MINUTES OF THE CENTRE CHAIRMEN/SECRETARIES MEETING
HELD AT ACU HOUSE, RUGBY ON SATURDAY 15th JULY 2006 AT 10.30 AM
Present: Jim Parker Chairman
Colin Moram Vice-President
Elizabeth Jones Cheshire & N Wales Centre
John Lyons
John Stone Cornwall Centre
Sidge Kenny Eastern Centre
Alan Foskew
Mark Jessup East Midland Centre
Alan King East South Wales Centre
Sue Payne
John Cadogan
Pauline Wood East Yorks Centre
Ian Murphy Isle of Man Centre
Brian Webster Midland Centre
Annie Bates Mid-Wales Centre
Elwyn Williams
Pam James
Robert Wilson Northern Centre
Peter Burrell South Eastern Centre
Andy Cheeseman South Western Centre
Roy Collins Southern Centre
Chris Fletcher
Jon Willis Western Centre
Bryan Puckett West South Wales Centre
Dave Loney Yorkshire Centre
Sue Smith
Eric Jones SACU
Yvonne Kelly
Margaret Mellish Non-Territorial Board
Phil Tomlin
Frank Carter Deputy Chairman
Brian Bonny Financial Director
Peter Beardmore Director
Eddie Bellars Director
John Collins Director
Tony Noel Director
Dave Luscombe Business Development Officer
Colin Armes Honorary Member
John Bussell Honorary Member
Gary Thompson MBE BEM General Secretary
Item 1: Apologies for Absence
Adrian Ackland, Mike Askins, Judith Ayres, Colin Boniface, Roger Brown, John Cain, Alan Clarke, John Coles, Brian Edwards, Greta Edwards, Roy Hanks, Andrew Hay, Peter Hillaby, Roy Humphrey, Eddie Jones, North Eastern Centre, Barry New, Pat Richardson, Don Ryder, Archie Sheddon, Bill Smith, Ken Sprayson, Phyl Stephenson, Frank Sweeting, Jim Webb and Val Webb.
Item 2: Confirmation of Minutes of the Meeting held on 18th March 2006.
The minutes of the meeting held on 18th March were confirmed as read.
Item 3: Matters Arising
Appointment of CEO. Mr Webster asked the Chairman if there was any update on the appointment of a new CEO. The Chairman advised that there were no plans at the moment to recruit a new CEO although that did not rule out one being appointed at some time in the future. Currently things were working well and the Board had agreed to bring in professional representation and advice on an ‘as and when required’ basis.
The Chairman continued by explaining the recent recruitment of Mr Kevin Burk as the ACU Sport Development Officer who has been brought into the Company on a six month fixed term contract. Initially, Mr Burk’s focus will be on the commercial aspects of Motocross and in particular the ACU Maxxis British Championships. He has other duties regarding Land issues and LARA and has recently had a meeting with Alan King in this regard. Mr King stated that he had been greatly encouraged at this meeting and he hoped that Mr Burk would soon be in a position to take Land Issues forward.
Forestry Commission Agreement. Miss Bates raised concerns about the forthcoming BAJA event being held in the Mid-Wales Centre in the near future. Mr J Collins explained the event was primarily a car event which had been given a permit to run under the MSA. The organisers had been affiliated to the ACU as a Recognised Promoter and for this one-off annual event they wanted to include motorcycles. After some discussion with the organisers the necessary paperwork had been completed and the requisite officials put in place in order for the motorcycle part of the event to run under ACU rules. Considering the event would take place anyway, Mr J Collins preferred the event to be under the auspices of the ACU rather than another motorcycle sport organisation.
Item 4: Review of the method of Nominations/Appointments of Committee Members
The meeting discussed the current regulations where all active Clubs are entitled to nominate individuals for election through their Centre. The Chairman outlined the current election system and aired his concerns for the future as the numbers of Clubs being represented at Centre Board meetings was in decline. This may have an affect on the future calibre of those individuals being put forward for election to the various committees if the numbers coming forward for consideration for election were not that high or indeed if the election process was not known by all Clubs and their members. He finished by saying that this was an area of great concern and was an area where the ACU might have to look at with a view to professional people being appointed to run the sport in the future if the volunteers were not coming forward. After some discussion, the general feeling amongst those present was that the Centre Board meetings should be better attended and Clubs wishing to find out about items such as the election process/how to nominate candidates should attend the Board meetings accordingly.
However, it was apparent this was not the case universally and the Chairman asked Mr Thompson to email all Clubs to make them aware that the nomination papers for elections to the Board of Directors, Sport Committees and the Panel of Adjudicators had been distributed. Should Clubs require any further information they should contact their respective Centre Secretary. It was agreed that any and all candidates coming forward this way would be required to be endorsed and approved by the Centre.
Action: Mr Thompson
Miss Bates raised her concern regarding last year’s elections at the National Council meeting held on Saturday 5th November 2005 at which a Committee Chairman appraised the meeting of an incident that had happened a couple of days prior to the elections, involving a candidate who was eligible for election to that Committee. The Chairman stated that it would not be appropriate to discuss particular instances at this time. As a general principle however he felt it essential that, in the same way that the Centres should approve all Candidates being put forward for election it was equally important for the Board and the Main Committees to be able to do the same. Now more than ever the ACU needs the strongest possible representation on its Committees and we must take every avenue possible to achieve this – including considering appointing rather than electing in future.
Item 5: To consider the suggested amalgamation of the Youth and Adult Motocross Committees
The Chairman stated that this issue had arisen as an Item for Discussion at one of the very first National Council meetings held under his Chairmanship (National Council meeting – 200504 – Item 5.4).
After speaking briefly about the history behind BYMX being formed as a separate Committee, Mr Parker read out a letter he had recently sent to Mr Askins, Chairman of the BYMX Committee summarising the anomalies identified in the elections to that Committee in 2003. The lack of the Conference of Clubs and the difficulties experienced with a Postal Vote over the last few years were also discussed. Mr Thompson explained why currently there were only three elected Committee members and not six as annotated in the Rules of the Union.
Mr Bussell mentioned that the list of Youth Clubs stated by the Chairman missed out one in his Centre, the Meon Valley Youth MX Club. The Chairman responded that he had given the information as supplied to him by Alexander Forbes and this omission would be investigated. Mr Webster wondered about the financial performance of the respective Youth and Adult Committees as the BYMX Championship is recognised as being very successful. Mr Puckett suggested that the Adult and Youth Motocross Committees should be amalgamated and in the Duties, Terms and Responsibilities – currently being worked on by the Motocross Committee, provision should be made to say that the Adult Committee is responsible for all Motocross activity including Youth.
ACTION:
Mr Thompson outlined briefly the current suggestion to be put forward at the next Board meeting for consideration that two members be recommended by the Motocross Committee and appointed by the Board. These two members would be responsible for the coordination of Youth activity within the discipline.
The Chairman stated that on all committees the ACU needs individuals who are determined to advance the cause of the sport, individuals who can manage and progress the sport in the right direction. It is clear that a large proportion of youth activity is run through Centres either in youth meetings or more usually so in joint meetings of both adult and youth. It was therefore important that Committee members did not solely concentrate on National Championships but gave consideration towards the rules, regulations of their discipline and more importantly paid sufficient time to the grass root level of the sport.
The general consensus of those present was that it would be more beneficial for the Adult and Youth Motocross Committees to amalgamate and that a sub-committee be formed from within the Committee to deal with the BYMX Championships. The two individuals appointed to the Committee through the Board would then look at Youth activity as a whole and progress it accordingly.
Mr Bussell suggested that the two Committees be co-opted for a two year period which would then give the Board time to amalgamate the committees and re-draft the rules etc. The Chairman appreciated this view but stated that we must now grasp the nettle and achieve an efficient result at the earliest possible moment. When any change is implemented the Board will be reduced by one Director.
Item 6: Legal Matters
The Chairman updated the meeting on legal issues the ACU were currently engaged with:
RHL Activities Ltd. The Chairman gave a brief overview of events and explained the current legal situation regarding RHL Activities Ltd. He read out an email received from Freethcartwright Solicitors. Although frustrating, the legal ‘wheels’ were turning at a slower pace than we would like or expect.
Mr Bussell made comment that the National Council minutes of 20th May did not make mention of the question he had asked the Chairman regarding the provision of protection for the Centres in the Articles and Memorandum of Association for the newly formed Company – ACU Sporting Events Limited.
Mr Thompson explained why this matter had been ‘missed’ from the minutes and promised that the matter would be rectified.
Action: Mr Thompson
On Road – Off Road Regulations. Mr Carter explained that a meeting had taken place on 27th May with the Off Road Committee Chairmen, Mr Alan King and Mr Ewin from Freethcartwright solicitors where a suitable response had been drafted and forwarded to the Department of Transport.
TT Course Licence. The Chairman appraised the meeting of some correspondence from an individual who was not in agreement with the TT Licence recently introduced by the Road Race Drag and Sprint Committee in a bid to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries at the TT and Manx GP events. The individual in question had, through his solicitors, asked for copies of Minutes of Road Race Committee meetings, which he had received. His last request was for a copy of some notes of a private meeting between members of the Road Race Committee and the Manx organisers. This was a private meeting and the notes are not published and therefore cannot be supplied to individuals.
Adrenalin X. Mr Thompson reported that Adrenalin X had settled all outstanding debts with the ACU regarding outstanding monies in respect of one event licences for two events held last year, but regrettably still advertised as being an ACU affiliated Club on their website, which was not the case. Despite previous requests to have this incorrect statement removed, the statement was still in the public domain, therefore legal proceedings had been instigated to rectify this matter.
Action: Mr Thompson
Item 7: Aspects of Enduro
Mr Kenny appraised the meeting of some concerns he had regarding Enduro matters. Some of these concerns included the use of Motocross bikes in Enduro events, and the rules concerning lights being fitted to Enduro bikes for competition. Mr J Collins replied by saying that he agreed with everything that Mr Kenny had said, however, as far as the Trials and Enduro Committee were concerned there needed to be a balance to keep Enduro riders participating in ACU events and not defect to other organisations. If the ACU were to tighten up on the rules and regulations, we would effectively lose 50% of the entry. It was unfortunate, but the only complaints that seemed to arise with the rules pertaining to Enduro events appeared to come from the Eastern Centre.
Item 8: To discuss any suggested amendments to the ACU Licence Application Form
There were no comments regarding any suggested amendments to the ACU Licence Application Form other than a tidying up exercise of the last page received from Mr Moram.
Item 9: Increases in the Licence and other Fees for 2007 and beyond.
The Chairman spoke about the need to continually raise our income in order to be able to employ professionals to enhance the services already provided by ACU Head Office to the sport and the Centres. This being in line with the future development of the ACU and to compensate for the continuing decline in the volunteer sector as outlined earlier in the meeting. Mr Bonny highlighted the requirements by UK Sport should a National Governing Body apply for government funding. A National Governing Body had to demonstrate that it had 1½ times its annual turnover in the bank before any consideration might be given to an application for government funding and with the Olympics on the horizon, any government funding of this kind is unlikely to be granted. Therefore the 1½ times annual turnover may well increase as time goes on and this is something the Board needs to take into consideration in the future.
The Chairman mentioned the Insurance Premiums and the fact that we may well be over-insured in certain areas. A review of this situation is shortly to be taken by the Board.
Mr Bonny highlighted the possible loss of the ACU Helmet Stamp income as a result of the FIM having decided to issue an FIM helmet stamp.
It was likely that there may well be a small increase to the Licence Fee this year which would be considered further by the Board at their next meeting.
Mr Kenny mentioned that the Eastern Centre had incorporated small levies in their fees to cover the 50p Insurance Contingency Fund, 20p for the Ben Fund levy and a small levy that went towards in house costs for the Centre. This had been well received by their riders.
Mr Loney suggested that the Board should consider a levy fee per rider for other disciplines in the same manner as is currently the case for Trials Registered riders.
It was a general view that the off road riders were far happier paying an amount per event rather than an increased one-off Licence Fee or Registration.
Item 10: Central Issue of Permits
The Chairman spoke of a recent meeting held at Alexander Forbes office in London attended by Mr Bonny and Mr Thompson to discuss putting the Event Insurance Declarations on line as part of the electronic Permit process.
Alexander Forbes (AF) is prepared to continue development of the system at no cost to the ACU, and wishes to respond to the enhancement requests received from the most active Centres. This will enable Permit Secretaries to input online Event Insurance Declarations.
Seven days (approximately) after the end of each calendar month, a schedule of declarations received by AF during that calendar month will be E-Mailed to the Permits Secretary/Centre, duly totalled so as to show the gross and net premiums required (after deduction of any administration service payments). The net payment should be remitted to AF within the next 21 days.
As the details of the event will already be on the AF Database, the declaration input will be limited to: Permit Number. Number of drivers/passengers, Number of Adult/Youth, Number of Foreign Drivers/Passengers, and Number of Officials signed on.
At present some Permit Secretaries/Centres were taking up to three months to submit their declarations. It was this inherent delay which obviously precludes the frequently voiced lament that we do not know how many events were held under an ACU Permit last weekend.
After some discussion, it was decided that the issue would be discussed further at the next meeting of the Board.
AFTERNOTE:
All the above was as new to the Chairman as it was to some of the Chairmen and Secretaries present and the discussion was eventually halted pending further consideration as suggested by Mr Willis. On the way home the Chairman wondered why any of this complication should be necessary. If the Clubs were required to submit their returns and money direct to Alexander Forbes within 14 days of each event and AF then did all the work and made a return to each Centre - wouldn’t that solve the problem?
Item 11: Electronic/Hard copy distribution of paperwork from ACU HQ
Mr Thompson spoke about discussions that took place at the last meeting of the National Council regarding the electronic/hard copy distribution of paperwork from Head Office. As a result of those discussions a survey was conducted and from those who replied the consensus was that the system remain as it is, i.e.. all minutes and relevant paperwork will be issued by electronic means to Centres and all Clubs that we have been supplied an email address for and paper copies will be distributed at the end of each week via the normal mail system.
Item 12: Any Other Business
ACU Handbook. Mr Thompson appraised the meeting of a recent letter distributed by Miss Emma Connop who was now responsible for the amendments of the ACU Handbook. A letter had been sent to all Centre Secretaries asking them to update their Centre Contacts lists as they appeared in the Handbook and to submit any amendments to Miss Connop by 22nd September, preferably as soon as the amendments were known.
Mr Cheeseman commented that there was no Trials sidecar dimensions currently displayed in the Handbook. Mr J Collins commented that he was aware of this and the matter was currently being looked into.
Security. The Chairman spoke of the requirement to enhance the security of ACU House. Once again, the glass in the main front door to the building had been broken by some friendly neighbours in Wood Street!
Car Park Wall. Mr Thompson spoke of the work to be carried out to repair the car park wall which again had been damaged by HGV vehicles on their entrance/exit to the rear of the building.
Reception Refurbishment. Mr Thompson appraised the meeting of work to be carried out to enhance and re-modernise the Reception area to ACU House.
Coaching. Mr Luscombe confirmed that the coaching requirements in place was that as discussed at the last meeting of the National Council and all other Coaching schemes of the past were now void and out of date.
Recognised Promoters. The Chairman reported that four Promoters had now been affiliated to the ACU; these were, Norfolk Arena, Scunthorpe Raceway, BARC and Odiham Motorpark. Currently, the ACU were experiencing no problems at all with these Promoters, all paperwork had been completed and returned as requested and the relevant dialogue and negotiations had taken place between the promoters and the respective Committee Chairmen in respect of organising future events. Mr Thompson was asked to contact Norfolk Arena and ensure they contact the Eastern Centre regarding their aspirations to run a Supercross event later in the year.
RTA Cover. There was some discussion regarding RTA Cover in that the South East Centre were issuing RTA Cover at £5.00 a head, however, this information did not appear to have been widely distributed or be widely known.
AFTERNOTE:
Mrs Luby confirmed that she had sent confirmation to the Trials & Enduro Department of the discounted rate of £5.00 for 100% entry to the scheme.
Mr Bellars and Mr J Collins were asked to discuss and resolve this issue. The matter would be discussed at the next Board meeting.
MDUK. Mr Luscombe announced that following 18 months of negotiation with MDUK, we have now formalised our relationship with Coventry University to run a motorcycle in the 2007 Maxxis British Championship. The bike will be run by MX World in Rugby and will be fuelled by bio-ethanol in line with the Government’s Energy Efficient Motorsports objectives.
Motorcycling in Schools. Mr Luscombe explained that following discussions with a company called Baseline, there was the possibility of getting motorcycling into schools in 2007. Baseline manufacture and operate mobile sports units for Local Authorities and schools – in activities such as skate boarding, mountain biking, etc. They now have an inflatable quad bike track.
Using this track, and 50cc automatic motorcycles, the ACU could work with Baseline to showcase motorcycle sport at the Sports Development Week at the NEC show in September, where most local authorities attend to view ideas for sports.
However, before anything can move forward, we must be able to ensure full support from local Clubs, who can accommodate interested youngsters within their sport.
Mr Luscombe asked any Centre or Club who felt they would want to be involved in recruiting more youngsters in their area to get in touch with him as soon as possible.
Item 13: Date of Next Meeting
The date of the next Centre Chairmen/Secretaries meeting will be advised at a later date. The next meeting of the National Council will be held on Saturday 4th November at ACU House at which the annual elections will take place.
AFTERNOTE BY GENERAL SECRETARY
Centres are reminded that all paperwork for candidates being nominated for elections is to be with the General Secretary by 5pm on 31st August 2006. Nominations received after this date and time will not be accepted.
The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting at 3.15pm.
