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Singapore Polytechnic (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 42/1979

Read the first time on 11th December 1979.

An Act to amend the Singapore Polytechnic Act (Chapter 180 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Singapore Polytechnic (Amendment) Act, 1979, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 4

2. Section 4 of the Singapore Polytechnic Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the principal Act) is amended by deleting subsections (2) to (9) and substituting the following: —

“(2) The Board shall consist of the following members: —

(a)	a Chairman;
(b)	a Deputy Chairman;
(c)	the Principal of the Polytechnic; and
(d)	such other persons, not being less than nine or more than fifteen, as the Minister may from time to time determine.

(3) Every member of the Board, except the Principal of the Polytechnic, shall be appointed by the Minister and shall, unless the Minister otherwise directs, hold office for a period of three years from the date of his appointment and shall be eligible for re-appointment.”.

New sections 4A and 4B

3. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 4, the following sections: —

“Vacation of office of a member of the Board

4A.—(1) The office of a member of the Board shall be vacated if he —

(a)	becomes a bankrupt or suspends payment to, or makes any arrangement or composition with, his creditors; or
(b)	has been absent, without leave of the Board, from three consecutive meetings thereof.

(2) The Minister may revoke the appointment of a member of the Board, except that of the Principal of the Polytechnic, if the member becomes in the opinion of the Minister unfit to continue in office or incapable of performing his duties.

(3) A member of the Board, except the Principal of the Polytechnic, may resign from his appointment at any time by giving written notice to the Minister.

Filling of vacancy in the office of a member of the Board

4B. If the office of a member of the Board, other than that of the Principal of the Polytechnic, is vacant, the Minister may appoint any person to fill the vacancy and the person shall be appointed for the remainder of the term of his predecessor.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of sections 6 and 7

4. Sections 6 and 7 of the principal Act are repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Secretary of the Board

6. The Registrar of the Polytechnic shall be the secretary of the Board, and shall attend all meetings thereof unless excused for good cause by the Chairman.

Meetings of the Board

7.—(1) The Chairman shall summon meetings of the Board as often as may be required.

(2) The quorum at every meeting of the Board shall consist of six members.

(3) Every decision at a meeting of the Board shall be adopted by a simple majority of the votes of the members present and voting, except that in the case of an equality of votes, the Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman of the Board shall have a casting vote.

(4) The Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman shall preside at a meeting of the Board.

(5) In the absence of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman at a meeting of the Board, such member as the members present may elect shall preside at the meeting.

(6) The Board may grant leave of absence from a meeting of the Board to a member thereof.

(7) The Board shall not be precluded from holding a meeting or acting in any matter merely by reason of any vacancy in its membership.

(8) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board may make standing orders to regulate its own procedure.”.

New sections 13 to 21

5. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 12, the following sections: —

“Singapore Polytechnic Students’ Union

13.—(1) There shall be a students’ association to be known as the Singapore Polytechnic Students’ Union which shall be constituted by regulations made under subsection (1) of section 21 of this Act and shall consist of such constituent bodies as may be prescribed by those regulations.

(2) The constitution, membership, functions and other matters relating to the Singapore Polytechnic Students’ Union and each of its constituent bodies shall be so prescribed.

(3) The Board may impose and collect from the students or any class thereof such fees as it may determine for the benefit of the Singapore Polytechnic Students’ Union and its constituent bodies; and such fees may be applied in such manner as the Board thinks fit for the purposes of the Union and its constituent bodies.

(4) Until such day as the Singapore Polytechnic Students’ Union is constituted by regulations made under subsection (1) of section 21 of this Act (hereinafter in this section referred to as the new Union) there shall continue to exist the Singapore Polytechnic Students’ Union as constituted before the commencement of the Singapore Polytechnic (Amendment) Act, 1979 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the old Union); but on that day the old Union shall be deemed to be dissolved and all its property, assets, rights, liabilities and obligations of every description shall be deemed to vest without any further assurance in the new Union.

Application of the Societies Act to the Students’ Union

14.—(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Societies Act (Cap. 262), the provisions of that Act shall apply to the Singapore Polytechnic Students’ Union and its constituent bodies constituted by regulations made under subsection (1) of section 21 of this Act.

(2) The Minister charged with responsibility for societies may, by order published in the Gazette, exempt the Singapore Polytechnic Students’ Union and any of its constituent bodies from all or any of the provisions of the Societies Act subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order.

Polytechnic’s financial year

15. The financial year of the Polytechnic shall begin on the 1st day of April of each year and end on the 31st day of March of the succeeding year.

Accounts and financial statements

16.—(1) The Board shall keep proper accounts and records of the transactions and affairs of the Polytechnic and shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of the moneys of the Polytechnic are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the Polytechnic and over the expenditure incurred by the Polytechnic.

(2) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the close of each financial year, prepare and submit financial statements in respect of that year to the auditor of the Polytechnic.

Audit of accounts

17.—(1) The accounts of the Polytechnic shall be audited by the Auditor-General or such other auditor as may be appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General.

(2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an auditor under subsection (1) of this section unless he is an approved company auditor under the Companies Act (Cap. 185).

(3) The auditor or any person authorised by him is entitled at all reasonable times to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating directly or indirectly to the financial transactions of the Polytechnic.

(4) The auditor shall in his report state —

(a)	whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Polytechnic;
(b)	whether proper accounting and other records have been kept, including records of all assets of the Polytechnic whether purchased, donated or otherwise;
(c)	whether the receipts, expenditure, and investment of moneys and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Polytechnic during the financial year were in accordance with the provisions of this Act; and
(d)	such other matters arising from the audit as he considers necessary.

Failure to furnish information to auditor

18.—(1) The auditor 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 considers necessary for the purposes of his functions under this Act.

(2) Any person who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement of the auditor under subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.

Presentation of financial statements and auditor’s report to Parliament

19.—(1) The Board shall, as soon as the accounts of the Polytechnic and the financial statements have been audited in accordance with the provisions of this Act, send to the Minister a copy of the audited financial statements, signed by the Chairman, together with a copy of the auditor’s report.

(2) Where the Auditor-General is not the auditor of the Polytechnic, a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General when they are submitted to the Board.

(3) The Minister shall as soon as practicable cause a copy of the audited financial statements and of the auditor’s report referred to in subsection (1) of this section to be presented to Parliament.

Annual report

20.—(1) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, cause to be prepared and transmitted to the Minister a report dealing generally with the activities of the Polytechnic during the preceding financial year and containing such information relating to the proceedings and policy of the Polytechnic as the Minister may, from time to time, direct.

(2) The Minister shall as soon as practicable cause a copy of every such annual report to be presented to Parliament.

Regulations

21.—(1) The Board may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for any of the following matters: —

(a)	the preparation, audit and submission to the Minister of estimates, budgets, statements and returns;
(b)	the membership and functions of the Board of Studies;
(c)	the conditions of transfer to the Polytechnic of pensionable officers in the public service;
(d)	the appointment, promotion, conduct, disciplinary control, dismissal and termination of service of the academic and administrative staff of the Polytechnic;
(e)	the conduct and disciplinary control of students;
(f)	any other matters which by this Act are required or may be prescribed.

(2) All regulations made under this section shall be published in the Gazette.”.

Repeal of section 13

6. The principal Act is amended by repealing the existing section 13.

Cessation of office of Board members on the commencement of this Act

7. All the members of the Board of Governors of the Singapore Polytechnic holding office immediately before the commencement of this Act shall cease to hold office on the commencement of this Act.