ECF Finance Council Meeting April 2017

[Michael Farthing]

That's not a lot of use if the meeting isn't allowed to discuss or pass votes on subjects such as the expense of the ECF Library and what to do with all the duplicate books, the qualification rules for the British Championship and for that matter the withdrawal of prize eligibility from the 2017 Championship.

It is allowed to do all these things. It can do what it likes. If Council members feel strongly they have the right and the power to do all these things. The sad fact as far as Roger is concerned is that I suspect most Council members do NOT share his concern about the latter matters and so will not push to have the matters debated. There are slightly more important items on the agenda. The first matter, the ECF Library, I imagine will get discussed, though I have no idea what the general view will be (nor, indeed, what my own view will be - I am a little unconventional in that I am prepared to change my mind on the basis of other people's arguments).

[Roger de Coverly]

It is allowed to do all these things. It can do what it likes.

The Agenda on the other hand states

10. Any Other Business of which notice has been given to the Chairman of the Meeting or before the start and which is of a minor nature only.
Matters of substance may not be raised under this heading, except in terms of information or a preliminary notification of important business for a future Meeting.

[Michael Farthing]

The agenda is not the ultimate authority.
It can be set aside by a procedural motion if Council members so resolve. That is the point.

Generally, of course, Council does not do so because the stipulation in the agenda is seen as sensible.
There are some issues which Council could not decide without advance notification, but the matters you have mentioned are not among them.

[Michael Flatt]

Previously individual Directors gave reports on matters under their control, but they are now all wrapped up in the Chief Executives report - this does save time.

Nevertheless, the various subjects of interest to members can be raised as questions to the Chief executive on his report and he will doubtless invite the relevant Director to respond.

In one meeting I attended a question from the floor at any early point in the meeting was dismissed as it would "be covered in Later in the Meeting". "Later in the Meeting" never arrived.

Also quite unexpectedly (i.e. it wasn't on the Agenda) one Director was invited to deliver a prepared presentation on a particular project that absorbed a great deal of time that prevented other items on the Agenda being given adequate time.

It is the Chairman's responsibility to ensure that the Agenda is not overloaded and to manage the meeting so that all items are covered so that sufficient time remains for Any Other Business.

Having an experienced and effective Chairman is key to having a successful meeting. The previous practice of nominating a chairman who had not had sufficient time to plan the Agenda was not a very effective way of running the meeting.

[Julie Denning]

It obviously would not be helpful if the Board and Council were continually at loggerheads, but in the work to implement "Pearce" it was one of my intentions to emphasise a degree of "constructive independence" between Board and Council. Pearce was silent on the intended authority of the Chairman of Council with regard to the agenda of meetings beyond recommending the chairman "should have oversight of the agenda ...". However, in implementing this recommendation we gave the Chairman of Council the status of a Requisitionist in his / her sole right (see Article 1.1, as amended by Council last April). Consequently, depending upon how independently minded the Chairman of Council is, or how hard he or she is lobbied, this might be one of the easier ways to get at item on the agenda of a Council meeting above and beyond the matters raised by the Board.

[NickFaulks]

I'm now looking at the financial documents to be discussed in Birmingham. Unfortunately I am not an ECF veteran and am struggling to work out the various year ends. Is it possible that the latest accounts from which we are working are y/e 31.8.2015?

[David Sedgwick]

Unfortunately I am not an ECF veteran ...

I would have thought that that was something about which to count your blessings.

Is it possible that the latest accounts from which we are working are y/e 31.8.2015?

I count my blessings that I am no longer a member of Council, so I don't read everything as diligently as I once did.

However, I have noted that the paper at http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... l-2017.pdf contains the following paragraph:

"In light of the above it has not been possible as I write to include any actuals for 2015/16 or an up to date position for this 2016/17. It is intended that this position will be corrected closer to the meeting in April. I hope you will all bear with me for the moment."

So the answer to your question would appear to be: Yes, for the present.

[NickFaulks]

Is it possible that the latest accounts from which we are working are y/e 31.8.2015?

So the answer to your question would appear to be: Yes, for the present.

Am I the only person who finds it odd that that an annual Finance Council Meeting should take place at a point in the calendar when the most recent accounts are twenty months old?

[Roger de Coverly]

Am I the only person who finds it odd that that an annual Finance Council Meeting should take place at a point in the calendar when the most recent accounts are twenty months old?

The financial year end used to be end May, or was it end April? They switched it to end August so as to coincide with the membership year. That makes a certain amount of sense as the Finance meeting is setting membership costs for the (chess) year ahead. It was also the premise that the financial statements and accounts for the immediately previous year end would also be available so that the Finance meeting could approve the Report and Accounts.

For reasons explained in the Council papers such as the death of a past key figure, this hasn't happened. It's not unknown for the ECF and BCF before it to get its accounting in a tangle.

[LawrenceCooper]

Is it possible that the latest accounts from which we are working are y/e 31.8.2015?

So the answer to your question would appear to be: Yes, for the present.

Am I the only person who finds it odd that that an annual Finance Council Meeting should take place at a point in the calendar when the most recent accounts are twenty months old?

No stranger than being elected as a director in October and having to wait until the following September to receive funding for your directorship.

[Julie Denning]

Am I the only person who finds it odd that that an annual Finance Council Meeting should take place at a point in the calendar when the most recent accounts are twenty months old?

Nick,

To be fair to the Finance Director, this is unusual and due to the untimely loss of John Philpott last October. Even now, I understand the FD hopes to have more to present by the time of the meeting. John was doing so much that there's been a lot for others to suddenly get on top of.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Would it be, um, politic, to ask whether some of this is due to having to redo work that John did, or were shared documents and backups in place? (And if there was no 'disaster recovery' policy in place, might there be one, or discussions relating to one?)

[NickFaulks]

Nick,

To be fair to the Finance Director, this is unusual and due to the untimely loss of John Philpott last October. Even now, I understand the FD hopes to have more to present by the time of the meeting. John was doing so much that there's been a lot for others to suddenly get on top of.

Julie,

Of course I understand that, and my comment was not intended as a criticism of anyone - perhaps it looked that way.

The fact remains that we are all travelling to Birmingham to discuss the ECF's finances, and it is very difficult to prepare properly for the meeting when you don't have a piece of solid ground to start from.

[John Reyes]

does anyone know who we email for the proxy votes?

[Michael Flatt]

does anyone know who we email for the proxy votes?

In the absence of any known replacement to Angus French, I'd inform the Chairman of the meeting, Mike Gunn [email protected],
and copy the Minutes Secretary, Gary Willson [email protected]