Council Committees
The Council has four subcommittees made up of Council members and supplemented with other members bringing specialised expertise and knowledge where appropriate. Subcommittees have responsibility for specific areas of the Council remit; in some cases authority is delegated for them to act on behalf of Council and in other cases they are acting in an advisory capacity either to Council (ERPIC) or to the Chairman (Nominations Committee).
The Membership and Terms of Reference of each Committee are below:
- Council Audit and Finance Committee (CAFC)
- Ethics, Regulation and Public Involvement Committee (ERPIC)
- Nominations Committee (NomCom)
- Remuneration Committee (RemCom)
Council Audit and Finance Committee (CAFC)
Terms of reference
Membership
- Mr Tony Caplin: Chairman
- Prof Michael Arthur: Deputy Chairman
- Ms Gill Noble
- Professor Richard Henderson
- Mrs Alison Bexfield
- Dr Rima Makarem
- Mr Alastair Hewgill
Ethics, Regulation and Public Involvement Committee (ERPIC)
1. To advise Council on policy concerning the conduct of research involving human participants (including personal information and human biological material) with respect to:
- ethics,
- legislation and regulation, and
- other related matters that may be referred to it by Council.
2. To advise Council on issues or initiatives involving the public (such as major public consultations, public dialogue activities, and public involvement in MRC business).
3. To maintain an overview of published MRC ethics guidance on the conduct of research that involves human participants
4. To advise Council on the MRC’s support for the Nuffield Council on Bioethics
The Ethics, Regulation and Public Involvement Committee meets twice a year.
Membership
Baroness Onora O'Neill (Chair) |
Council member; House of Lords |
Professor Richard Ashcroft |
Queen Mary's School of Medicine & Dentistry |
Professor Carol Dezateux |
Institute of Child Health |
Mr Jonathon Glasson |
Matrix Chambers |
Professor Emily Jackson |
London School of Economics |
Professor Tom Meade |
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine |
Professor Mike Parker |
Director of Ethox Centre, Oxford |
Council member; Freelance journalist and broadcaster | |
Professor Martin Rossor |
UCL Institute of Neurology |
Mrs Shahwar Sadeque |
Educational and IT Consultant |
Nominations Committee (NomCom)
To advise the Chairman on senior key appointments – the CEO, COO and Council members and Chairs of the Research Boards and Panels.
- Mr Donald Brydon (Chair), MRC Chairman
- Professor Jeffrey Almond, Council member; Sanofi Pasteur, France
- Professor Sally Macintyre, Council member; MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Glasgow
- Mrs Vivienne Parry, Council member; Freelance journalist and broadcaster
- Lord Naren Patel, Council member; House of Lords
Membership is co-terminous with Council membership.
Remuneration Committee (RemCom)
The Remuneration Committee has the following terms of reference
1. Constitution
1.1 The MRC has established a standing committee of Council known as the Remuneration Committee.
1.2 The Terms of Reference for the Committee outlined below are defined by Council and may be amended by Council at a full meeting
2. Membership
2.1 Council is responsible for the appointment of members to the Remuneration Committee, for setting the term of members’ appointments and for the revocation of any such appointments.
2.2 The Remuneration Committee shall comprise not less than four members. The quorum shall be two Committee members. All members of the Committee shall be advised of the business to be transacted at any meeting even if they are unable to be present.
2.3 The Chairman of the Committee shall be a Non-Executive Council member (ie a member other than an executive director of the MRC). No one other than members of the Committee is entitled to be present at Committee meetings, unless invited to attend by the Chairman. The Chief Executive Officer and HR Director shall normally be in attendance, except when issues regarding their own remuneration are discussed.
2.4 The Committee should consult the Chief Executive Officer about their proposals relating to the remuneration of other MRC Directors. The Committee shall be supported by the HR Director. The Head of Compensation & Benefits shall act as secretary to the Committee and shall produce such papers and minutes of the Committee’s meetings as are appropriate, in a timely manner.
2.5 The Remuneration Committee is authorised by Council to obtain legal, remuneration or other professional advice from both inside and outside the MRC as and when required, at the Council’s expense, and to appoint and secure the attendance of external consultants and advisors if it considers this beneficial.
3. Frequency of meetings
3.1 Meetings of the Remuneration Committee shall be held as necessary and normally three times a year and at such other times as the Chairman of the Committee shall require.
3.2 The Chairman of the Committee shall report to Council after each meeting. The minutes of the meetings shall be circulated to all members of the Committee, the Chief Executive Officer and HR Director.
4. Duties
4.1 The Committee shall:
i. determine and agree with Council the broad policy for the remuneration of the MRC Group Directors, Institute Directors and Unit Directors
ii. have delegated authority to set individual remuneration arrangements for the MRC Group Directors, Institute Directors and Unit Directors;
iii. recommend and monitor the level and structure of remuneration for senior management. The Committee shall determine which colleagues are “senior management” for this purpose – as at the date of adoption of these terms this covers members of the Management Board and Operations Board who are not MRC Group Directors, Institute Directors or Unit Directors
iv. in determining remuneration for those referred to above, the Committee shall review and agree
- overall market positioning of the remuneration package;
- individual base salaries and increases;
- annual bonus arrangements, and set the relevant targets;
- pension arrangements
4.2 The Committee shall approve the contracts of each Management Board Director, including termination arrangements.
4.3 The Committee shall approve the annual pay remit and is so doing ensure that all employees of the MRC receive similar annual consideration as the directors of the MRC
4.4 The Committee shall review the HR Strategy for the MRC and make appropriate recommendations to the Management Board
4.5 The Committee Chairman shall make recommendations to BIS for the reward and remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer and attend meetings of the BIS Remuneration Committee as requested
5. Other Matters
5.1 The Committee will consider and recommend to Council the content of the annual Remuneration Report
5.3 The Committee shall undertake any other duties as directed by Council.
These Terms of Reference were adopted by Council on 3rd July 2010
- Mr Donald Brydon (Chair), MRC Chairman
- Professor Michael Arthur, Council member; University of Leeds
- Dr Richard Henderson, Council member; MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge
- Professor Paul Morgan
Membership is co-terminous with Council membership.
The Chief Executive and Chairs of the Research Boards attend for particular parts of the discussion.