Playwork England Consortium Agreement - draft for agreement at first meeting

Playwork England Consortium Agreement - draft for agreement at first meeting

Memorandum of Understanding &
Consortium Agreement

Playwork England

1. Purpose and Scope

This Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) is intended to demonstrate commitment to collaboration within the project Playwork England in order to progress playwork training and education in England and work with the other UK nations to develop a co-ordinated approach to playwork education and training across the UK.

This MoU defines the relationship between the parties involved in this consortium and sets out roles and responsibilities within this; it sets out how the group will be governed, the duration of the arrangement, principles of working together, and agreed terms and conditions.

The MoU is not a contractual document and does not impose any legal obligation on any party. The overall relationship described by the MoU is a voluntary arrangement. The MoU is independent of any other agreements signed by or between the organisations concerned.

2. Membership

All Playwork England members will commit to this MoU as a condition of membership. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in playwork education and training in England. Playwork England will be representative of everyone who is or believes themselves to be a playworker, playwork trainers, playwork researcher or playwork advocate in England.

Membership is free and is applied for by way of form submission on www.playworkengland.org and shall not be unreasonably refused. The final arbiter of membership approval is the Playwork England Executive Board, whose decision is final.

Members wishing to resign membership should email hello@playworkengland.org.

3. Consortium Objective

The aim of Playwork England is to facilitate the coordination of, support for and collaboration between those involved in and representative of playwork education, training and qualifications in England.

4. Duration

The MoU is effective from the 31st January 2024 up to 31st December 2026 covering three years leadership of the founding Executive Board.

5. Roles and Responsibilities of Executive Board

To manage and deliver Playwork England the Executive Board agree to the following roles and responsibilities.

  • Chairing and secretariat for membership meetings.
  • Provide leadership to enable the members of PE to achieve their strategic goals.
  • Maintain accountability to the aims of Playwork England and its members.
  • Any other duties or tasks as defined and agreed by the Executive Board and ratified by members.

6. Accountability - Members

It is the responsibility for all members involved within Playwork England to share, inform and contribute to the collaborative activity and the delivery of the aims of Playwork England.

It will be each members obligation to highlight any discrepancy as and when any this arises, so that any issues can be assessed and acted upon in a timely manner.

7. Partnership Values (to be agreed at the first meeting – below is indicative)

Playwork England’s is based on the following key values:

  • Representation and equality of membership.
  • Mutual respect and trust.
  • Open and transparent communications.
  • Co-operation and consultation.
  • A commitment to being positive and constructive.
  • A willingness to work with and learn from others.
  • A desire to make the best use of resources.
  • Promote playwork education and training across the UK regardless of personal or professional interests.

8. Meetings – Rules

Members agree to the Meeting rules set out in Appendix 1.

9. Communications

Members and Executive Board members commit to communicating openly and constructively and to sharing good practice.

10. Confidentiality and Data Protection

  • Members agree to share information with each other where it is relevant and required for the purposes of Playwork England
  • As a result of attending Playwork England meeting, members may at times acquire information that is confidential or commercially sensitive. Any disclosure of information of this nature should be highlighted as such and permission from the Chairperson sought in advance if in any doubt.
  • Members must not disclose confidential or commercially sensitive information gained as a result of membership of Playwork England for commercial advantage or to disadvantage or discredit other parties to the consortium or anyone else
  • Any personal data obtained or used by any member in the course of their membership shall be gathered and processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. The only personal data held by any party will be data which is relevant to the needs of the individual. Any personalised data that is collected will be done so in full compliance with the current legislation.

11. Amendments and Dispute Resolution

Process of Amendment:

  • Once agreed, the MoU may only be amended by agreement of the Executive Board following consultation with members. Once approved, amendments will be attached as annexes to the original MoU.
  • The MoU will be reviewed annually by the Executive Board, or earlier if required.
  • Any changes will be mutually agreed and signed by the Executive Board and shared with Members
  • The MoU is not intended to be legally binding, nor to give rise to any liability of any kind whatsoever.

Dispute Resolution:

  • Any issues or disputes between individual parties to this agreement which cannot be immediately resolved should be brought to the attention to the Executive Board Chairperson and discussed at the next meeting.
  • All parties agree to follow the dispute resolution process set in place by Executive Board.

14. Intellectual Property

Any project materials, activities, partnerships that relate to the explicit delivery of all activities and/or services agreed under this MOU shall remain the Intellectual Property of the original authors. Whenever used, the rightful owner will be respected and acknowledged. Any unauthorised use of either party’s materials may be subject to the appropriate law.

If a party disengages from Playwork England by way of membership resignation, they are no longer entitled to use such intellectual property.

15. Key Contacts

Playwork England can be contacted on any aspect of this MoU by email to hello@playworkengland.org

Upon appointment the Executive Board and contact details will be shared on www.playworkengland.org

16. Acceptance

All members of accept this MoU upon joining Playwork England. It is made available on www.playworkengland.org and implementation of this MoU is monitored by Playwork England’s Executive Board

Appendix 1 Meeting Rules

Members Meetings

  • Playwork England will hold a minimum of 4 Members Meetings annually. Dates for these will be set annually by the Executive Board and published on the website www.playworkengland.org
  • These will be held virtually to support membership attendance. Zoom links will be circulated to members in advance via email.
  • Agendas, papers and meeting summaries will be circulated by email in advance.
  • Members are encouraged to attend meetings in person, but recordings of meetings will be made available via the website.
  • Members can suggest agenda items or discussion topics via email to hello@playworkengland.org
  • Meeting summaries will be circulated to members within 7 days of the meeting concluding.
  • All members agree to be transparent and to declare any potential or actual conflicts of interest at each meeting.

Executive Board Meetings

  • The Executive Board will hold at least two additional meetings annually, but may meet more frequently depending on project undertakings.
  • All Meetings will be chaired by the Executive Board Chairperson, or Co-Chairperson in their absence.
  • Playwork England Executive Board shall strive to achieve consensus on all decisions. Where this is not possible this will be put to a vote. Each Executive Board member will be entitled to one vote with the majority deciding.
  • If there is an even count then the Executive Board Chairperson will have the deciding vote.
  • Where an Executive Board member cannot attend the meeting, they will be able to submit a vote by proxy by email no less than 24hrs before the start of the meeting.
  • All parties agree to be transparent and to declare any potential or actual conflicts of interest at each meeting.
  • Where Executive Board decisions need to be made outside of meetings this can be done via email. Voting shall take place as if it were a meeting and follow the same format and shall be recorded as such.
  • Decisions arrived at in this way will be recorded in the minutes and circulated to Executive Board Members.
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