The fit-and-proper-person test or director's test is a test aiming to prevent corrupt or untrustworthy people from serving on the board of certain organizations. First introduced in 2004 for owners and directors of major British football clubs, since November 2014 it also applies to the
National Health Service in England
The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest single-payer healthcare system in the world after the ...
for board members of
NHS Trust
An NHS trust is an organisational unit within the National Health Services of England and Wales, generally serving either a geographical area or a specialised function (such as an ambulance service). In any particular location there may be several ...
s under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, s.19 also extends the test to any person employed for the purposes of any regulated activity (doctor, nurse, social worker etc). And the Housing Act 2004 s.64 and s.88 apply fit and proper person tests to the conditions for granted licences to landlords of Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and/or houses that are subject to selective licensing.
Application to the National Health Service
Directors of NHS Trusts can be deemed unfit if they have been involved in “serious misconduct or mismanagement”. The test is supervised by the
Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England.
I ...
but decisions are made by individual trusts.
A Trust must be satisfied that its directors are:
* of good character - consideration must be given to previous convictions and removal from a professional register when assessing this;
* and have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience necessary for their office;
* and are capable (once reasonable adjustments have been made) of performing tasks intrinsic to their job by reason of their health.
A trust must not “appoint or have in place” a director who has been responsible for, privy to, contributed to or facilitated any serious misconduct or mismanagement (whether unlawful or not) in the course of carrying on a regulated activity.
The CQC received referrals from campaigners and
whistleblowers
A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
in January 2015 which alleged that more than 20 current and former NHS chief executives, medical directors and senior board level executives were unfit for their roles.
In 2018 the Health Minister commissioned a review of the test which was conducted by Tom Kark QC who made 7 recommendations to strengthen it and make it applicable throughout the NHS. Amongst his recommendations were: to devise a set of competencies for directors to meet and be benchmarked against; to set up a central database to hold information about directors; to require full references for each director (a mandatory reference scheme) and to set up a Health Directors Standards Council to investigate and deal with serious misconduct by senior directors. The first two recommendations were accepted by Government, the rest are under review.
Application in Football
![Stephenvaughan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Stephenvaughan.jpg)
The test, introduced in 2004, is mandated by the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
, the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
and the
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
. Anybody who takes over a club, runs one, or owns over 30% of its shares must be assessed. The first director known to have failed the test was Dennis Coleman, director of
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
when they went into
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
in 2006 and 2008. He claimed:
"I came in and in effect saved the club. It is totally unfair for me to be disqualified."
In November 2009,
Stephen Vaughan, then owner of
Chester City, became the first owner to fail the test, after he was legally disqualified from being a director of any company. This was a result of
VAT
A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...
fraud as owner of
Widnes Vikings
The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rug ...
rugby club. He transferred control of Chester to his son, Stephen Vaughan, Jr.
In March 2012,
Rangers owner
Craig Whyte
Craig Thomas Whyte (born 18 January 1971) is a Scottish businessman best known for his controversial spell as owner of Scottish football club Rangers.
Whyte first entered business in a plant hire company, after which he moved into security, m ...
was found not to be a fit and proper person as the result of an independent enquiry.
In June 2014,
Louis Tomlinson
Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned ...
, former footballer and member of the
boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...
One Direction
One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...
, and John Ryan, businessman and previous Chairman of
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
, launched a bid to buy the club but one month later Ryan was found not to be a fit and proper person due to a lack of funding.
Disqualifying events
The Premier League has tighter restrictions than the Football League or National League. In general, a businessman will fail the test if:
*They have power or influence over another Football League club
*They hold a significant interest in another Football League club
[
*They become prohibited by law from being a director][
*They are filing for ]bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
[
*They have been director of a club while it has suffered two or more unconnected events of ]insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...
[
*They have been a director of two or more clubs of which, while they have been director, has suffered an event of insolvency][
]
References
Sources
;Websites
*
*{{cite news, url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6923831.stm, title=A fit and proper Premiership?, date=2007-07-31, accessdate=2010-09-29, publisher=BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...