15.— (1) The Minister at any time may remove a member of the Board from office if, in the Minister’s opinion—

(a) the member has become incapable through ill-health of performing the functions of the office,

(b) the member has committed stated misbehaviour,

(c) the member’s removal from office appears to be necessary for the Board to perform its functions in an effective manner,

(d) the member has contravened section 81(1) or 84(2) of this Act or a provision of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 that by a regulation made under section 3 of that Act applies to that member, or

(e) in performing functions under this Act, the member has not complied with—

(i) a code of conduct, under section 10(3) of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001, or

(ii) the code of governance under section 34 that relates to the Board member.

(2) A member of the Board ceases to hold office if the member—

(a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

(b) makes a composition or arrangement with creditors,

(c) is convicted of an indictable offence,

(d) is convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty,

(e) is the subject of an order under section 160 of the Companies Act 1990,

(f) is sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a court of competent jurisdiction, or

(g) is removed by a competent authority for any reason (other than failure to pay a fee) from any register established for the purpose of registering members of a profession.

(3) A member of the Board who does not, for a consecutive period of 6 months, attend a meeting of the Board ceases at the end of that period to hold office unless the member demonstrates to the Minister’s satisfaction that the non-attendance was due to illness.