Singapore Council of Social Service Act
(CHAPTER 299)

(Original Enactment: Act 29 of 1968)

REVISED EDITION 1985
(30th March 1987)
An Act to incorporate the Singapore Council of Social Service.
[16th December 1968]
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Short title
1.  This Act may be cited as the Singapore Council of Social Service.
Interpretation
2.  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“Board” means the Board of Management of the Council;
“Council” means the Singapore Council of Social Service incorporated by this Act;
“Fund” means the Singapore Council of Social Service Fund and includes all subscriptions, donations, bequests, interest and dividends and all other movable or immovable property received, acquired or held by the Council;
“society” means the Singapore Council of Social Service in existence immediately before the commencement of this Act and registered under the provisions of the Societies Act [Cap. 311].
Incorporation of Council
3.—(1)  There is hereby established in Singapore a body corporate to be known as the Singapore Council of Social Service.
(2)  The Council shall have perpetual succession and may sue and be sued in its corporate name and perform acts or things incidental or appertaining to a body corporate.
Common seal
4.  The Council shall have a common seal which may from time to time be broken, changed, altered and made anew as the Council thinks fit.
Transfer of property, liabilities, etc.
5.—(1)  All the assets and movable and immovable property of every description and all the powers, rights and privileges in connection therewith or appertaining thereto which immediately before the commencement of this Act were vested in the society are vested in the Council without further assurance.
(2)  All liabilities and obligations of the society which may have existed immediately before the commencement of this Act are transferred to the Council.
(3)  Every officer of the society shall be deemed to hold a corresponding appointment in the Council, subject to any provision that may subsequently be made.
Constitution of Council
6.—(1)  The Council shall consist of one representative each from all the organisations set out in the Schedule.
(2)  The Minister may, from time to time by notification in the Gazette, amend the Schedule on the advice of the Council or the Board.
(3)  Subject to subsection (2), the Board may accept as members of the Council organisations in any of the following categories:
(a)welfare and welfare co-ordination organisations; and
(b)organisations or bodies engaged in any form of social, welfare, community or humanitarian work or service.
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Associates
7.—(1)  Any person, firm, corporation or organisation which subscribes such annual sum, as may be determined from time to time by the Council on the recommendation of the Board, to the Fund may, in the discretion of the Council, be admitted to be an associate of the Council for the year of the subscription.
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(2)  Such associates may attend the meetings of the Council but shall not vote in any of its proceedings.
(3)  Such associates may elect from among themselves a number not exceeding two to represent them on the Board. All such elected associates are entitled to attend the meetings of the Board and have the right to vote on any issue at the meetings.
Ex officio members
8.  The Director of Social Welfare or his representative and the Head of the Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore, or his representative shall be ex officio members of the Council as well as of the Board.
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Patrons
9.  The Council may, on the recommendation of the Board, at any annual general meeting nominate suitable persons to be patron-in-chief patrons and honorary members of the Council.
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Objects of Council
10.—(1)  The objects of the Council are —
(a)to co-ordinate voluntary welfare activities in Singapore not only as between member organisations of the Council but also with other organisations;
(b)to maintain and improve standards of voluntary social work and to encourage voluntary welfare efforts in fields not fully covered by the Government;
(c)to assist member organisations by contributions or otherwise to promote voluntary welfare activities in Singapore;
(d)to initiate, assist and organise such forms of relief and schemes of social service as may be deemed desirable by the Council;
(e)to raise, receive, administer and distribute such funds and goods in kind as are entrusted to it;
(f)to disseminate information to and interest in all possible ways the members of the public in social welfare matters and to encourage participation therein;
(g)to make such recommendations to the Government as the Council thinks fit on matters pertaining to legislation in the field of social welfare or for the furtherance of the objects of the Council; and
(h)to establish a headquarters and social service centre.
(2)  For the purpose of carrying out any of the objects set out in subsection (1), the Council may —
(a)acquire or accept leases, purchase, take, hold and enjoy any lands, buildings, messuages or tenements of any nature or kind and wherever situated in Singapore or elsewhere;
(b)invest moneys on deposit in any bank in Singapore or on mortgage of any lands, buildings, messuages or tenements in Singapore or in or upon mortgages, debentures, stocks, funds, shares or securities or any corporation or company carrying on business in Singapore or elsewhere;
(c)purchase and acquire all manner of goods and chattels whatsoever;
(d)grant, sell, convey, assign, surrender, yield up, mortgage, demise, reassign, transfer or otherwise dispose of any lands, buildings, messuages and tenements, mortgages, debentures, stocks, funds and securities, goods and chattels and carry on business for the furtherance of the objects of the Council;
(e)accept any gift of property, whether subject to any special trust or not;
(f)take such steps by personal or written appeals, public meetings, or otherwise, as may from time to time be deemed expedient for the purpose of procuring contributions to the Fund; and
(g)undertake and execute any trust:
Provided that nothing in this section shall enable the Council to have jurisdiction or exercise any control over the internal management of member organisations or to take part in political or religious controversy.
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(3)  All moneys received or raised by the Council shall be paid into the Fund.
Application of income
11.—(1)  The income and property of the Council from wherever derived shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects and general purposes of the Council as set out in this Act, and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise by way of profit to member organisations.
(2)  Nothing in this section shall prevent the payment in good faith of remuneration to any officers or employees of the Council.
Board of Management
12.  The powers of the Council, the management and control of the Council and of its property and affairs shall be vested in a Board of Management.
Constitution of Board
13.—(1)  The Board shall consist of the following members:
(a)a President, two Vice-Presidents, a General Secretary, a Treasurer and 7 other members, who shall all be elected from among the member organisations of the Council at the annual general meeting;
(b)two members from the associates of the Council elected as provided in section 7;
(c)two ex officio members as provided in section 8; and
(d)not more than 4 members co-opted by the Board as provided in section 14(2).
(2)  All members of the Board shall be eligible for re-election:
Provided that those members who are representatives of member, or associate, organisations shall not be eligible for re-election unless they are confirmed as representatives of such organisations.
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(3)  The Board shall not be precluded from holding any meeting (provided a quorum is present at the meeting) or acting in any matter merely by reason of any vacancy in its membership.
Powers of Board
14.—(1)  The Board shall have power at any time and from time to time to delegate its authority to a member or members of the Board or to appoint any person being a representative of a member organisation to fill a casual vacancy on the Board, and any person so appointed shall hold office so long as the member in whose place he is appointed would have held office.
(2)  The Board may co-opt any person to be a member of the Board with the rights of an ordinary member:
Provided that —
(a)such members shall not exceed at any time 4 in number;
(b)co-opted members shall not be included for the purposes of a quorum as provided in section 16(2); and
(c)they hold office until the next annual general meeting after their co-option to the Board.
(3)  The Board may —
(a)make rules to regulate the proceedings of the Council and of the Board;
(b)appoint committees the members of which may or may not be member organisations of the Council and allocate duties to and regulate the exercise of executive power by the committees;
(c)appoint such officers and employees as it thinks fit and regulate the conduct and dismissal of such officers and employees;
(d)make recommendations to the Council for the nomination of patrons and admit member organisations and associate members to the Council;
(e)organise classes, lectures, courses and symposia on subjects falling within the objects of the Council;
(f)disseminate information about the Council by selling or distributing books, pamphlets and papers;
(g)enter into contracts, establish trusts and generally regulate the transaction of all business connected with the Council;
(h)receive subscriptions, donations, interest, dividends and contributions from the Government and from any other persons and bodies;
(i)raise funds by all lawful means;
(j)utilise the corpus and income of the Fund in such manner as the Board may think fit in carrying out the objects of the Council; and
(k)generally do all such other acts as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
Meetings
15.—(1)  The President of the Council shall preside at all meetings of the Council and of the Board and shall have the right to vote on any question coming before or arising at any meeting of the Council or the Board.
(2)  In the absence of the President of the Council, one of the Vice-Presidents shall preside at the meetings of the Council and of the Board and when so doing has and may exercise all the powers and functions of the President.
(3)  The Board shall normally meet as often as it considers necessary but it shall in any case meet at least once in 3 months.
(4)  A general meeting other than the annual general meeting shall be held every 6 months after the annual general meeting of the Council.
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(5)  The annual general meeting of the Council shall be held in every calendar year and not more than 15 months from the holding of the last preceding annual general meeting.
(6)  An extraordinary general meeting of the Council may be convened by the Board whenever it thinks fit and it shall be convened on the requisition of members representing not less than 25% of the total number of the member organisations of the Council.
(7)  All questions coming before or arising at any meeting of the Council or of the Board shall be decided by a majority of members present and voting at the meeting and in the case of an equality of votes the person presiding at the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.
Quorum
16.—(1)  The quorum at all meetings of the Council shall be 15 members.
(2)  The quorum at meetings of the Board shall be 5 members.
(3)  No business of the Council shall be transacted unless a quorum is present.
Notice
17.—(1)  The Board shall cause a notice of every general meeting and of every annual general meeting and of every extraordinary general meeting of the Council to be sent to all member organisations of the Council; and shall cause a notice of every Board meeting to be sent to every member of the Board. Such notice shall specify the date, time and place for the holding of the meeting and the business to be transacted thereat.
(2)  At least 14 clear days’ notice of every general meeting and of every extraordinary and annual general meeting shall be given to members; and at least 7 clear days’ notice of every Board meeting shall be given to every member of the Board.
(3)  The notice shall be deemed to have been received if posted by ordinary mail or despatched by hand to the address of the member.
Observers
18.  The Council may invite the Government and such other organisations as it thinks fit to nominate representatives to attend the meetings of the Council or of the Board as observers.
Annual subscription
19.—(1)  On or after 1st January of each year every member organisation shall pay to the Council an annual subscription of an amount to be determined from time to time by the Council on the recommendation of the Board.
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(2)  The Board may in its discretion waive the whole or any part of the subscription payable by a member organisation.
Disclosure of interest
20.—(1)  If a member organisation of the Council or a member of the Board is directly or indirectly interested in any contract, proposed contract, or other matter and is present at a meeting of the Council or of the Board or any committee thereof, at which the contract or other matter is the subject of consideration, the member organisation or 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.
(2)  Subsection (1) shall also apply to any member of a committee appointed in accordance with section 14(3)(b) when the member is present at a meeting of any committee.
Execution of documents
21.  All deeds, documents or other instruments requiring the seal of the Council shall be signed and sealed by the President of the Council and the General Secretary for the time being or by such other person or persons as the Board may from time to time appoint and their signing shall be sufficient evidence that the seal was duly and properly affixed and that it is the lawful seal of the Council.
Annual report
22.  The Board shall, as soon as possible after the close of each year, submit to the Council at the annual general meeting a report on the activities of the Council during that year for its adoption.
Accounts and audit
23.—(1)  The Board shall keep proper accounts and other records of the Council and shall prepare in respect of each financial year a statement of accounts.
(2)  The accounts of the Council shall be audited by an auditor appointed by the Council at its annual general meeting.
(3)  As soon as the accounts of the Council have been audited in accordance with subsection (2), the statement of accounts together with any report made by the auditor shall be submitted by the Board to the Council at the annual general meeting for their adoption.
Bank account of Council
24.—(1)  All moneys in the Fund shall be deposited in the bank of the Council.
(2)  All cheques drawn upon the bank account of the Council shall be signed by two of the following:
(a)the President of the Council;
(b)the Treasurer;
(c)the General Secretary;
(d)such other member as the Board may nominate for the purpose.
Regulations
25.  The Council may, with the consent of the Minister, make regulations for or with respect to all or any of the following matters:
(a)to prescribe the forms to be used in applying for membership to the Council and the procedure for such an application;
(b)to provide for the withdrawal and cancellation of membership of any member organisation due to inactivity on its part or failure to meet the obligations of membership or for any other cause;
(c)to prescribe the procedure for the general meetings of the Council and for the elections of the office bearers to the Board of Management; and
(d)to prescribe the returns to be submitted to the Council by its member organisation of its annual report, audited accounts and the name of its representative to serve on the Council.
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Dissolution
26.—(1)  The Council shall not be dissolved except by an Act of Parliament.
(2)  All assets of the Council shall thereupon be held on trust for distribution after the discharge of all its debts and liabilities among its member organisations then existing.