Reviews of Intermediate Bodies
There was a spate of these some time ago, and a growing impatience with meetings deemed unnecessary and unsuccessful; see below, for example, the Birmingham Churches Together review report and the Kent review. Many Intermediate Bodies are ridding themselves of unnecessary layers of structure. Some have also abolished compulsory annual public meetings, preferring instead to hold meetings with a clear subject focus or designed specifically for particular consituencies like local Churches Together groups or LEPs.
Reviews can take a long time, as did the Birmingham one, or can be very quick, especially if there is an underlying consensus which just needs unearthing. It is therefore worth noting that the requirement in many IB constitutions for a review can be approached creatively without making a nonsense of the process. Reviews can be stimulating and inspirational – or deadly and energy-absorbing. Ensure that yours is the former!
Help and resources
Before embarking on a review, ask what's the point of an Intermediate Body? And if you want advice, Jenny Bond is your first port of call.
The Group for Local Unity produced an extremely helpful, practical, document with a lot of advice about reviewing an Intermediate Body. While Intermediate Bodies now tend to carry out lighter-touch reviews and you may well not need all of it, reading it before you begin the review is wise.
Below are all the review reports CTE has. If yours is missing, or if the incorrect version of yours is here, please send the correct version to Lorraine Shannon.