Council

The College’s Council discuss the affairs of the organisation and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees on many of the biggest decisions the College has to make.

What is Council responsible for?

Council has overall responsibility for education and psychiatric training, policy, professional practice, professional standards, public engagement, quality improvement and research.

Other responsibilities include:

  • to elect people to fellowship and membership of the College
  • education, policy, professional practice, professional standards, public engagement, quality, research, and training in psychiatry
  • considering and approving applications for pre-membership psychiatric trainees (PMPTs), affiliates, mental health associates, specialist associates and international associate membership
  • to make recommendations to the Board of Trustees for new faculties
  • to make recommendations to the Board of Trustees about the nature, scope and extent of the privileges of membership, including changes
  • making, changing or cancelling regulations about the examinations. (The council has no power to make other regulations but may make recommendations to the Board of Trustees.)

There are 11 Committees of Council.

See who's on our Council

Headlines from the most recent meeting

Below is a round-up of items covered at our second Council meeting of the year, which took place on Friday 6 October 2023. This was the inaugural Council meeting for President Dr Lade Smith CBE.

  • President Dr Lade Smith updated Council on plans for the forthcoming RCPsych Strategy Day, which will formulate the College's next three-year strategy, which will run between 2024-26.
  • RCPsych in Scotland were congratulated for a big piece of work they will be imminently publishing - a State of the Nation report on the Scottish psychiatry workforce, outlining the challenges faced and a series of recommendations to address these.
  • Updates from RCPsych in Wales included the recruitment of a women’s health lead to the Welsh Council. Also, a number of posts from Wales on the Colleges ED credential have been supported by Health Education & Improvement Wales.
  • RCPsych in Northern Ireland updated Council that the winter conference this week was a great success with over 140 NI membership attending. The College’s office in NI has moved to Holywood, in Belfast. Congratulations were given to President medal recipient Dr Michael Doherty.
  • In his last Council meeting at the College, CEO Paul Rees updated attendees on a 3% year-on-year growth in the membership, reaching 21,000.
  • Calum Mercer, the College's Director of Finance was thanked for his service ahead of him stepping down next month.
  • Council was updated on the three charity/membership sector awards that the College recently received, including a Sustainability Award for leading environmental work.
  • Registrar Dr Trudi Seneviratne updated Council on the first Bipolar roundtable held by the College, with Bipolar UK. She also spoke about the influencing work being done on the National Partnership Agreement and the Illegal Migration Bill.
  • College Dean, Professor Subodh Dave, congratulated the award winners of the new Aggrey Burke Fellowship Scheme. 

Council minutes

Council minutes are not classified as public records. Access is restricted according to the RCPsych Access to Archives Policy.