Terms of reference

The purpose of the Faith Communities Forum is to facilitate dialogue between Welsh Government and member organisations on policy matters affecting the economic, social and cultural life in Wales. The Forum is intended to facilitate an effective exchange of information between the Welsh Government and members, allowing for more informed decision-making and greater awareness and understanding.

Within this broad purpose, any matters of concern to members in Wales can be raised, and similarly, any matters on which politicians might wish to consult members can be put forward for discussion and consideration by the Forum.

The Forum aims to create opportunities for member communities to speak for themselves in this dialogue. Hearing the range of perspectives is important; however, it is not necessary that this Forum returns a collective view on behalf of all members on any given issue.

The Welsh Government will take into account the views raised by members when considering relevant policy issues, but the final decision on how to proceed remains with the Welsh Ministers.   

Membership of the Faith Communities Forum will be for the Chair of the Forum to determine. The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip is the Chair of the Forum. Reference to the term ‘member’ throughout this document includes members and associate members.

Membership may be either temporarily suspended or permanently terminated where representatives breach the Expectations of Conduct (see Annex A).

Forum members are:

• The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 
• The Bahá’í Council for Wales 
• The Buddhist Council for Wales 
• The Church in Wales 
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 
• Churches Together in Wales (CYTUN) 
• Evangelical Alliance Wales 
• The Free Church Council 
• The Hindu Council for Wales 
• The Interfaith Council for Wales 
• The Muslim Council for Wales 
• The Roman Catholic Church in Wales 
• The Sikh Council for Wales 
• The South Wales Jewish Representative Council (Orthodox representative) 
• The South Wales Jewish Representative Council (Reform representative) 
• Wales Humanists (associate member)

Application requests for new members can be made at any time and will be considered by the Chair on a case-by-case basis. Applications may be made via the Interfaith Council for Wales, or directly to the Chair.

All members are expected to maintain positive relations between persons of different faiths or beliefs and to support the Forum’s mission of mutual understanding, interfaith dialogue and social cohesion.  Continued membership is dependent upon actively working towards this objective through the Forum.

All decisions taken by the Chair on matters of membership are final.

Expectations of conduct of all Forum members are set out at Annex A. The complaints process is set out at Annex B. 

The Forum will meet twice a year as scheduled by the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip. Ad hoc additional meetings may be called if needed at the Cabinet Secretary’s request.

The Secretariat for the Forum will be provided by Welsh Government officials from the Equality and Human Rights Division.

Members can expect the Welsh Government to provide timely agendas for meetings, and appropriate background resources to inform the discussion. They can also expect to be given the opportunity to input into planning the agendas for meetings. Where Welsh Government is asking for significant policy input, there should be a reasonable amount of time provided for members to undertake appropriate consultation within their organisation and communities.

Members are expected to attend all meetings. If they are unable to send a representative, they should, where possible, nominate an appropriate representative from their organisation or community to attend in their place. The secretariat should be informed in advance of who will be attending. If no one is able to attend on behalf of a member the secretariat should be notified in advance.

The Welsh Government expect members to carry out consultations with their own communities and networks and to prepare their input and contribute to meetings, ensuring they represent the diversity of views within the organisations they represent.

The Welsh Government has a commitment to inclusion and diversity, therefore if any meeting attendees require accommodation for accessibility, such as accessible parking space, British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters, alternate language requirement, material in an alternate format, induction loop system, or any other requirement, please notify the secretariat as soon as possible and we will endeavour to meet your requirements. 

The terms of reference will be published on the Welsh Government’s Faith Communities Forum website.

A summarised note of all meetings will be published on the website. 

Full minutes of the meeting will be circulated to all members.

These Terms of Reference will be reviewed periodically by the Equality and Human Rights Division of the Welsh Government and the Forum members to ensure they remain fit for purpose and relevant over time.

These Terms of Reference may be varied at any time and do not give rise to legally binding obligations on the part of the Cabinet Secretary Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, Welsh Government or members.

Group conduct

All communications between Forum members and anyone else attending meetings, must be respectful. Anyone breaching this rule will be advised that their conduct is offensive, unnecessary or unhelpful, and they will be asked to stop.

All Forum members have the right not to be subjected to aggressive, abusive or offensive language or behaviour. All members will need to be respectful of differing viewpoints and show professional courtesy in their response to differing viewpoints.

Confidentiality

Forum members should respect the confidentiality of Forum discussions. Minutes, and any documents circulated to the Forum for consideration should not be shared more widely unless agreed in advance.

Termination of membership

Repeated breaches of the expectations set out above could result in the Chair asking the member to leave a meeting or leave the Forum permanently. 

Any complaint about a member not meeting the standards of behaviour expected from all participants should be addressed to the Chair, or secretariat officials who will discuss the matter initially with the Chair.

If a complaint cannot be resolved informally, the Welsh Government will offer mediation, if appropriate, to ensure the group can continue to operate effectively.

If a resolution cannot be reached through mediation, or mediation is not considered to be appropriate, officials may make recommendations to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip who may ultimately remove members from the group.

All decisions taken by the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip in this respect are final.