MINUTES OF THE CENTRE CHAIRMEN/SECRETARIES MEETING
HELD AT ACU HOUSE, RUGBY ON SATURDAY 18TH MARCH 2006 AT 10.30 AM
Present: Jim Parker Chairman
Elizabeth Jones Cheshire & N Wales Centre
John Lyons
Sidge Kenny Eastern Centre
Alan Foskew
Tracey Palmer
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
Fred Nicholson North Eastern Centre
John Cain North Western Centre
Alan Clarke South Eastern Centre
Colin Boniface
Peter Burrell
Roy Collins Southern Centre
Barry New
Chris Fletcher
Judith Ayres South Midland Centre
Fred Sparks
Audrey Sparks
Frank Sweeting Wessex Centre
Jon Willis Western Centre
Bryan Puckett West South Wales Centre
Phyll Stephenson Yorkshire Centre
Dave Loney
Archie Sheddon SACU
Norrie Lamont
Margaret Mellish Non-Territorial Board
Phil Tomlin
Frank Carter Deputy Chairman
Brian Bonny Financial Director
Mike Askins Director
Peter Beardmore Director
Eddie Bellars Director
Roger Brown Director
John Collins Director
Peter Hillaby Director
Tony Noel Director
Roy Humphrey Director
Dave Luscombe Business Development Officer
Colin Armes Honorary Member
Jim Woodmason Observer
Gary Thompson MBE BEM General Secretary
Apologies were received from; John Bussell, John Stone, John & Gloria Cullum, Mark Jessup, Bill Smith, Eddie Jones, Tim Fairbrother, Ian Reavely, Brian and Greta Edwards, Andy Cheeseman, Trevor Hunt, Roy Hanks, Pat Richardson.
Attendance at Meetings. As was discussed at the last meeting of the National Council held on Saturday 5th November, Mr Thompson outlined the attendance at both National Council meetings and meetings of the Centre Chairmen/Secretaries.
Attendance at National Council meetings. All National Council delegates, and the Centre Chairmen/Secretaries would be invited to attend. There was no need for the Centres to send a second non-voting delegate as was the case in the past. Vice-Presidents and Honorary Members were also invited to attend as observers and would have an active part in the meeting, being able to speak on items on the agenda as necessary, but would not have a vote. All formal voting to be done at these meetings would be carried out by the National Council delegate on behalf of their Centre/Non-Territorial Board. Should the delegate not be able to attend, the General Secretary should be informed of the name of an alternate at least twenty-four hours in advance of the meeting taking place. The Directors of the Company were obliged to attend these meetings.
Centre Chairmen/Secretaries meetings. All Centre Chairmen/Secretaries, with the National Council delegate being invited to attend. Vice Presidents and Honorary members would also be invited to attend. Directors of the Company were obliged to attend these meetings. Unlike the National Council, no formal voting would take place at these meetings which are to be used as a discussion forum to discuss matters for the good and benefit of the sport.
Item 2: Confirmation of Minutes of the Meeting held on 8th October 2005
The minutes of the meeting held on 8th October 2005 were confirmed and accepted as read.
Single Payment Scheme. The SPS/DEFRA issue was ongoing. Although relatively quiet at the moment, DEFRA were in consultation with other European countries and had recently undergone an inspection by Auditors from the European Union. Mr Carter informed the meeting that the Board was in the process of identifying someone to take on ‘Land Issues’ as the Land Access Officer at ACU Head Office, either on a full-time or part-time basis. In the meantime, any land issue would be kindly dealt with by Alan King, East South Wales Centre or Tim Stevens and Alan Kind in LARA.
NSC Para 8.02. Mr Webster asked for clarification of NSC para 8.02, as some text had been removed from the 2006 Handbook from that shown in the 2005 edition. During the ensuing discussion and explanations the Chairman underlined the requirement for good co-operation between organisers in order to achieve proper management of the Sport. It was not to anyone’s benefit to have two events running on the same day in adjacent fields. Mr Webster highlighted an instance of a Motocross event which had taken place in the Midland Centre last summer which had not been notified to the Centre beforehand. Mr Humphrey apologised to Mr Webster for this, and stated that the event had changed locations at very short notice and had been run on an AMCA course situated in the Midland Centre.
Mr Thompson confirmed that the wording removed from para 8.02 had been placed in the new Permits and Status of Competitions (para 3.08) which had previously been circulated to all Centre Secretaries, National Council Delegates and the Board of Directors for comment before it came into force on 1st August 2005 and was incorporated in the 2006 Handbook at the end of the year.
Best Practice on how to Organise Events. As a result of recent events, the Chairman stated that he considered a seminar on ‘Best Practice on the Organisation of Events’ should be held which would benefit Organisers in all disciplines of the ACU.
Regionalisation. A number of issues relating to regionalisation were ongoing. The Chairman stated that Regionalisation was something that would come forward from Grass Roots level as well as from above.
ACU Benevolent Fund. The Chairman was pleased to announce that at a recent meeting of the Board, it was agreed that a donation of £25,000 be made to the ACU Benevolent Fund. On behalf of the Benevolent Fund, Mr Roy Collins asked that his thanks to the Board be recorded. He also asked if Centres would consider donating the proceeds of one event per year towards the Ben Fund.
Club Affiliation Fees. Mr Bonny reminded those present that Club Affiliation Fees should be paid to the ACU by 31st March of each year. Half of the Centres, had as yet to make a contribution to the ACU regarding their Club Affiliation Fees, which was £5.00 per club.
Local Authority Support Unit. Mr Luscombe appraised the meeting of the Local Authority Support Unit, a government funded project set up to assist Local Authorities in problems they incurred with illicit off-road riding and other matters relating to motorcycling. The department, although primarily set up to deal with Local Authorities, was also there to help Local Centres and Clubs with any issues they may have and this support was free. He highlighted the assistance he was currently giving Burton and District Sporting MCC in trying to find an alternate venue for their Grass Track training as their original piece of land at Shobnall had been taken away.
Mr Boniface made the meeting aware of a Commercial company, Adrenalin X, based at Brands Hatch, claiming they were affiliated to the ACU and advertising this on their website. This was certainly not yet the case. Mr Luscombe and Mr Thompson would look into this.
Action: Mr Luscombe and Mr Thompson
Claims Contingency Fund. The Chairman stated this was an ongoing fund which would continue. The fund was there to deal with any claims that should come the ACU’s way. Although healthy at the moment, one or two adverse insurance claims against the ACU could easily wipe out what had already been accrued.
BEMSEE. Mr Bellars informed the meeting that the BEMSEE Race Secretary, Mr Stewart would be leaving at the end of this year. He confirmed that BEMSEE would continue to operate under the banner of the ACU and that BEMSEE would be actively advertising for a new Race Secretary in the future.
Confidentiality. The Wessex Centre had noted with regret that the Company Directors were unable to maintain confidentiality within the Board room and asked if the Board considered that Members should be made aware of the substance of these matters. The Chairman advised everyone that on the advice of our lawyers he had recently written to all Directors reminding them of their responsibilities and duties as Directors of the Company. However, it was distressing that something that should have gone to the Directors only, albeit not confidential or sensitive in its’ own right, had unfortunately gone to an individual outside of the Board. He commented with regret on the activities of the individual who is apparently so obsessed with our organisation. He noted that some of this activity has resulted in the Board incurring legal fees to ensure that our position is correct.
The Chairman stated that for the time being, the Board has decided that the post of Chief Executive is to remain unfilled. Things are currently working well, the staff are happy and efficient and a credit to the sport. There is also a saving of costs to take into consideration. He stated the Board were considering other options as a result of the development of Motocross and should the situation arise, the Board would consider ‘buying in’ any expertise required for a specific matter. Mr Clarke commented that outside of Head Office, no-one had noticed there was no CEO. Mr Kenny commented that he didn’t think a CEO would necessarily benefit the organisation. He said that ACU policy was made via the Board and in his opinion the knowledge within the Boardroom was perfectly adequate for the ACU’s needs.
The Chairman asked Mr Carter to inform the meeting of a letter recently received from Minister of Sport regarding a letter he had received from HM Coroner Sheffield and the ACU was asked to comment. The Coroner was involved in the recent court case which looked into the unfortunate fatality of a minor at a commercial facility running a practice track in Sheffield in February 2004. Mr Thompson and Mr Luscombe drafted a reply to the Minister of Sport’s office which was agreed by Mr Carter and we now wait to see if there will be a reply. However, the letter did indicate that the Coroner believed the responsibility for Motorcycle Sport in the widest context throughout the UK lay with the ACU, as the National Governing Body. It was to be hoped that the Government would share this view.
As a point of reassurance, Mr Bellars informed those present of the ACU Liability Insurance. There has been some unnecessary correspondence recently regarding the ACU and the ACU Limited. Mr Bellars confirmed by reading out the Schedule prepared by Brit Insurance that the Liability cover was extended to the Auto-Cycle Union Limited, the Auto-Cycle Union, Local Centres and affiliated Clubs.
The ACU’s liability policy has also been extended to protect ACU Clubs and their officials if a participant in their event crosses a footpath, bridleway, RUPP, BOAT or Byway and a rambler sues, or an unreasonable PC tries to prosecute for breach of the Road Traffic Acts. The ACU’s liability policy however, does not cover participants riding along any of the above. This requires an RTA cover note which can be arranged by the Permit Secretary when a permit is issued.
Availability of Information from First Aiders at Events
Mr Bellars commented that some organising Clubs had difficulty in retrieving information of injuries incurred by some competitors from some First Aid personnel at events. He informed the meeting that on the correct Riders & Passengers signing on form and on the back of the Competition Licence Form, a declaration was in place to the effect that in the event of an injury the rider was giving his permission for details of any injuries sustained to be given to the Clerk of the Course of the meeting.
Officer’s Liability Insurance. He also informed the meeting that an Officers’s Liability Insurance would hopefully soon be available to those Officers of Clubs who had become incorporated and registered as a Limited Company in the same way as the Board of Directors and the General Secretary were ‘covered’ by the insurance in place at ACU House.
The Chairman concluded by saying that the Board of Directors were well aware of the unnecessary correspondence regarding ACU and ACU Limited which appeared to be constantly sent to a large number of ACU members from an unauthorised source. He reassured those present that everything was done to ensure that the ACU was legal in its position as the National Governing Body and that the Board of Directors were taking care of issues of this nature in conjunction with our lawyers.
The Chairman spoke about the requirement to make provision for the affiliation of Recognised Promoters to the ACU and outlined the Standard Form of Agreement that had been drafted with the assistance of our lawyers. He confirmed that a Recognised Promoter did not ultimately need the permission of a Centre to run an event in their area. However, all such Promoters are to be provided with the details of the appropriate Centre Secretary so that notification of events that may clash may be given and in order that a harmonious relationship may hopefully be created and maintained between the parties.
The affiliation fee and permit fees for an event being organised by a Promoter was discussed. In essence, the Promoter would pay a one off administration fee of £200.00 when he first affiliated to the ACU and then £50.00 a year affiliation fee thereafter. Permit fees would be negotiable between the Promoter and the respective Sport Committee Chairman dependent on what type of event the Promoter wished to organise. All permits for Promoters would be issued from ACU Head Office. A copy of the Application and Terms of Conditions Applicable to Affiliate to the ACU Ltd by a Recognised Promoter is to be distributed to Centre Secretaries and National Council delegates for their information.
Action: Mr Thompson
The Chairman spoke of his vision of bringing all Road Racing (apart from the commercial aspects) back under the ‘umbrella’ of the ACU in much the same way as Speedway is managed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB). In the same way, his vision for the future of Motocross would go along the same lines in order to raise the whole discipline onto the a higher platform. It was recognised that the AMCA currently have a better ‘grip’ on Motocross as the whole discipline is centralised at their Headquarters in Cannock, very much the same as Road Racing is centralised at ACU HQ.
He spoke about discussions he recently had with the Motocross Committee that in the future, a meeting should be held with the Organisers of Motocross events and together discuss how best to take the sport forward. Mr R Collins commented that the MX Committee should recognise Grass Roots level sport as well as the Maxxis Championships and other major Motocross events. Mr Humphrey agreed and said that part of the problem was that in some Centres, Motocross was very strong and in other Centres, the sport was very fragmented. It was in these areas, we should concentrate efforts to help existing Clubs embrace and organise Motocross events.
Discussions ensued with regard to Hare Scrambles. At the moment there has been no provision made regarding this sport in the current ACU Handbook. Mr John Collins stated that Hare Scrambles was too short in length of time to be an Enduro event and didn’t have the necessary infrastructure in place to be a Motocross event. He concluded by saying that the Trials & Enduro Committee would gladly look at any proposals that may come forward from a Centre.
The Southern Centre stated that Motocross Dual Licences were counter-productive to the successful running of a Motocross event in their area.
Mr Askins explained that a Dual Licence could be obtained by an individual between the ages of 15 and 17 years of age for one year to ‘dip their toe’ into Adult Motocross. Once a Dual Licence had been issued, then the competitor would not be able to revert back to Youth competition. After some discussion, Mr Roy Collins agreed to submit a proposal to the BYMX Committee for the whole issue of Motocross Dual Licences to be reviewed.
After some discussion, Mr Humphrey agreed that the Motocross Grading system should be reviewed and was another example of what could be achieved and improved through a centralised system within ACU Head Office.
Item 10: Centre/Club Trials Training Officers
Mrs Payne spoke of her concern regarding Trials Training Officers at Centre/Club level and the requirement for Training Officers to be qualified in First Aid. After some discussion, Mr Luscombe suggested that a Training and Assessment Day could be carried out at the Centre/Club Training facility and the issues of First Aid and costs to be incurred would be addressed as part of the new system which would be discussed and formalised at the next meeting of the Board of Directors to be held on Tuesday 11th April 2006.
Item 11: Forestry Commission Agreement
The South Eastern Centre stated that they had a good relationship with the Forestry Commission for many years and asked when the new national Forestry Commission agreement would come into effect. John Collins replied by saying that the reason for the good relationships in many areas is that the agreement has been in place for quite a while. Last year, all Centres were asked on a number of occasions through Trials & Enduro Committee minutes and through the National Council minutes of 5th November to tell ACU Head Office how many events they were running in Forestry areas, this information never really filtered through. The Forestry Commission only want to deal with one point of contact - ACU Head Office - and therefore all Permits for these type of events will be issued from ACU House. Centres and Clubs should be aware that the permit application form for Forestry events needs to be completed six months prior to the event taking place.
Mr Hillaby told the meeting that there would be four issues of the ACU Magazine in 2006. He was currently investigating the effect that the change in postal system due to be effected in August might have on future issues of the magazine in terms of cost. He confirmed that there was no advertising in the magazine as this would lead to more pages being printed, which again, brought extra production and postage costs. He commended the current editor Mr McGhie for his contribution so far and said that communication between the editor and ACU Head Office, Centre Secretaries etc had been good. The future of the magazine for 2007 and beyond would be discussed by the Board later in the year. The Chairman commented that he considered the last three issues of the magazine to be excellent and future issues should be used as a vehicle for the ACU to get its message across to all members of the Union.
Mr Thompson clarified the distribution of the magazine. All competitors who had paid their £40.00 licence fee or the £10.00 Trials Registration fee would get a copy of the Magazine. All Officials who had paid their £10.00 Associate Member Fee and other members who had paid their Associate Members Fee would get a copy of the Magazine. An Official who had not paid the £10.00 Associate Members Fee would continue to get an ACU Handbook – free of charge and would get his Officials Licence – free of charge, but would not be eligible for Members Benefits, listed on the ACU Website, or the ACU Magazine.
Item 13: ACU Handbook 2006/2007
The Chairman and General Secretary spoke about the recently produced 2006 ACU Handbook which had been distributed to all Officials and to all competitors who had renewed or applied for their 2006 licence. The Chairman confirmed that the black line which had appeared in previous editions to annotate amendments had been taken out of this edition, with a view to the whole book being read by recipients instead of just the bits highlighted by the black line and consideration would be given to it being put back in to next years edition. Mr Thompson highlighted some unfortunate errors and in particular the 98 dBA sound level in Motocross on page 59 which should read 96 dBA. He also stated that an amendment to this was being annotated in the Course Guidelines Handbook being distributed towards the end of the following week to all Speed Event Officials. Unlike previous years, amendments to this years Handbook in preparation for 2007 will be ongoing all year. Therefore Centres were asked to notify the General Secretary of any amendments they had to the Handbook as soon as they were known and not to leave them until the end of the year. Mr Thompson also stated that the deadline for amendments to be sent to ACU House for the last edition was 18th November and it was disappointing that amendments were still being received from Centres/Clubs as late as the end of February for incorporation into the Handbook. Inevitably this did not happen due to printing deadlines and in some instances, the information therein was out of date before it was printed.
Item 14: Any Other Business
Permits for Bike Trial Events. After some discussion, Mr J Collins stated that in accordance with Standing Regulations in the ACU Handbook, all permits for Bike Trial events would be issued by ACU Head Office.
Weston Beach Race 2006. Mr Sparks stated that he considered the penalties imposed on the Clerk of the Course at the recently held Court of Enquiry convened to look into the unauthorised participation of two disabled riders at the event were too high. The Chairman replied that not everyone knew all the factors involved and that whilst the Court might have been too harsh in some respects they were perhaps too lenient in others. The ACU Disciplinary system is built around the Clerk of the Course and there are obvious difficulties if the Clerk of the Course fails to act correctly. It was clear that the appeal fee in the particular circumstances of this case was prohibitive.
The Chairman did not agree that the case would prevent officials coming forward for fear of the consequences of making a mistake. He emphasised that everyone makes mistakes and disciplinary action is very unlikely to follow. Where however an Official is clearly aware of the correct position and action required in a particular situation but deliberately decides to ignore the rules then he will always be open to criticism or penalty. The Chairman stated that he had spoken separately with the Clerk of the Course since the Court of Enquiry had taken place. He held the individual in very high regard and believes he shows much promise for the future. He also felt that the incorrect actions were unlikely to be repeated.
Mr Kenny remarked critically on comments made during the event regarding the ACU looking at organising events for disabled riders. Mr Humphrey stated that he had made these comments at the event and that he is having discussions with the Medical Panel to see if competition involving Disabled Riders could be taken forward in any capacity.
Communications from Head Office. Mr Webster commented that he had not received a reply to a couple of emails he had sent to Head Office over the last few months. Mr Thompson stated that some individuals were emailing admin@acu.org.uk for the emails to be forwarded onto the individual they were meant for. Although these emails should be answered, he reminded everyone that each member of staff had their own individual email address, therefore emails should be sent direct to the person they were intended for.
Sport England. Mr Noel spoke of a recent meeting he and Mr Luscombe had attended with Sport England. The meeting was held to discuss the possibility of Sport England engaging with motorsport. He said it was quite clear that Sport England saw the ACU as the single Governing Body for Motorcycle Sport in the same way as they saw the MSA as the Governing Body for four wheel sport. A further meeting was to be held on 29th March at which both Mr Noel and Mr Luscombe would attend.
Website The Chairman confirmed the message board had been removed from the ACU Website due to some recent postings on the message board which were considered to be unacceptable.
Mr Loney stated that it was very clear how much work was going on behind the scenes and wished to thank the Board of Directors and those involved for their efforts on behalf of the ACU.
Date of Next Meeting. The date for the AGM and National Council meeting is Saturday 20th May 2006. The date of the next meeting of the Centre Chairmen/Secretaries will be Saturday 15th July. The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance, at what he considered to be an excellent meeting and closed the meeting at 4.00pm.
