CHILDREN’S LIFE FUND ACT - Legal Affairs

1 laws OF trinidad AND Current Authorised Pages Pages Authorised (inclusive) by 1 17 children S life fund ACTCHAPTER 29:01 Act12 of 2010 UNOFFICIAL VERSION UPDATED TO DECEMBER 31ST 2015 MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND Legal Chap. 29:01 children s life FundLAWS OF trinidad AND TOBAGONote on Subsidiary LegislationThis Chapter contains no subsidiary VERSION UPDATED TO DECEMBER 31ST 2015 MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND Legal children s life fund Chap. 29:01 3 laws OF trinidad AND CHAPTER 29:01 children S life fund ACTARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONSSECTION 1.

2 Short title. 2. Commencement. 3. Interpretation. 4. Establishment and function of children s life fund and Authority. 5. Appointment of Board of Management. 6. Publication of names of members in the Gazette. 7. Termination of appointment. 8. Resignation of members. 9. Functions of the Board. 10. Proceedings of the Board. 11. Emergency meetings. 12. Secretary. 13. Disclosure of interest. 14. The Minister may give direction. 15. Chief Executive Officer. 16. Functions of the Chief Executive Officer. 17. life Unit. 18. Duties of life Unit. 19. Eligibility of beneficiaries. 20. Application. 21. life Unit to assess applications. 22. Investment manager. 23. Functions of the investment manager. 24.

3 Staff. 25. Financial resources. 26. Investment of assets. 27. Taxation. 28. children s life fund to be a public account. 29. Board to report to Minister. 30. Financial statement to be laid in VERSION UPDATED TO DECEMBER 31ST 2015 MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND Legal Chap. 29:01 children s life FundLAWS OF trinidad AND tobago 31. Non-disclosure of information. 32. Minister may amend Schedules. 33. OF SECTIONS ContinuedSECTIONUNOFFICIAL VERSION UPDATED TO DECEMBER 31ST 2015 MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND Legal children s life fund Chap. 29:01 5 laws OF trinidad AND 12 of function ofChildren s LifeFund 29:01 children S life fund ACTAn Act to establish the children s life fund as a charityand for related matters.

4 [*ASSENTEDTO13 THDECEMBER2010] 1. This Act may be cited as the children s life fund Act. 2. This Act came into operation on the 17th ofDecember 2010. 3. In this Act Authority means the children s life fund Authorityestablished under section 4; beneficiary means an unmarried person under the age ofeighteen who is eligible to receive a grant to access medicaltreatment under this Act; Board means the Board of management appointed under section 5; Chairman means the member elected under section 5(4); children s life fund means the charity established under section 4; family means the beneficiary s parent or Legal guardian, as thecase may be, who is legally responsible for the medicalexpenses of the beneficiary; income means gross annual income received by a family; life Unit means the unit established under section 17; member means a member of the Board appointed under section 5; Minister means the minister with responsibility for health.

5 Senior public officer means a public officer employed atrange 54 or above. 4. (1) There is hereby established (a) a charity to be known as the children s LifeFund; and*Seesection 2 for date of commencement of VERSION UPDATED TO DECEMBER 31ST 2015 MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND Legal Chap. 29:01 children s life FundLAWS OF trinidad AND tobago (b) a body corporate to be known as the children sLife fund Authority. (2) The functions of the Authority are to (a) operate, manage and administer the children sLife fund ; (b) facilitate the provision of specialist medicaltreatment to children suffering from lifethreatening illnesses for which the requiredtreatment is unavailable at a local medicalinstitution; (c) manage the life Unit; and (d) collect and invest funds.

6 5. (1) The President shall appoint a Board of Managementfor the purposes of general administration and management ofthe Affairs of the Authority. (2) The Board shall comprise nine members asfollows: (a) a medical practitioner who is a senior publicofficer nominated by the Minister; (b) a senior public officer nominated by theMinister with responsibility for finance; (c) a senior public officer nominated by theMinister with responsibility for tobago Affairs ; (d) a senior public officer nominated by the TobagoHouse of Assembly; (e) four individuals who are not public officersnominated by the Minister; and (f) the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority,who shall be an ex officiomember. (3) The members shall be selected from among personswith qualifications and proven competence in varying fields ofexpertise including health, finance, investment, businessmanagement, law and social work.

7 (4) The members shall elect from among theirnumber a Chairman, who shall serve for no longer than fouryears in ofBoard VERSION UPDATED TO DECEMBER 31ST 2015 MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND Legal children s life fund Chap. 29:01 7 laws OF trinidad AND (5) A member shall be appointed for a term of threeyears and shall be eligible for reappointment. (6) No member shall serve for more than twoconsecutive terms. 6. The names of the members of the Board as firstconstituted and every change in the membership thereafter, shallbe published in the Gazetteand in two newspapers in dailycirculation in trinidad and tobago . 7. The President may terminate the appointment of amember where the member (a) becomes of unsound mind; (b) is unable to carry out his duties; (c) becomes bankrupt or compounds with hiscreditors; (d) is convicted of a criminal offence; (e) fails to carry out any of the duties or functionsconferred or imposed on him under this Act; or (f) is absent, except on leave granted by the Board,from three consecutive meetings of the Board.

8 8. The Chairman may resign his office by letter addressedto the President and a member may resign his office by letteraddressed to the Chairman. 9. The Board shall (a) authorise the payment of medical and relatedexpenses of beneficiaries; (b) ensure that the children s life fund isprudentially managed based on best practicesused for investments of a similar nature; (c) review from time to time, the performance ofthe children s life fund and make appropriaterecommendations; (d) establish procedures for applying to theChildren s life fund , determining thePublication ofnames ofmembers in ofthe VERSION UPDATED TO DECEMBER 31ST 2015 MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND Legal Chap. 29:01 children s life FundLAWS OF trinidad AND tobago eligibility for the payment or reimbursement ofmedical expenses for beneficiaries andprocessing claim disputes; (e) set and administer rules for qualification ofbeneficiaries in accordance with prescribedpolicies established by the government; (f) review and where appropriate, approveapplications processed by the life Unit; (g) make payments from the children s life Fundon behalf of the beneficiaries; (h) disseminate information on the children s LifeFund and the programme to the public; (i) authorise the annual operating expensesincluding the administrative costs of theAuthority, with the approval of the Minister.

9 (j) establish and develop strategic partnershipswith local and foreign institutions to facilitatethe execution of best care plans forbeneficiaries; and (k) perform such other related duties as may benecessary to achieve the purposes of theAuthority. 10. (1) The Board shall meet at least six times annually atsuch time and places as may be necessary or expedient for theefficient performance of its functions. (2) The Chairman shall preside over meetings of theBoard, but where the Chairman is unable to preside, themembers present and forming a quorum may appoint a memberto preside over that meeting. (3) A meeting shall not be held without at least twomembers appointed in accordance with section 5(2)(a), (b), (c)or (d)being present. (4) The quorum for a meeting shall be ofthe VERSION UPDATED TO DECEMBER 31ST 2015 MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND Legal children s life fund Chap.

10 29:01 9 laws OF trinidad AND (5) The decisions of the Board shall be by a majority ofvotes of members present. (6) The Board may, subject to the approval of theMinister, make Rules to regulate its own procedure for theconduct of its business. 11. (1) The Chairman, or in his absence, the Secretary mayat any time convene an emergency meeting of the Board, uponreceipt of a written request relating to an emergency matter,signed by at least three members. (2) All meetings under this section may be held with theuse of teleconferencing or such other electronic means ofcommunication. (3) The minutes of meetings held under this sectionshall be prepared and confirmed at the next ordinary meeting. 12. The Board shall appoint an employee of the Authority tobe its Secretary, who shall (a) make preparations for and attend meetings ofthe Board; (b) prepare minutes of the proceedings of theBoard; and (c) carry out such other secretarial duties as may beassigned by the Board.