Report of January Council Meeting

[<<] [>>] by Ian Vincent, Hon. Secretary
28th January 2010 (CqE Official News)

Council met on 23rd January at the Hurlingham Club and the Chairman, Patricia Duke-Cox, welcomed Anna Giraud, representative of the Yorkshire and Humberside Federation, to her first meeting. It was reported that the representatives for the Southern, South-West and West Midlands Federations were due for election this year.

Provisional accounts for 2009, which show a surplus of the order of £11,000, were reviewed and a budget, for a loss of about £5,000, which could comfortably be met from the International and Development Funds, agreed for 2010. The main exceptional factor is the cost of hosting the MacRobertson Shield, which happens once every 14 years: the projection for 2011 is to break even.

There was a discussion about the rate of tournament levy, following representations by some clubs. It was pointed out that although it can be seen as a tax on clubs holding Calendar Fixtures, it is actually paid by players entering those events, and so ensures that those who play most actively pay more for the benefits they receive from the Association. It was agreed that Barry Keen, the Chairman of the Management Committee, should draft a paper looking at the levy in the context of the Association's overall finances. However, a proposal to increase the daily rate paid for lawn and ball hire from £22 to £25 was approved to take effect this season.

The Hon. Secretary reported that the Association had surrendered its lease of the Surbiton Club's ground in exchange for one held by the club directly. The Manager, Liz Larsson, reported on a year in which the Office had taken over both the shop and compilation of the fixtures book, which was now held in a database and updated from a web browser using software written by David Kibble.

The main items proposed by the Management Committee were the adoption of a mentoring scheme, initially for juniors, and proposals for constitutional changes in respect of voting and to introduce a power for limited, unsecured, borrowing (in the hope of obtaining a credit card for electronic payments), to be put to the next AGM. Its recommendations, that election of officers (President, Hon. Treasurer and Hon. Secretary) should be by a single ballot in which each member, either Individual Associate or Member Club, has one vote, and that full results of elections should be declared as soon as the candidates had been informed, were approved, the latter unanimously.

Specific objectives for some of the committees were approved shortly after lunch, but the meeting continued for another hour with discussion of issues raised by David Openshaw and other members of Council. The concerns included responsibility for success of the GB team, following its defeat in the Solomon Trophy; the role of the Management Committee and Council in discussions with the WCF and other national associations, in particular about how the WCF operates and whether Great Britain should be represented by one or several national teams; and a clash of dates involving the European Golf Croquet Championships.