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updated 16.4.13
ECF NEWS
ECF FINANCE COUNCIL MEETING
13.4.13 in Birmingham (1.30 pm)
32 or 33 attended, if one of our counts was right. In the absence of Chairman Mike Gunn, Roger Edwards was elected to the chair.
     We didn't get through the agenda, of course. The meeting got bogged down early, despite good humoured attempts by the chairman to move it on, and later items were rushed or crowded out. The agenda order didn't help. Should non-urgent items be allowed to crowd out those that actually call for decisions?
(1) Charitable Status was a case in point. Putting it in Matters Arising, as a specific agenda item, seemed odd. The ECF does this a lot, but surely Matters Arising is for tidying up loose ends. If it's big enough to be an agenda item in its own right, it doesn't belong in Matters Arising!
     So it got the number one slot. Now, no one's suggesting charitable status isn't important. But this was a general discussion in response to a paper from the Finance Director, with no actual decisions called for, and you could have devoted a whole meeting to it. Council appeared in some danger of doing so until the chairman called a halt after more than half an hour (and already an hour into the meeting). We won't attempt a proper report. All right, we got lost. But discussion was largely about income streams. Should this mean just Membership fees with everyone having dual Membership, of both the charitable body and the uncharitable one? Or should the charitable one raise grants for the other? Or something.
(2) The "Racist" Thing. This was a real Matter Arising, from item 5 of the next meeting down. The threatened action in the small claims court has not materialised, but could do so at any time. The statute of limitations says 6 years, apparently.
(3) Accounts 2011-12 were formally adopted, but we'd seen them before. Let's say at this point that the Finance Director, together with John Philpott wearing one of his hats, have put much work into getting the ECF accounts on an even keel. That's not your Webmaster speaking, it's the Chairman of the Finance Committee.
(4) Membership & Game Fee: Exemptions. Council amended the Game Fee Bye Laws, permitting the Board to grant exemptions from (or reductions in) Membership requirements as well as Game Fee requirements in specified cases. The cases currently specified - seven of them - were listed, and we must admit we'd never heard of some of them. Braille CA and English Deaf CA yes, and Corporate VPs while they exist (their number is down to 2 apparently). But GF exemptions for fillers in conresses? Gold-Membership waiver for single-game people in the Oxfordshire FIDE-rated League? (Can you work out which of those was not permitted under the unamended Bye Laws?)
     One needs special mention: a GF waiver for members of the Welsh CU when representing Welsh clubs in Cheshire & North Wales. The Board was minded to withdraw this concession with effect from next season on the ground that no similar concession exists for other foreigners. Discussion was protracted and ranged far, embracing history going back to 1971. In the end it was agreed to extend the concession for one year, and in the meantime enter into talks with the WCU. Council amended the wording so that the concession applied to WCU members in other cross-border leagues. In practice that means the Wirral League; we're pretty sure no Welsh club plays in another.
     While this particular exemption occupied most time, Council did not neglect the other six. It discussed and approved them all, one by one, and was not brief. The Board will now list all the exemptions on the ECF website, and one has to wonder why it has not done so before.
     This whole topic took close to 1½ hours - yes, really - and concluded at 4 o'clock in time for the coffee break and
__________

BCF AGM.
It was about money, of course, and draft Accounts were available though approval was not sought as further work was needed. Much was said about the Permanent Invested Fund and something about the BCF Youth Chess Trust, but we'll spare you the details (for reasons you'll guess).
     To tell the truth we came back from the coffee queue to find the meeting already in progress, and had to ask whether it was still the BCF one (it was). Not for the first time someone proposed holding BCF meetings before ECF ones instead of in the middle. It was objected that you'd have no noticeable chance of getting a quorum, and the proposal was heavily defeated.
__________

The ECF meeting resumed, without further break, at 4.44 pm. 65 per cent of the way through the available time, and we've not reached the Budget yet. So
(5) Annual Business Plan. Not there, mercifully. Time gained.
(6) ECF Teams. Taken early in view of its possible effect on the budget, though it turned out not to impact on the budget at all. The International Director proposed:
"Council believes that the Federation should aim to have the strongest possible England teams competing in the European Team Championships (Open and Women’s), the Olympiads (Open and Women’s) and the World Youth under 16 Chess Olympiad (Open and, when established, Girls). We believe this is in the long term interest of English chess."
Which, as Julie Denning has remarked, is like voting for motherhood and apple pie. The Director spoke to his motion, making it clear that he was not asking for money but felt that endorsement would help in the search for outside support. He got his endorsement.
(7) Budget 2012-13, and it was only 5 o'clock. In a way it was two budgets in one, for a 16-month period. It ended with a small surplus for the year ending August 2014, after removal of a £5000 contingency povision which seemed to serve no purpose. Budget "noted", after little more than half an hour.
(8) Direct Members' Subscriptions 2013-14 will remain unchanged, despite a proposal (heavily defeated) to increase the adult versions by a small amount.
(9) Minimum Membership Fee for Member Organisations. To remain unchanged.
(10) Game Fee. Also unchanged, though the Congress fee (£6, or £4 junior) was oddly defined as the difference between the Bronze and Silver Membership fees. (Which does make £6 and £4, but if you wanted to make that the rule you wouldn't do it here.)
(11) Adoption of Budget. Back with the budget, but this year items 8 - 10 hadn't sabotaged it so Council adopted it.
(12) Amendments to GF Bye Laws. The Home Director proposed comprehensive requirements for registering events for grading (current rules applied only to leagues and congresses). Plus a draconian penalty for non-compliance: your event won't be graded unless the Board agrees. Oh, and of course fines came into it.
     We've remarked elsewhere on the frankly insensitive nature of the proposals. People were concerned by the excessive demands imposed on, say, club-internal events; or silly requirements like Chief Arbiter's details in a league. "It ain't broke," they said, "so why fix it?" Others will have seen value in the Director's attempt to formalise an admittedly ramshackle process.
     It was in the course of this topic, with 20 or 25 minutes to go before the 6.30 deadline, that the meeting descended into farce. Someone proposed next business, no doubt as a preferred alternative to voting against the motion. Next business was rejected narrowly, then rather less narrowly on a recount. We were in fear of a card vote. But the meeting proceeded to a vote on the Director's proposal, and carried it by 17 votes to 8 if we got it right. Then, the inevitable. No one was sure whether the tellers would have time to tell before 6.30, but they did it with five minutes to spare. For 130, against 48, abstentions 4, and the third bite at the cherry had failed. The abstentions were your Webmaster's, if you want to know. He'd had enough.
(13) Abandonment of Code of Conduct was concurrent with the tell. It barely called for discussion (the agenda said it all) but some time was spent on it anyway. The agenda was uninformative about the number and nature of the complaints which had proved the Code unworkable.
(14) Proposals on County Matches. There was just about time for an NCCU person to express disappointment that the proposals had been timed out for the second time in two meetings. It seemed to be agreed that they should be moved up the agenda next time.

The meeting closed at 6.30 pm.
Please tell us of errors. Omissions may be deliberate.
rjh 16.4.13, amended 17.4.13

BCF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING
12.1.13 at Daventry
We weren't there, and it probably lasted ten minutes if that, but we have it on good authority that the meeting was quorate and both motions were passed. Thought we'd let you know, because we're not sure when the ECF will. What was it about? Oh, come on. The agenda is on the ECF website at http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?page_id=897.
rjh 13.1.13

ECF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
13.10.12 in Birmingham (1.30 pm)
About 42 attended, not counting the Office persons. This account, as always, is selective.
(1) Only a Matter Arising, but it needs reporting. The 2012-13 Budget (see item 10 in the next meeting down) secured its absolute majority, just, shortly before the AGM - thus relieving the AGM of the need to vote on it. The Company Secretary, who had felt obliged to cajole responses more than once in the run-up to the AGM, expressed little enthusiasm for further essays in Written Resolution.
(2) CEO's Report. Well, it arose out of the CEO's Report. This was maybe the only point at which discussion turned to the departed President. Someone proposed that the Board investigate whether he had fulfilled the requirements of his role at the FIDE Congress at Istanbul, and in the event of a negative conclusion, seek the return of expenses paid to him. Carried by 15 votes to 12, and no prizes for predicting the outcome.
(3) Chairman's Report. It was remarked that reports (minutes?) of Board meetings haven't been too frequent. (Have there been any this year? Yes, but we think they've appeared rather recently.) Chairman: We'll do better.
(4) Accounts 2011-12. There weren't any. It was stated that the Finance Director, previously said to have gone to ground, had actually been unwell. There was information he had not been able to provide, but apparently it should not be too hard to unearth. It was hoped that the finished Accounts could be presented at an Extraordinary General Meeting which might or might not be agreed under Item 10 when we came to it. (Relax, it was.)
(5) Junior Director. Question: Is that "racist" thing from the International Junior Championships done and dusted? (Skip if you don't know about it.) Answer: No, the complainant is taking it to the small claims court, and the ECF has said it will contest the claim.
     A sum of £500 has been set aside for Girls events. There are no specific plans for its use as yet.
(6) Director of Women's Chess. No, there isn't one. A proposal to create this post, increasing the number of Directorates to 11, was defeated by many votes to 6. Council was not too clear about the reasons for the proposal. It would not obviously bring more money to the women's game; and if the intention was to increase the number of women on the Board, of course that consequence did not follow.
__________

It was now 3.50 and the meeting adjourned for tea and a
BCF AGM
at 4.07 pm. Things were said about the Chess Centre Ltd which went largely over your Webmaster's head, and for the second year in a row (or it may be more, we haven't checked) no BCF Accounts were available. The ECF meeting resumed at 4.30 pm with
__________

(7) Elections. Let's name everyone for the record. All elections but one were uncontested in the end, though there had been some doubt about the Presidency.
     President. Roger Edwards was unopposed after the late, but not much lamented, withdrawal of his opponent. However, before the elections took place the meeting had already discussed some items from the candidate's agenda as set out in his election address. You can see them in the papers of the meeting at http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?page_id=897, but they were partly about finance, partly about grading, partly about Membership. This last wasn't universally popular, seeming as it did to advocate reconsideration of the brave new scheme we'd only just implemented after two years of discussion. Anyway, the Council agenda included a proposal that these ideas, in the event of Mr Edwards's election, be not pursued. It has been suggested that this was actually a pro-Edwards, or anti-de-Mooi, proposal, but let's not go into that. The proposal was lost by 16 votes to 17 on a show of hands, then carried by 124 to 88 on a card vote. So on to the election. Mr Edwards was not so upset as to withdraw his candidacy, and he was elected by 111 to 101 on a card vote after reasonably convincing support on a show of hands.
     Chairman. Mike Gunn was re-elected nem con.
     Finance Director. The incumbent was not standing, and Chris Mattos was elected nem con. He addressed the meeting and impressed. His professional financial background involves some emphasis on work with charities.
     International Director. There was no candidate. The Board has since appointed someone we hadn't heard of (not to know me...).
     Home Director. Elected: Alex Holowczak (0 con).
     Junior Director. Re-elected: Phil Ehr (0 con).
     Director of Membership and Marketing. A new post, replacing Marketing (whose incumbent was not standing). Adam Raoof, the retiring Home Director, stood unopposed but lost to None of the Above by 9 votes to 20 on a show of hands. No one called for a card vote. Many have been surprised by this result. It must be said that one person did a hatchet job at the meeting, alleging incompetence and other things, but Mr Raoof's defeat has been attributed largely to his failure to attend the meeting - he was running a congress - or to provide an election address. Whatever one thinks of these omissions, or indeed of his competence, it is unfortunate that Membership still has no one at the helm more than a month after the meeting. Membership has issues. [Note 27.11.12. It has an acting helmsman now]
     Non-Executive Directors. Re-elected 4 con: Jack Rudd. Elected 8 con, but with nominations from 11 different directions: Sean Hewitt.
     FIDE Delegate. The contested one. The incumbent, Nigel Short, defeated Rupert Jones by 148 to 55 on a card vote. Putting it crudely, some had seen it as a contest between confrontation (NDS) and appeasement (RJ). Of FIDE.
     Finance Comittee. Re-elected nem con: Chairman Mike Truran, together with committee members Ray Clark and Ian Reynolds.
     Governance Committee. Elected nem con: Chairman Chris Majer. Committee members re-elected almost nem con: Richard Haddrell and Andrew Leadbetter.
     Auditor. Yes, we know, but if it looks like an election and quacks like an election. Re-elected nem con: Goatcher Chandler.
(8) Financial Year. The proposal to align the financial year with the Membership year (so 1st September to 31st August) was agreed pretty well on the nod. It means extending the current financial year by four months.
(9) Standards of Conduct and Complaints Procedure. Both of these Board proposals were approved. Standards of Conduct got amended, if we have it right, to the effect that offending people is prohibited, for ECF officers, not only in ECF publications but also in the social media, in personal blogs, and on public forums.
(10) Charitable Status. Proposed: that the ECF hold an Extraordinary General Meeting in January or February 2013 to decide whether to proceed with a formal application to become a registered charity. You're not holding your breath, because we've already told you the EGM was agreed. It was, but the Board seems to have since unagreed it (see http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?p=22440). Can they do that?
(11) Grading of Foreign Events. It was proposed by the outgoing Home Director that the ECF discontinue, from 1st January 2013, the service whereby Direct Members can send their foreign games for grading. A supporting paper from the Manager of Grading explained that there was no good way of doing the job (he said why) and that the demand was tiny anyway (293 halfgames in 2011-12). It was objected that this was no time to be withdrawing Membership privileges, irrespective of their quality presumably, and Council endorsed this view.
(12) Dates. Finance Meeting: 13th April 2013 in Birmingham. Annual Council Meeting: 12th October 2013 in London.

The meeting closed at 6.30 pm.
rjh 27.11.12, with apologies for lateness.

Earlier material is in the Archive.