Responsible Officer Author Date effective from July 2005 Ben Bennett, Business Planning & Resources Director Julian Lewis, Governance Manager Date last amended Review date February 2019
Introduction 1. This policy guides decisions about when and under what conditions staff and committee members should speak at external events, including whether a charge for their attendance should be made. 2. The policy does not cover speaking engagements organised by NICE, or the content or consistency of speaker presentations. If members of staff or committee members need help in preparing presentations they should contact their line manager, their director or the external communications team. General 3. All requests to speak on behalf of NICE should, in the first instance, be forwarded to the external communications team (speakers@nice.org.uk). They keep a record of all external speaking engagements and they will also help identify the best speaker, if the original recipient of the request is unable to undertake the engagement or another speaker is deemed to be more appropriate. 4. There is no fixed definition of an external speaking engagement as this covers a wide range of activities but they will all be organised and funded by third parties rather than NICE. They will include conferences, seminars and commercial training events. Any uncertainty over whether an event falls within the scope of this policy should be discussed with a line manager or director. 5. Staff should not take a personal payment for speaking engagements that draw on their knowledge or experience of working for NICE. In any circumstance where this is thought to be appropriate, prior approval must be sought from the director. 6. Members of NICE advisory committees may receive a speaker s fee other than where they are attending the meeting at NICE s request. They should, at all times, comply with NICE s Conflicts of Interest Policy Approval 7. Speaking engagements should only be accepted with the approval of the line manager or director. The potential impact on routine activity should be taken into consideration when deciding to accept a speaking engagement. 8. Where no payment is available (see below) the advice of the director should be sought on whether to accept the engagement. 9. Attendance by NICE employees at single company events is not normally appropriate. Permission for such events should be obtained from the Director or, in the case of a director, from the Chief Executive. Committee members should only consider accepting single company invitations when they do not conflict with the Conflicts of Interest Policy.
Funding 10. Many organisations offer honoraria or speakers fees as a matter of course. If one has not been offered then speakers should seek to obtain one to be paid direct to NICE. Where an honorarium is not available, the advice of the director should be sought before confirming acceptance. The host organisation should also be asked to reimburse any travel and other expenses incurred. 11. All remuneration should be made payable to NICE and not the individual member of staff. Fees from such events are collated and accounted for by the Finance Team. Non-commercial sector 12. In some circumstances the speaking engagement will be hosted by a noncommercial or public sector organisation which presents a valuable opportunity to promote the work at NICE. It is recognised that these organisations may not be able or willing to cover travel and subsistence expenses or pay speaker fees and these can be waived at the discretion of the director. 13. Sometimes, the non-payment of speaker fees is offset by NICE being provided with a conference stand without charge, with travel and subsistence being paid by NICE and this may be an acceptable arrangement. The funding of attendance at events where a speaker fee is not available should be decided on a case by case basis by the director, in discussion with finance and communications colleagues. Income-generating activities 14. Separate arrangements are in place for speaking engagements that are integral to the work of NICE International or income generating activities such as the Office for Market Access and NICE Scientific Advice. Speaker s fees from these trading activities will not be pooled centrally and will be accounted for separately. Committee chairs and members 15. Committee chairs and members are invited to speak at various events on behalf of NICE. Where these events are facilitated by NICE and travel and subsistence paid by NICE, the speakers fee should be paid to NICE (subject to the exception for non-commercial events set out above). These arrangements should be documented and approved by finance and communications colleagues in advance of the event as part of the approval process.
16. Where committee chairs and members accept invitations to speak at events not organised by NICE, these will be considered private non-nice engagements and NICE will not fund the travel and subsistence or receive any speakers fee. Committee chairs and members should at all times comply with NICE s Conflicts of Interest Policy when undertaki9ng speaking engagements. Related policies 17. When considering accepting speaking engagements the following policies should be considered: Conflicts of interest policy a. Where a speaking engagement is accepted in a private capacity and the event is hosted by the commercial sector (as defined in the policy) this should be declared. Any T&S and/or remuneration received may constitute a conflict of interest in respect of the work they are involved in at NICE. Hospitality policy b. Staff accepting speaking engagements as part of NICE business who receive hospitality including meals and refreshments estimated to be in excess of 25 and/or T&S above the limits set out in the NICE T&S policies should declare these in the hospitality register. Code of business conduct c. Speaking engagements undertaken in a private capacity should not be organised, prepared for or attended during staff working hours. d. Staff should not accept speaking engagements which may be damaging to the reputation of NICE. If is doubt the individual should seek advice from their director.
Version control sheet Version Date Author Replaces Comment 1.0 Feb 2016 1.1 Feb 2016 Governance Manager Governance Manager Conference attendance and speaking engagements policy Speaking Engagements Policy v1.0 Conference attendance and speaking engagements now subject to separate policies Minor amendment