2006 AGM Minutes

Peter Gibbs, Brian Hayward, Tony Wright, John Pakenham, Graham Humphries, Peter Sherlock, Roy Woodcock.

2.1) Accuracy Minutes Accepted.
2.2) Matters Arising. None that were not covered by later items.

Due to illness there was no report from Roy Woodcock

4.1) Chairman. Nothing to report
4.2) Chief Executive. Written report provided
4.3) Secretary (vacant)
4.4) Finance Director. The accounts were presented & accepted with a vote of thanks.
4.5) Director for Junior Chess. Graham Humphries was unable to attend due to his wife's illness. The Junior Individual Championships had not run on the scheduled date due to a clash of bookings at the intended venue.
4.6) Grading Director. (Vacant)
4.7) Events Director. Cyril Johnson regretted that he had been unable to devote much time to the post due to increased ECF duties. For this reason that he was unwilling to be considered for re-election.
4.8) Public Relations Director (Vacant). The CEO has continued to produce the MCCU newsletter, the hardcopy print run had been reduced to 14, largely through email addresses being found rather than readily provided. After some discussion a motion was proposed that free hardcopy newsletters for clubs be discontinued, any club wishing to continue receiving a hard copy would pay a subscription to cover the costs of printing & postage.
Motion passed.
4.9) County Teams. Neil Beasley provided a written report. Cyril Johnson expressed disappointment over the late withdrawal of teams from the U175 jamboree. The meeting was reminded that this will be Neil Beasley's last year as controller, no one had yet come forward expressing an interest in the post.
4.10) Correspondence Chess:
4.10.1) Individual Event
4.10.2) Team Event
No reports had been provided by the respective controllers. No one had come forward to fill the vacant team event controller post.
4.11) MCCU Webmaster. A written report was provided by Neil Beasley.
4.12) ECF. Cyril Johnson is currently acting CEO covering for the illness of Roy Heppinstall. Geoff Steele is covering the Finance Directors role following the resignation of Robert Richmond. A summary of the problems surrounding the NMS was provided. The motions for the ECF EGM on 24 th June were discussed. The current proposal for a mandatory membership scheme that could be operated by Unions, Counties or Leagues as agents for the ECF did not find favour. However, a voluntary scheme was favoured by the delegates. Furthermore the meeting felt that the MCCU should seek to become a membership organisation as part of the first tranche of bodies if the mandatory element was dropped.
4.13) Non-executives. No reports received

The following were proposed & elected unopposed –

5.1) President – Roy Woodcock
5.2) Chairman – Cyril Johnson
5.3) Chief Executive – Julie Johnson
5.4) Secretary - Vacant
5.5) Finance Director – Andrew Leadbetter
5.6) Director for Junior Chess – Graham Humphries
5.7) Director for Grading – Sean Hewitt
5.8) Director for Events - Vacant
5.9) Director for Public Relations - Vacant
5.10) Webmaster – Sean Hewitt
5.11) ECF Delegates (max.2) Julie Johnson & Andrew Leadbetter
5.12) Non-executives (max.2) Peter Gibbs & Gordon Christie

Finance Director, Andrew Leadbetter presented his budget. He posed the question of whether printed grading lists were required, he had been made aware that some organisations who ordered them last year, would not do so again. Sean Hewitt indicated that he could get small numbers produced at low cost. The budget was amended to take account of reduced costs in some areas. Andrew proposed that no change be made to the levy.
Motion passed.

Proposals from the Chief Executive Officer

a) That all references to the BCF be replaced by ECF.
b) That a new item be added

Officers may claim expenses properly incurred in the execution of their duties, but must do so within 6 mths of the financial year end in which they are incurred. Claims must be supported by relevant evidence, individual items below £15 may be accepted without additional documentation, provided that the Finance Director is satisfied they have been properly incurred.

8) MCCU County Teams' Tournament Rules – proposals from the Chief Executive Officer a) ,b)& c) , & from Events Director d)

a) i)That all references in the County rules to BCF be amended to read ECF.
ii) That all references to assistant secretary be replaced by controller.

b) That rule 13 be amended as follows –

If a third MCCU entry into the ECF national stages is required, the losing semi-finalists shall play off for that place. If the 3 rd place match has not been played by the ECF entry deadline,, the County with the best losing score in the Semi-Finals shall become MCCU 3.

The current rule is as follows: 13. …….. If a third MCCU entry into the BCF national stages is required, the County with the best losing score in the MCCU Semi-finals shall become MCCU 3.

This proposal was made on behalf of 2 county captains. They were aware that matter had been discussed before, but views may have changed. They felt that the current situation may not lead to the 3 best teams going forward. The reference to a fall back situation reflects a similar fall back in the rules if the Final is not played by 31 st March. Whilst we can schedule a Final & play off matches before the deadline, we needed a fall back in case unforeseen circumstances prevent a match taking place.

c) The CEO proposed that in order to clarify the situation rule 9 b) be amended as follows –

Any match between a county in the East Zone( East Midlands ) and a county in the West Zone ( West Midlands ) shall be arranged at an agreed neutral venue unless otherwise agreed. Any disputes regarding venue are to be referred to the Controller. The away team is responsible for arranging neutral venues, but costs are to be split between the teams. This will not apply where the counties involved have a common border. In such cases the match will be played in the home county, unless that county agrees otherwise. This rule will apply whether or not a section is split into zones or divisions. (amendments in italics)

This matter was on the November 2005 meeting agenda but could not be formally adopted.

The motion was amended as indicated by the words in red and the amended motion passed.

d) That rule 21 be amended with the words in italics below -

21. Grading limits apply at the start of each season and will be taken from the latest national grading list (excluding the rapid play list). A player who has no published grade may participate in any grade restricted tournament providing that there is no doubt in the team captain's mind that the player is not of such a playing strength as to breach the limits set. and the inclusion of that player is cleared with the controller before he/she plays. A n ungraded player not cleared prior to competing ~~will~~ can be deemed to be an ineligible player and rule 4 will apply. It is accepted that in exceptional circumstances it may not be possible to contact the controller prior to the match, in such cases a player must be cleared within 48 hrs of the match taking place. Team captains should have recourse to previous grading lists and the advice of their local grader. Any disputes on ungraded players should be referred to the controller for the tournament. Counties may enter more than one team in any grade restricted tournament. Where a county has more than one team in any grade restricted tournament, players are not interchangeable and each team must be a completely separate squad.

The clearance of ungraded players echoes the ECF rules. At the time the MCCU rules gave no recourse if a team played an ungraded player, who was felt by anyone other than the team captain, to be stronger than the grading limit for that section.

The motion was amended as indicated in red and the amended motion passed.

9) County Correspondence Rules – proposals from the Chief Executive Officer

a) That the MCCU adopt the email rules already used by the ECF for its correspondence events amended to reflect MCCU dates & appeals procedure
b) That the revised rules for the Individual Correspondence event be adopted.

These matters were before the November 2005 meeting & could not be formally voted upon.

10) Proposal: From the Chief Executive Officer

That the MCCU adopt the draft Child Protection Policy placed before it.

Another matter from the November 2005 meeting

11) Any other business:

a) The meeting is invited to discuss developments on ECF membership & other matters. These matters had already been discussed under the ECF report.

b) Claim from a previous officer for expenses – an expenses claim has been received from a previous officer for expenses incurred during the 1990's. The MCCU Board seeks the views of the meeting on this matter

It was agreed that a payment of £250 be made in full and final settlement of past expenses.

MINUTES OF THE 2006 MCCU AGM

17 June 2006, 2.30pm at at the Syston & District Social Club, Syston, Leics