AGM 2022. Proposal: General Organising Committee - Rule Changes

[ClaptonCFC]

If this proposal is passed, it would enable the adoption of a new Rule Book that incorporates the replacement of existing Board with a new General Organising Committee, which was mandated by members back in 2020.
It would also mean the adoption of the Elections Policy at the end of this proposal for future elections.
For this year, passing this proposal also instructs each of the club’s existing committees to nominate a representative from amongst their number by 4 January 2023, so that a meeting can be called at the end of that month.

Background

At the AGM on 6 December 2020, members agreed unanimously to a proposal to change the Club Rules so that the Board becomes the General Organising Committee (GOC), made up of at least one representative chosen by each of the club’s different committees plus a limited number of directly elected Officers.

Members of the GOC would remain “Directors” for legal purposes but the intention was to ensure that what was formerly the Board was more reflective of the work of the different parts of the club.

This was supposed to have been implemented by 1 July 2021 but this proved impossible because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the club and because we were waiting on changes to the model rules of the Football Supporters Association, who were our sponsoring body for registration purposes.

However, adoption of model Rules by a sponsoring body is designed to make initial registration easier and less expensive. We are grateful to the Football Supporters Association in this regard in helping us to set up as a community benefit society in 2018, but it does not have a veto over subsequent amendments to our Rules. We now have their new Model Rules and are making changes based on this.

We will require the approval in writing by the Football Association under Rule 98 and we need to have this “14 days or more before the day on which the alteration is proposed to take place”.
It is now time to complete the process of complying with members’ wishes and to implement these changes.

Proposed changes

Thankfully, the power to appoint delegates from each committee to a General Organising Committee does not need complex Rule changes: our Rules say “new Directors shall be elected in accordance with the Club’s Election Policy including by authenticated electronic means and postal ballot”.

Our Rules do say our “Election Policy” must have a reference to any guidance issued by Football Supporters Association, but they are clear that these “are templates only and are for you to adapt as appropriate”.
Currently, we do not have an Elections Policy. One has therefore been drafted and is set out at the end of this proposal.

Rather than making partial amendments to the Rules, it is proposed that we adopt a complete set of new Rules, as the advice from our regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, says: If many amendments are proposed, or if the rule has already been amended many times, we generally recommend that societies use a complete amendment. This means rescinding the whole rule book and replacing it with a new one. This makes it easier for members to understand.This proposal is that the new Rule book would apply to the updated Model Rules of the Football Supporters Association but makes the following particular changes:

Throughout

Replace all references to “Club Board”, “Board of Directors”, “Board of the Club” or “Society Board” with “General Organising Committee”.
Throughout
Replace all references to “Supporters Direct” to “the Football Supporters Association”
Rule 30.3
Under General Meetings, change “the election of the Club Board” to “the election of officers”.
Rule 58
Under the revised Constitution of the General Organising Committee, change to:

“The Club shall have a General Organising Committee comprising not less than six members and not more than the total number of committees in the current year to whom powers have been delegated under Rule 28.2, plus the directly elected officers”.
Rule 81
Under Officers, amend to read:

“The membership shall elect a Secretary, League Representative, Treasurer and such other Officers as they may from time to time decide in accordance with the Club’s Elections Policy. These Officers shall have such duties and rights as may be bestowed on them by the membership or by statute and any officer appointed may be removed by the membership”.
Rule 82
Under Secretary, to change “Secretary” to “Company Secretary” (this is a legal obligation and does not necessarily have to be the directly elected Secretary - the GOC can nominate someone else to take on this role, although it makes sense for the Secretary to also be the Company Secretary.
Rule 114
Under Miscellaneous Administrative Provisions, to amend to our new registered address at the Old Spotted Dog Ground.





CLAPTON COMMUNITY FC ELECTION POLICY

Introduction

This document is drafted in accordance with the existing Rules of Clapton Community FC adopted pursuant to a resolution of the Club at a General Meeting held in December 2022 and the Best Practice guidance issued by the Football Supporters’ Association.

The purpose of this Election Policy is to ensure that the General Organising Committee (GOC) Elections are conducted in a fair and democratic manner.
Elected representatives will serve for a term of one year.
Definitions
This document uses several terms which are defined in the Club Rules.
Timetable
The election of officers will take place at the Club’s AGM.
The outgoing GOC shall agree the number of vacancies to be directly elected; if the numbers to be elected differs from the numbers elected in previous years or changes the number of places to be elected in total on the General Organising Committee, then the reasons why the change has been made shall be communicated to members in the form soliciting nominations.
The Secretary will arrange for the circulation of nomination forms for directly elected Officers with advance notice of the AGM.
Other than the directly elected Officer posts, each committee of the club will nominate a member to represent them on the General Organising Committee and will notify the Secretary of the name and contact details of their representative at least a week before the AGM.

No directly elected Officer may also act as a nominated representative of a club committee and no club member may represent more than one of the club’s committees on the General Organising Committee.
Nominations and Eligibility

Any person wishing to be a candidate for election as an Officer, or nomination by a club committee as its representative on the General Organising Committee, must be a fully paid-up member of the Club before the membership cut off point of the formal notification to members of the date of the AGM.
The Secretary will verify that candidacies and nominations are valid.

Nominations for Officers can be made at any time from the issue of the nomination forms up until the notified close of nominations.

It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure that their nomination for Officer posts is valid and submitted in accordance with the election timetable. The Secretary will acknowledge receipt of all nominations.
Each of the club’s committees is responsible for ensuring that their nomination for representative to the General Organising Committee is submitted in accordance with the election timetable.

Candidates for Officer posts are invited to submit a statement in support of their nomination of no more than 200 words and may also submit a photograph for publication with their statement.

Any statements which are deemed by the Secretary to not conform to the values of the Club, as set out in the Rules, will have their nomination invalidated.

By submitting a nomination for an Officer post, candidates will be deemed to have read and accepted this Election Policy and Rules adopted by the Society and to have agreed to be bound by them.

Specifically, candidates are self-certifying that they have read the Club’s Accountability Agreement and agree to be bound by it and certify they have not been disqualified from being a company director in line with UK law.
The Secretary will only confirm the number and names of nominations once the close of the nominating period has passed.

Statements and Campaigning

Campaigning will be restricted to the statements submitted by the candidates and any hustings organised by the Club.
During the election neither the Secretary nor the General Organising Committee may provide advice to voting members as to the suitability of any candidate nor issue any voting advice to members collectively.

Any comments made by candidates in public or on social media which are deemed by the Secretary to not conform to the values of the Club, as set out in the Rules, will have their nomination invalidated.

Voting & Result

Voting for Officer posts will normally be conducted at the Club AGM.

If there are more candidates than places available for Officer posts, the Secretary will issue ballot papers and copies of candidates’ statements to members of the Club.

Ballot papers can be issued electronically, by post or conducted through a digital third-party management platform.
Voting will be undertaken by members of the society who are fully paid up before the cut off point for membership as designated by the Secretary.

Club members will be issued with one ballot. Multiple ballots received from the same individual will not be accepted. If multiple ballots are received from the same Individual, then neither will be accepted.

Votes may be submitted by electronic means up to the time stated on the ballot paper for those unable to attend and vote in the meeting. The count will be made at the AGM, and the result announced at the AGM where possible.
Club members will be asked to vote for up to one candidate per available position.

The highest placed candidates in terms of total votes as equal to the number of places available for election will be deemed elected.

If, after all votes have been counted, two or more candidates are tied for any vacancy, lots will be drawn to determine who is elected.

If there are as many or fewer candidates than there are places, an affirmative ballot will be held at the AGM. Each successfully nominated candidate will be put before the meeting for approval. Any candidate not receiving the support of more than half of those present in person and by proxy will be deemed to have not been elected.
The exception will be that should the failure to elect any of the validly nominated candidates leave the General Organising Committee below the minimum required under the Rules for them to act, all validly nominated candidates will be deemed elected by the AGM.

The result of the Officer elections, along with details of the representatives of each committee, will be communicated to members on the Club’s website, social media, and by email.

Candidates or complainants shall raise matters with the Secretary whose decision is final.

Complaints after voting has closed shall be made to the Secretary not later than three working days after the close of voting.

Any complaint received after this date shall be ruled out of order.
If any candidate should contravene the Election Policy, the Secretary shall judge whether a disqualification should apply, and their decision is final.
Any appeal against the decision of the Secretary shall be made through and governed by the disputes procedure as set out in the Club Rules.

[Copwatcher]

This is difficult to read so you can also find it at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wln ... sp=sharing