Special General Meeting - June 2023

The IET was founded in 1871 and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1921. The current Royal Charter of the IET was allowed by the Privy Council in 2007 and the current Bye-laws were approved in 2016.

The Board of Trustees reviews the Bye-laws from time to time, to consider whether any amendments or additions are required. In 2021 a Working Party was established to do this and its recommendations were reported to the Board of Trustees in May 2022.

A Special General Meeting will be held on Thursday, 15 June 2023 to allow members to vote on the proposals.

The proposed amendments to the Royal Charter and Bye-laws fall into three categories:

• Professional conduct – amendments to modernise the Bye-laws relating to breaches of professional conduct by aligning with the requirements of the Engineering Council on standards of conduct and non-compliance with Continuing Professional Development requirements.
• Modernising governing instruments – to modernise elements of governance, including the ability to allow virtual attendance and voting at Annual General Meetings and the need to physically sign on admission as a member. Also, to update wording around powers and the management of conflicts of interests, in accordance with modern good practice and the expectations of the Charity Commission, and to provide clarity on both personal benefits and conflicts of interest.
• Administration – administrative changes such as the removal of one instance of gender specific language and clauses relating to the 2016 transition arrangements. These have been deliberately kept to the minimum to keep the changes manageable.

Members, Fellows and Honorary Fellows only are entitled to vote and will be sent detailed information about the Special General Meeting and the proposed amendments to the Royal Charter and Bye-laws.  They will be able to vote in person at the Special General Meeting or appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf.

Members are urged to exercise their right to vote and to support the Board of Trustees and its proposals to modernise the Royal Charter and Bye-laws.

Further information can be found on the AGMs and SGMs page of the IET website.

Alternatively, please contact the Governance team on +44 (0)20 7344 5415.