BSPC WG ISHC Mandate March 2014

|Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference |[pic] ||The BSPC Working Group on Innovation in Social and Health Care | || | ||Adopted by the 22nd BSPC on 27 August 2013 | ||Amended by the WG on 28 March 2014 | |BSPC Working Group on Innovation in Social and Health CareMandate1. ConstitutionThe Working Group is constituted as an ad-hoc working group under the auspices of the Standing Committee of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in accordance with the BSPC Rules of Procedure.2. ObjectivesThe overarching objective of the Working Group is to elaborate political positions and recommendations pertaining to innovation in social and health care. For this purpose, the Working Group should establish and maintain contacts with relevant institutions, organizations and other actors in the Baltic Sea Region.The scope of work of the Working Group should cover, but not be limited to, issues such as• Social innovation, with focus on social and health care• Innovation in health care systems and services;• Innovation in social welfare systems and services, with focus on elderly people.The Working Group should place great weight on prevention in social and health care. The topical issues of the Group are further described in the separate Scope of Work.The Working Group and its members should aim at raising the political attention on innovation in social and health care, for instance by pursuing those issues in the national parliaments of the members of the Working Group, and by conveying the recommendations and requests of the Working Group to their Governments. Moreover, the Working Group should contribute to the exchange of knowledge and best practices within its area of responsibility.The WG will present the first part of its political recommendations at the 23rd BSPC in 2014. The final and consolidated recommendations will be submitted to the 24th BSPC in 2015.3. Chairmanship and ParticipationThe Working Group shall be headed by a Chairmanship, consisting of a Chair and 1-2 Vice Chairs.At its meeting on 27 May 2013, the BSPC Standing Committee appointed Raimonds Vējonis, Latvia, as Chairperson of the Working Group. Raimonds Vējonis resigned from this position in January 2014, due to his appointment as Minister of Defence of Latvia.At its second meeting on 27-28 March 2014, the Working Group appointed Olaug Bollestad, Norway, as Chair of the WG, and reconfirmed Wolfgang Waldmüller, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, as Vice Chair.All member parliaments and parliamentary organizations of the BSPC are invited to participate in the Working Group with one member and one substitute each, accompanied by one advisor and/or one interpreter. Members and substitutes must be parliamentarians.Representatives of other national parliaments and relevant international organizations can be involved by unanimous decision of the Working Group members.4. Mode of WorkThe Working Group will adopt a working plan at its first meeting.Decisions of the Working Group shall be made by consensus. Abstentions do not disrupt consensus.The working language shall be English for deliberations as well as documents. Russian interpretation will be provided on a need basis. Translation of background material and other documents for the Working Group meetings to any other language than English will only be done on request. The costs in such cases shall be borne by the requesting member parliament.5. AdministrationBasic secretariat resources for the Working Group arrangements and meetings will be provided by the Chairmanship of the Working Group together with the BSPC Secretariat.Additional staff support to the Chair and Vice Chair shall be provided by their home parliaments. Staff support to the members of the Working Group shall be provided by their home parliaments.Meetings will be arranged on a rotating basis between member parliaments. The secretariat of the parliament hosting a meeting shall provide assistance to the practical preparation of the meeting (booking of meeting facilities and meals, suggestions for accommodation, necessary transportation, help in finding relevant local guest speakers etc).6. CostsMembers and staff of the Working Group shall cover their own travel and accommodation costs and other expenses in connection to activities in the group.Meeting costs and all related expenditures will as a rule be covered by the BSPC Joint Financing Mechanism, in accordance with the applicable BSPC Budget Plan.7. TimeframeThe start-up of the Working Group activities shall commence in fall 2013. The Working Group will agree on a meeting schedule at its first meeting.The Working Group should present a midway report at the 23rd BSPC in 2014. The final report of the Working Group shall be submitted to the 24th BSPC in 2015.