The Welsh Pony and Cob Society
Cymdeithas y Merlod a'r Cobiau Cymreig

WPCS Council Meeting Agenda 8/10/07

PRESENT

Miss S.M Hardy (Chairman); Mr D.Ll. Williams (Vice-Chiarman); Mrs M.E. Mansfield (President); Dr E.W. Davies (Publicity Officer); Mrs. W. A. Bond; Mr. M. T. Daley; Mrs. E.E. Dart; Mr. E.T.E. Davies; Lady J. Evans-Bevan; Mrs. C. Fell; Mr. S.F. Franklin; Mrs E. R. French; Mrs. D. Jones; Mr. G. Jones; Mrs P. Howells; Miss. L. M. Hutchins; Mr. J. T. Kirk; Mr. D. D. Morgan; Mr. J. P.Parry; Mrs. J. P. Price; Mr. E. Prosser; Mr. J. Russell, Miss. J. Sheil; Mr. J. K. Spenser; Mr. C. Thomas; Mrs. D. M. Thomas.

IN ATTENDANCE

Mrs G Fazey-Koven (Chief Officer & Secretary), Miss H Tandy (Assistant to the Chief Officer), Miss A Lees, (Minute Taker).

OBSERVING

Mrs R.M. Andrew; Mrs G. Griffiths and Mr B Davies.

APOLOGIES

Apologies for inability to attend the Meeting were received from Mrs M.C. Edwards and Mr L. Bigley (President-Elect).

WELCOME

The Chairman, Miss S M Hardy welcomed the observers Mrs Andrew, Mrs Griffiths, Mr. Davies to the meeting. She commented on the historic nature of the meeting and hoped that they would find the experience interesting and informative.

CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES - 25 June 2007

Minutes of the Meeting held on 25th June 2007 were accepted and signed subject to the following corrections: Mrs W. Bond proposed the minutes be signed, this was seconded by Miss J. Sheil

Page 1 That the minute taker be identified in the minutes.

The spelling of Sir Meuric Rees’ name was corrected.

Page 11 (Ref. min 7126) Mrs P. Howells did not second the proposal with regards to the report about the website hosting.

MATTERS ARISING

7139 (i) Performance Sire Rating Scheme - Presentation of Awards (Ref min 7069 i)
Dr. E. W. Davies wished to record the thanks of the Council to Miss S. Hardy and Miss J. Hardy for their contribution to the collation of the Royal Welsh Sire Rating Points competition. He reported that recipients of the awards had been very complimentary about the presentation in the Welsh Assembly Building and grateful for the recognition. Mrs. Mansfield endorsed the comments adding that it had been a great success.

It was noted that a better system for notifying and inviting the recipients needed to be found to ensure that they were able to attend. Mr. Parry confirmed that some were unaware that the event was taking place. The Chairman acknowledge that there were logistical obstacles to informing winners and there needed to be some thought put into resolving the issue before next year.

The Chief Officer wished to thank Mrs. Mansfield and Lady Evans-Bevan for their contribution towards the catering.

(ii) Exhibition Unit (ref min 7080)
Mr. Franklin stated that he wished to clarify a point raised by Mr. Manchip at the last meeting. He stated that he had consulted Mr. Manchip with regard to penalty clauses and that Mr. Manchip had informed him that penalty clauses were not commonplace. Mr. Franklin further stated that he had raised the issue with the supplier of the Unit and that there was not an option for a penalty clause.

The Chief Officer confirmed that at this stage the estimated delivery date was 21^st August. She further explained that the Unit was due to be used immediately. Not having the Unit for the Autumn would mean additional accommodation costs for the events being attended by the Society. Consideration had been given by the Finance Committee to the most cost effective time to register and plate the vehicle and they had concluded that, with an estimated lifespan of 20 years, delaying registration until next Spring would not make a significant difference to its’ long term value.

(iii) Judges Assessment (ref min 7108 i)
The Chief Officer informed Council that there were approximately 75 applicants for the upcoming In-Hand Judges Assessment. The number of places allocated were 50 and she requested that Council enable the Judging and Showing Committee to decide how best to deal with the situation. Not allowing all applicants to be assessed would mean that those who did not have a place this year would have to wait a further 2 years before being able to take the assessment. On the proposal of Mr. E.T.E. Davies, seconded by Mr. M. T. Daley, it was unanimously resolved that:

It be left to the discretion of the Judging and Showing Committee, with an option to hold the assessment over a two day period.

(iv) Role of Publicity Officer (ref min 7110 i)
Dr E W Davies asked if anyone wanted to change the proposal regarding the role of the Publicity Officer that was passed at the last meeting. He stressed the timescales he has to work to and wanted to propose changes to the role of the Publicity Officer. Mrs E R French asked if changes should be made for changes sake. Mr E T E Davies stated that the rules must be looked at objectively and be obeyed, this was not a personal attack on Dr Davies, but we must be careful having a Publicity Officer from an active well known stud. It was important that someone be trained up into the role for the future. The Chairman, Miss S M Hardy stated that this will be looked into. The President, Mrs M E Mansfield stated that we need characters that have a fountain of knowledge and can report. Mr M Daley stated Dr Davies’ publicity reports were well received and he would be sorely missed when he leaves the post.

(v) Promotional Articles/Items (ref min 7114)
Dr. E. W. Davies had submitted two motions via email for consideration by the Council. He stated that he had hoped that the issue of the article in the Hill Ponies of Wales Magazine would have been resolved at the last meeting. He remained unsatisfied with the outcome. Mrs. P. Howells repeated her apology stating that she had not intended to upset anyone. The Chairman intervened stating that the magazine was not a Society magazine and that as such the Society could not control its contents. Dr. Davies responded that he felt that by selling the magazine the Society showed they supported it and that as a result of the comments in it he was seeking legal advice. Mr. C. Thomas apologised to Dr. Davies and assured him that an apology would be published. Dr. Davies accepted the apology from Mr. Thomas. The Chairman asked that Mrs. Howells and Dr. Davies meet to resolve the matter as it was not Council business.

(vi) IT Discussion Paper (ref min 7117)
The first phase of the IT development was due to begin at the end of August. The Chief Officer reported that she was anticipating receiving a project plan for the second phase which would take place over the next 3 years.

(vii) Young People’s Committee (ref min 7120 i)
Dr Davies expressed how lucky the Society was to have such a hard working Young Peoples Committee and the following should receive official recognition, Adrian Pearce, Bethan Simons and Daniel Hughes. The Young Judges event in Shrewsbury had been very successful with a good standard of competition and competitors had presented themselves well.

(viii) Welfare Cases (ref min 7120 ii)
Mr M.T. Daley asked if there would be an official report of the case concerning cruelty to non-equines, the Chief Officer confirmed that advice was being sought.

(ix) Extended Pedigrees (ref min 7124)
Dr Davies queried the updating of early registrations and extended pedigrees. The Chief Officer confirmed that this work was ongoing.

CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

On being proposed by Mrs W. Bond and seconded by Mr K. Spenser the minutes of the 9th July 2007 Council Meeting were accepted and signed subject to the following corrections:

Page 1 Miss H. Tandy be noted as minute taker.

MATTERS ARISING

There were no matters arising from the 9^th July minutes.

REPORT OF COUNCIL WORKING GROUP MEETING HELD ON 5^th AUGUST 2007

7140 Mrs. E.R. French submitted a verbal report on behalf of the Working Party that had met the previous evening. She explained that the Chairman and Mrs. Fell had been delayed at the National Welsh Show and that, in their absence, the members of the Working Group had asked Mr. W. Lloyd to take the Chair.

The Working Group had a number of recommendations arising from their meeting these were:

That the Society’s Financial Procedures be updated to state that “all those performing a voluntary function within the Society are entitled to claim expenses for travel and subsistence within the UK”.

A meeting be held immediately following the AGM to elect Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Standing Committees.

At this point Mr. Daley asked how long it would be before Standing Orders were produced. The Chief Officer replied that the 31 October 2007 was the date agreed by Council for regulations and codes of conduct and as the Standing Orders are part of the regulatory codes all proposals should be submitted before the Council meeting on 8 October.

Mr S Franklin queried if a meeting held immediately after AGM would work. The Chairman replied that people who want to be on the Council should be familiar with regulations and procedures, as well as the functions of Standing Committees. The Chief Officer suggested that terms of reference could be sent out to all candidates with the contact details of the current Chairmen to contact should there be any queries. A discussion followed regarding how long a gap should be left between the AGM and the first Council Meeting. It was argued that there could be a risk of lobbying if the gap was long, but it was felt it would not be prevented no matter when the meeting was held.

The President stressed that people nominated must be made aware of what the committees involve but that the time was not too short that people were prevented from raising any queries. The Chairman stated that information could be distributed two to three weeks before the meeting so it could be digested and that the Chief Officer could always be contacted regarding any queries. The Chairman also pointed out that she hoped people wanting to stand for Council would be prepared beforehand. The Chief Officer noted that only leaving two weeks between the AGM and a Council Meeting could cause administration problems as notices and agenda needs to be sent out. Mrs C. Fell suggested that the meeting immediately following the AGM would not be for discussion but only to deal with nominations and elect Committee members. The extra pressure on staff was queried but the Chairman pointed out this discussion was on the election of Officers and not staffing levels.

Mr. Daley stated that he felt Council were being pressured to make a decision without time to digest any proposed changes. Chairman requested if proposal of changing when Council first met after AGM should go back to the Council Working Party or change be accepted.

Mrs. P. Howells proposed and Mrs. W. Bond seconded that a meeting be held immediately following the AGM to appoint the Chairman and Vice-Chairman on a one year trial basis.

Miss L. Hutchins proposed an amendment, seconded by Mr. D. Ll. Williams to leave the meeting as is.

Upon being put to the vote with 14 votes for, 10 against and no abstentions the amendment to leave the meeting as is was passed.

(iv) The Council Working Group also debated the process of recognising breed, and it was recommended that in future this would be discussed at agreed seminars with the Education and Welfare Committee and the first topic addressed by the Advisory Board. The Vice President suggested there should be a Working Party to discuss the breed once or twice before informing members. Chief Officer stressed to ensure policies and procedures are strengthened and to work out how to move forward in terms of breeding should be done now.

Mrs C Fell proposed a brain storming day to create an agenda on how to move forward, this was seconded by Miss J. Sheil.

(v) It was recommended an Advisory Group to be created; this would be made up of 40 members, selected by expertise and experience to represent the society. The group would have no executive powers but would provide essential communication on matters relating to Welsh breeds, all issues raised would be referred to Council.

Elections would take place at the same time as Council and representatives would be chosen from 9 regions and daughter societies. Elections would be held every 3 years and the Advisory Group would meet twice a year. It was confirmed that ex-council members could be nominated for election to the Advisory Body and that it was important to encourage grass roots members to become involved.

The ability of individuals to claim expenses was raised and the Chairman confirmed that the right to claim expenses for voluntary work was endorsed by the Charity Commission

Mr. Daley stated that he would like to report printed and circulated before any of the recommendations are accepted. Mrs. D. Jones also stated that she was not happy to accept a verbal report. Mr. E.T.E. Davies felt strongly that Council should not accept reports given verbally in the future. The Chief Officer replied that the practice of accepting clear recommendations through verbal reports was well established.

On the proposal of Mr E.T.E. Davies, seconded by Mr J.P. Parry, with 12 votes for, 11 against, and one abstention it was agreed to hold back any proposals and minutes on rest of Council Working Group Meeting and agree on extending arrangements for Advisory Group.

Chairman’s Report

The Chairman stated she had nothing to report.

Chief Officer’s Report
7141 The Chief Officer informed Council the new Receptionist, Jennifer Hamer had been appointed, this made no difference to staff numbers, and this still remains at 15.4. The Chief Officer asked all to be careful regarding statements on why the International Show had been cancelled, an outbreak of EVA in the area where the show was due to be held is the official reason for cancellation. The International Committee meeting due to be held the day before the International Show will be rearranged.

Correspondence
7142 (i) Welsh Pony & Cob Society Germany
Council received the letter from the Welsh Pony and Cob Society of Germany. Members felt unclear about what the Society was requesting and it was agreed that the correspondence should be responded to by the Chief Officer to seek further information. It was noted that throughout Europe attitudes differ in regard to the registration of animals in Stud Books.

(ii) Mcartneys Auctioneers
Mr J Kirk left the meeting to avoid conflict of interests. Written information had regarding process had been sent back as requested and criteria needed to be met for official sale.

Mr. Kirk re-joined the meeting.

Delegate Reports
7143 Mr J Parry had attended a meeting of the Joint Measurement Board and gave a short verbal report. It had been decided by the JMB that any animals selected would be measured by the Chairman and one other. The Chairman of Council requested that Mr. Parry supply a written report of the meeting.

Any Other Business
7144 (i) Ref. Min. 7126
On the proposal of Mr. E. Prosser and Seconded by Mrs. E.R. French, with 18 votes for and 1 against, the proposal Ref. Min 7126 was accepted.

The President then thanked the observers for attending this historic meeting and all visitors would be very welcome in the future. The observers then left the meeting and Council proceeded with confidential agenda items.

Confidential Items

Office Premises

Service Queries
3 requests to extend prefixes were accepted

Report of Finance Committee held on 9th July 2007
Mr J Russell the Chairman of the Finance Committee presented the report for the meeting held on 9th July. The report was accepted as written with the only amendment being that the Chief Officer be noted as the minute taker.

Report of Finance Committee Meeting held on 31st July 2007
A verbal report was presented by the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr J Russell.

Budget Presentation
Chief Officer presented the budget proposed by the Finance Committee.

On the proposal of Mr J Russell, seconded by Mr. J. Kirk it was unanimously agreed that the budget and report be accepted.

Legal Update
The Chief Officer updated Council on on going legal matters

There being no further business the Chairman thanked all present and closed the meeting at 7.10 pm

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