governance structure will be put in place for the BDA by June this year. This follows extensive discussion and consultation via the outgoing Representative Body about developing a new governance model fit for the 21st century.
The key change is that BDA members will now directly elect a 15 strong Principal Executive Committee (PEC), which shall have overall responsibility for the control and direction of the policy and affairs of the Association. Members of the PEC will be the Directors of the Association.
The PEC will draw on a range of policy determining forums to inform its direction and decision making. These will include the craft and cohort based committees that focus on the interests of constituent parts of the profession, such as the General Dental Practice Committee. There will be issue specific forums too such as the Health and Science Committee, and a new committee for Ethics, Education and the Dental Team. The new Articles of Association empower the PEC to open and close other standing committees to help it in its work.
Central to the structure of policy determining forums, will be councils established for each country of the United Kingdom. A new English Council will join the established Councils for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their job will be to consider and advise the PEC on all matters relating to dentistry in the country concerned, and to liaise with branches and sections. The Councils will be elected from the branches, and these elections will follow those for the PEC later in the year.
