National Council of Social Service Bill

“appointed day” means the date of commencement of this Act;

“Board” means the Board of the Council;

“Chairman” means the Chairman of the Community Chest;

“chief executive officer” means the chief executive officer of the Council appointed under section 22(1);

“Community Chest” means the Community Chest established under section 13(1);

“Council” means the National Council of Social Service established under section 3;

“Endowment Fund” means the Endowment Fund established under section 12(1);

“General Fund” means the General Fund established under section 27(1);

“member” means any member of the Board;

“President” means the President of the Board;

“Singapore Council of Social Service” means the Singapore Council of Social Service established under the repealed Singapore Council of Social Service Act [Cap. 299] in force before the appointed day;

“Vice-President” means the Vice-President of the Board.

The Council shall appoint a chief executive officer on such terms and conditions as the Board may determine.

The chief executive officer shall be responsible to the Board for the proper administration and management of the Council in accordance with the policy laid down by the Board.

If the chief executive officer is temporarily absent from Singapore or temporarily incapacitated by reason of illness or for other reasons temporarily unable to perform his duties, any person may be appointed by the Board to act in the place of the chief executive officer during any such period of absence from duty.

The common seal of the Council shall be kept in such custody as the Board may direct.

All deeds, documents and other instruments requiring the seal of the Council shall be sealed with the common seal of the Council, and the instruments to which the common seal is affixed shall be signed by the President and the chief executive officer or some other person duly authorised by the Board for the purpose.

All courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take judicial notice of the common seal of the Council affixed to any document and shall presume that it was duly affixed.

Section 12 of the Registration of Deeds Act [Cap. 269] shall not apply to any instrument purporting to have been executed under subsection (2).

The management of the affairs of the Council and of its properties shall be vested in a Board which shall consist of —

The Board may, in its discretion, co-opt up to 3 persons to be members for a term not exceeding two years who shall not be eligible to vote on any issue at the meetings of the Council or the Board.

The President shall hold office for such term not exceeding two years as the Minister thinks fit, and shall be eligible for reappointment.

The Honorary General Secretary and the Honorary Treasurer shall be appointed by the President for such term not exceeding two years as the President thinks fit, and shall be eligible for reappointment except that the Honorary Treasurer shall not serve for more than two consecutive terms.

If for reason of illness, leave of absence or other cause, the President is unable to exercise his powers and perform his functions under this Act or any regulations made thereunder, the Vice-President shall exercise the powers and perform the functions of the President; and if the Vice-President is unable to do so, any other member, with the approval of the Minister, shall act as President and shall exercise the powers and perform the functions of the President.

The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of the President without assigning any reason.

The office of the President shall be vacated if the President —

Elected members of the Board shall hold office for a term of two years and shall be eligible for reappointment but shall not serve for more than 3 consecutive terms.

All appointed and elected members of the Board shall have the right to vote on any issue at the meetings of the Council and the Board.

The Chairman, the Director of Social Welfare or his representative and the Director of Medical Services or his representative shall have the right to vote on any issue at the meetings of the Council and the Board.

Meetings of the Council and the Board and proceedings thereat shall be held in the prescribed manner.

If a member of the Board or a member of the Council is, directly or indirectly, interested in any contract or other matter and is present at a meeting of the Council or the Board or any committee thereof, at which the contract or other matter is the subject of consideration, the member shall, at the meeting and as soon as practicable after it commences, disclose the fact and shall not thereafter be present during the consideration or discussion of, and shall not vote on, any question with respect to that contract or other matter.

No act or proceedings of the Council or the Board shall be questioned on the ground that any of its members has contravened this section.

The Minister may, after consultation with the Board, give the Council such directions as he thinks fit as to the performance of the functions of the Council under this Act; and the Council shall, as soon as practicable, give effect to all such directions.

The Council shall furnish the Minister with such information or facilities for obtaining information with respect to its functions in such manner and at such times as the Minister may reasonably require.

The objects of the Council shall be —

For the purposes of carrying out its objects, the Council may —

Nothing in this section shall enable the Council to have jurisdiction or exercise any control over the internal management of its members or to take part in political or religious controversy.

The Board may exercise all such powers of the Council as it thinks fit except as otherwise provided by this Act.

There shall be established an Endowment Fund which shall vest in the Council and shall consist of —

Any interest, dividends and other income derived from the Endowment Fund shall be credited to the General Fund.

The Endowment Fund may be applied for such purposes as may be approved by the Minister in writing.

The Council shall establish the Community Chest to raise funds on behalf of the Council.

The Community Chest shall consist of a Chairman who shall be appointed by the Minister, one or more Vice-Chairmen and such other members as the Chairman, in consultation with the President, may appoint for such term as the Chairman thinks fit.

The Chairman shall hold office for such term not exceeding two years as the Minister may determine and shall be eligible for reappointment.

If for reason of illness, leave of absence or other cause, the Chairman is unable to exercise his powers and functions under this Act or any regulations made thereunder, one of the Vice-Chairmen shall be appointed by the President to act as Chairman and shall exercise the powers and perform the functions of the Chairman; and if all the Vice-Chairmen are unable to do so, any other member of the Community Chest, with the approval of the President, shall act as Chairman and shall exercise the powers and perform the functions of the Chairman.

The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of the Chairman without assigning any reason.

The office of the Chairman shall be vacated if the Chairman —

Meetings of the Community Chest and proceedings thereat shall be held in the prescribed manner.

The Board may appoint from among its members or from among other persons who are not members such number of committees for purposes which, in the opinion of the Board, would be better regulated and managed by means of such committees.

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Board shall appoint such number of service planning and fund allocation committees as it thinks fit whose chairmen shall be appointed by a panel comprising —

A chairman of a committee appointed under subsection (2) shall hold office for such term not exceeding two years as the President thinks fit and shall be eligible for reappointment.

The Board may, subject to such conditions or restrictions as it thinks fit to impose, delegate to any such committee or the President any of the powers, functions and duties by this Act vested in the Council, and any power, function or duty so delegated may be exercised or performed by the committee or the President, as the case may be, in the name and on behalf of the Council.

The Board may, subject to such conditions or restrictions as it thinks fit to impose, delegate to any employee of the Council all or any of the powers, functions and duties by this Act vested in the Council, and any power, function or duty so delegated may be exercised or performed by the employee in the name and on behalf of the Council.

The Council may continue to exercise any power conferred upon it, or perform any function or duty under this Act, notwithstanding the delegation of such power, function or duty under this section.

The Council shall consist of the following 3 categories of members:

Any organisation whose aims and objects are consistent with those of the Council and which provides as its primary objective a bona fide direct social service which helps to meet existing needs of the community may, in the prescribed manner and in accordance with the prescribed conditions, apply to the Council to be a full member.

Any organisation whose aims and objects are consistent with those of the Council and which has an active interest in social service but which does not provide a direct social service as its primary function may, in the prescribed manner and in accordance with the prescribed conditions, apply to the Council to be an associate member.

Any person, firm, corporation or organisation that has rendered outstanding social service may be invited to be an honorary member of the Council for such period as the Council thinks fit.

Any organisation which is a full or associate member of the Singapore Council of Social Service immediately before the appointed day shall, on and after that day, be a member of the Council and shall be given the option to remain as a full or associate member or, in the case of a full member, to change its membership to an associate member if it satisfies the requirement of an associate member under subsection (3).

Fees for full members and associate members shall be payable annually on the first day of April and shall be such amount as the Board shall from time to time determine.

Honorary members shall not be required to pay any fees for membership.

Every full member and associate member shall appoint a person as its official representative to act on its behalf in the Council and shall be entitled to change such representation from time to time.

Any appointment or change of representation under subsection (1) shall be communicated to the Council in writing.

Associate members may attend the meetings of the Council but shall not vote in any of its proceedings except in electing two members to the Board from among the associate members at its annual general meeting as provided in section 5(1)(h).

Associate members who are elected to be members of the Board shall have the right to vote on any issue at the meetings of the Board.

The Council shall establish a General Fund.

All moneys received or raised by the Council shall be paid into the General Fund.

All expenses incurred by the Council in carrying out the purposes of this Act shall be met from the General Fund.

The Board shall in every year cause to be prepared and adopted annual estimates of income and expenditure of the Council for the ensuing year.

Supplementary estimates may be adopted by the Board.

The accounts of the Council shall be audited by an auditor appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General.

A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an auditor under subsection (1) unless he is an approved company auditor under the Companies Act [Cap. 50].

The auditor shall in his report state —

The auditor shall send a report of his audit to the Minister through the Council not later than 31st August in each year.

The auditor may at any other time report to the Minister through the Council upon any matter arising out of the performance of his audit.

The auditor or any person authorised by him may require any person to furnish him with such information in the possession of that person or to which that person has access as the auditor or authorised person considers necessary for the purposes of his functions under this Act.

Any person who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement of the auditor or any authorised person or who otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays the auditor or the authorised person in the performance of his duties or the exercise of his powers shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction.

As soon as the financial statements have been audited in accordance with the provisions of this Act but not later than 30th September in each year, the Council shall send to the Minister a copy of the audited financial statements, signed by the President, together with a copy of any report made by the auditor.

A copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General at the same time they are submitted to the Council.

The Minister shall as soon as practicable cause a copy of the audited financial statements and of the auditor’s report to be presented to Parliament.

The Council may, with the approval of the Minister, make such regulations as are necessary for carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Council may, with the approval of the Minister, make such regulations for or with respect to all or any of the following matters: