Meeting Procedures

Council meets three times a year, typically in February, June and October with the dates for the year set by the June meeting.

(Note; up to and including 2020, Council met four times each year, with a meeting in January and March/April. At the January 2020 Council meeting the decision was agreed to replace the first two of the year with a single February meeting).

Full meetings are held in February and October. The June meeting is traditionally a short one that follows the AGM (after a short break).

This schedule has evolved around the need to meet Constitutional requirements for the AGM, as well as avoiding “difficult” times of the year, such as July/August (holidays), December (Christmas) and September (Hidden Earth).

The following timelines are intended to enable enough time for the Secretary to prepare documents and for Council members to review them ahead of meetings and, if necessary, to refer to their organisations for discussion on how they should vote. The deadlines below are not set in stone (and may need to be adjusted due to Secretary vacations for example), so cannot be used to invalidate a meeting, but should be considered normal practice.

At least six weeks prior: Secretary to request reports and agenda items by email to Council. It is recommended to include a reminder to Council of the deadline.

Three weeks prior: Deadline for submission of agenda items from Council members to the Secretary.

At least two weeks prior: Secretary to upload agenda to website and notify Council members and ensure that the draft minutes from the last meeting are also available for review on the website.

Two weeks prior: Deadline for submission of reports to the Secretary.

At least one week prior: Secretary to collate and post reports on the website and notify Council members. Council members attending the meeting are expected to have read these reports prior to coming to the meeting wherever possible.

No later than eight weeks after (preferably sooner): Secretary to publish draft minutes (for details see Meeting Minutes section below).

It is expected that all Council members make every effort to deliver their agenda items and reports in the timeframe set out by the Secretary; failure to do so hampers democracy, complicates meeting and creates extra work for others.

Meetings may be held at any suitable location. It is desirable to choose somewhere relatively central and with suitable WIFI to allow participants to join remotely via video link. The venue should be available all day and have the capacity for at least 40 people (based on usual maximum attendance). Proximity to amenities (e.g. for lunch) and on-site parking and hot drinks facilities (tea/coffee) is recommended.

A sample agenda with standing items can be found here (TO BE ADDED).

The agenda should contain, as a minimum:

1. Welcome/apologies
2. Acceptance of minutes from previous meeting
3. Matters arising from the previous meeting including review of action log
4. Reports including opportunity for questions/discussion and a vote to accept
5. Items/proposals for discussion/voting submitted by BCA Council members
6. Any other business

Any items for discussion which are not on the agenda should be declared no later than the start of the meeting, to be added to ‘any other business’ which will be included only at the discretion of the Chair come the end of the meeting. It is expected that there is good reason for why the item was not included on the advanced agenda or in an appropriate report (i.e. why it has not been put out for advanced consideration).

The June meeting is shorter and typically makes Council’s annual appointments and sets the meeting dates for the year ahead, as well as dealing with any urgent business. If necessary, it will also formally record a change to bank mandates. Non-urgent business will usually be held over to the following meeting. The same procedures nonetheless apply. A sample Agenda for the June Council meeting can be found here (TO BE ADDED).

To ensure the efficient running of the meeting, and most importantly, to allow representatives to be fully prepared for the decisions they may be required to make, Officers, Working Party Convenors, Standing Committee Chairs, and those with additional appointed roles on BCA Council, are expected to provide written reports to the Secretary within the timeframe specified above.

Reports should typically include:

1. An update on progress since the last report.
2. Proposals for Council's consideration, including the necessary background and any recommendations of the author.
3. For Standing Committees, details of any new co-opted members of the Committee.

Reports should identify anything that may:

1. For Standing Committees, anything that may constitute a material change to the Terms of Reference and business of that committee.
2. Involve other Association Committees or members.
3. Have legal implications for the Association.
4. Have financial implications for the Association beyond those already agreed.
5. Involve the Association in a change to established policies or require the Association to agree a new policy or procedure.

Please ensure reports are fully comprehensive, clearly identifying (ideally at the start of the report) whether there are any specific actions/decisions for Council arising within. Doing so will help expedite meetings and focus attention on areas in need of consideration. Note that reports should not be used as a media to present major proposals; these should appear on the agenda which is published earlier.

The Membership Administrator is empowered to provisionally accept new Club Members provided they meet our criteria for a properly constituted Club. The Club will then become a Member once we have received their membership fee, but this is provisional pending acceptance by the next Council Meeting.

At each meeting the Membership Administrator should make Council (or the AGM) aware of clubs that have been provisionally accepted since the previous meeting so that any concerns can be raised. Council should then vote on whether or not to accept the Club as a full BCA Member Club.

Once the meeting has finished discussing the contents of an Officer's Report, and is happy with everything reported that has not been discussed, the Chairman should ask if everyone present is happy to accept the remaining items of the report? Anyone with anything further to add should raise it at that point. If not, then the Chairman will move to the next Report. In the interests of a smooth meeting, it is not necessary to formally propose and second each acceptance. It is important to note that in accepting a Report, Council is indicating its agreement with everything mentioned that has not been separately discussed.

Minutes of meetings should include:

• details of those present
• apologies for absence
• any matters arising from previous minutes
• reports to Council from Executive, Officers and appointees (which should be attached to the minutes)
• details of discussions on specific issues, points raised and decisions taken including, where appropriate, records of votes for and votes against.
• a means of indicating actions to be taken outside of the meeting, such as an “Action Log”.

Minutes and other papers should be distributed as soon as practical after meetings. In the interests of effective communication, it is considered good practice to distribute Draft Minutes, before they are accepted by the next meeting, rather than waiting for fully Approved Minutes. Before publication the full Draft Minutes should be agreed by each of the Executive. However, in the event that this is not possible within one month of the meeting, the Secretary should ask another Council Member, or Members, to check them before publishing.

On publishing Draft Minutes the Secretary should send them to:

• all members of National Council
• anyone listed in the attendance list for that meeting.
• any other person or organisation the Secretary or another Council Member feels may have an interest. Currently this includes: the Secretaries of the Regional Councils and Constituent Bodies, plus the FODCCAG Secretary.

A copy of all Draft Minutes should also be added to the relevant section of the BCA website, ensuring that any Draft Minutes are clearly marked as such, both in the document itself and on the website.

Only in the event of significant changes being made at the following Meeting, should approved Minutes also be distributed as above, although they should always be updated on the BCA Website.

Voting is by simple majority of those present and eligible to vote with no minimum number necessary for the meeting to be quorate. The Chairman shall hold the casting vote. The Council Members page gives a list of those eligible to vote. Although an individual is free to represent more than one Group, nobody is entitled to more than one vote.

Formally adopted at 2012 AGM. Last review: 11/06/12