and the Chair of the meeting has a casting vote. Commissioners are presumed to have agreed to a resolution of the Commission unless he or she expressly dissents from it. A resolution signed or assented to in writing (including by electronic communication) by all Commissioners is as valid and effective as if it had been passed at a meeting of the Commission. The Secretary, the Chairman and the Full-time Member liaise over meeting agendas to ensure adequate coverage of key issues and an appropriate balance of strategic, performance and compliance matters. The Secretary and Directors attend the meeting as requested by the Chairman and liaise with Commissioners as necessary between meetings. The Secretary and the Directors are responsible for providing reports and other papers for the Commission agenda that provide high quality advice and analysis, propose strategy, provide quality performance information for monitoring purposes and propose parameters and framework policies for implementation by management of the Commission’s decisions. 2.2 Commissioner-only Meetings Commissioners also hold informal meetings attended only by Commissioners, which are private meetings for the purpose of: • Canvassing matters relating to the Commission itself; • Dealing with staff matters in confidence, including the performance of the Directors and Secretary; • Discussions about the external environment in which the Commission operates. Such informal meetings may be held before or after regular meetings of the Commission or on other occasions. Minutes may not be kept of all matters dealt with at informal meetings, but where decisions are taken for implementation by management or the staff, these may be reduced to writing. 2.3 Framework Authority for Delegation of Decisions relating to the operations of the Commission may be delegated to management and staff. Specific standing delegations to the Secretary include: • Implementing decisions; the Commission’s • Developing recommendations, in consultation with the Director of the relevant Department, for the appointment, assigning and management of staff. Directors are appointed by the Commission in consultation with the Secretary; • Approving and varying expenditure and entering into contracts for services to implement the Commission’s decisions; • Developing policies and processes within parameters set by the Commission; • Producing an Operational plan and budget and/or Annual Work Plans; • Sub-delegation to the Directors. 2.4 Performance of the Commission and staff The primary mechanism for fulfilling the Commission’s responsibility to monitor and enhance performance is the performance evaluation the Commission (or delegated Commissioners) undertake(s) of the Secretary. The evaluation is based on the Secretary’s job description and performance objectives along with quality indicators relating to leadership, style, vision, integrity and effectiveness. Similarly, the Secretary and the Commissioner designated with responsibility for a particular Department undertakes the performance assessment of the relevant Director. Directors are responsible for monitoring the performance of the staff in their team and reporting on such performance to the Secretary and thence to the Commission. As a matter of principle, performance 63 JAMAKON