MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE BOARD HELD ON SUNDAY
18 NOVEMBER 2007 AT THE GEORGE HOTEL, DORCHESTER ON THAMESPresent:
Chris Hunt Cooke (chairman) Andrew Burt David Davies
Tony Davies Eri Heilijgers David Hurley
Henry Lawson Mike YoungIn attendance
Geoff Smith (vice president) Rosy Pugh (newsletter editor) Jim Whyman (secretary & treasurer)
1. Apologies for absenceLord Montagu; Derek Grossmark; Colin Francis.
2. Approval of minutes of board meeting of 24 July 2007 and committee meeting of 7 September 2007
The minutes of the meeting of the above meetings were approved and signed.
3. Matters arising from meeting of 7 September and from AGM
7 September, item 9: Geoff Smith reported on progress with the further research and said that he expected the work to be complete early in the new year. GS
AGM: The meeting agreed that FBHVC should take advantage of the no-audit concession available to small organisations in the light of the straw poll at the AGM, where there had been only one objection. JW
4. Actions to comply with new articles of association
Bylaw B.4.1 stipulates that the Board must ensure that the composition of the legislation committee complies with specified criteria. David Hurley said he took the view that it was not necessary for all those involved to attend all meetings and said he had, where possible, aimed to have two people sharing responsibility under each heading. The meeting approved his nominations as follows:-
Vehicle categories:
B4.1.1.1 vehicles made prior to 1919 Henry Lawson & Julian Ghosh
B4.1.1.2 motorcycles made prior to 1946 David Davies & Jacqueline Bickerstaff
B4.1.1.3 cars made prior to 1946 Andrew Burt & Julian Ghosh
B4.1.1.4 motorcycles made since 1945 David Davies & Jacqueline Bickerstaff
B4.1.1.5 cars made since 1945 Tony Beadle
B4.1.1.6 commercial passenger vehicles David Hurley
B4.1.1.7 commercial goods vehicles David Hurley
B4.1.1.8 steam vehicles John Billard & Tim Holt
B4.1.1.9 agricultural vehicles John Billard & Tim Holt
B4.1.1.10 ex-military vehicles Tim HoltSpecialist knowledge:
B4.1.2.1 vehicle regulations John Billard
B4.1.2.2 road traffic regulations Mike Hebbard
B4.1.2.3 MoT testing Michael Ward [David Davies also suggested Jim Allen]
B4.1.2.4 DVLA procedures Nigel Harrison
B4.1.2.5 fuel technology Matt Vincent
B4.1.2.6 motor sport regulations Julian Ghosh & Colin FrancisThe meeting confirmed the existing Vice Presidents, Derek Grossmark and Geoff Smith, and agreed an open invitation to them to attend meetings under Bylaw B 4.4.1.
5. Confirmation of banking arrangements and appointment of signatories
The secretary outlined the current banking arrangements with Barclays saying there are two accounts held at Barclays Ely branch, one a base rate tracking deposit account, and the other an interest bearing current account. There were five authorised signatories, Andrew Burt, Julian Ghosh, David Hurley, Mike Young and Jim Whyman. Following the AGM, the bank had been advised that Julian Ghosh would no longer be signing. Transfers between the two accounts can be made by one signatory, but two signatures are required for instructions leading to money leaving the accounts. The meeting agreed that these arrangements should continue with Chris Hunt Cooke taking the place of Julian Ghosh. The chairman and secretary were authorised to sign Barclays’ mandate to put that instruction into effect, thus accepting Barclays’ standard terms and conditions. JW
6. Appointment of new secretary and consideration of transfer arrangements
[Rosy Pugh left the room for this agenda item].
Mike Young outlined the interviewing of four applicants for the position of secretary: two had failed to meet requirements. He and David Hurley had given considerable thought to the respective merits of the other two candidates before recommending that Rosy Pugh should be appointed (subject to reaching a satisfactory agreement on fees and transfer arrangements) on the basis of a contract for service. The meeting accepted this recommendationThe secretary said he was willing to halve his fees after 1 June 2008 for his final period, and had suggested that the new secretary should begin by taking responsibility for handling the 2008/9 subscription renewals, which would imply starting at the beginning of May when the renewal invitations are distributed.
It was agreed that Chris Hunt Cooke and Mike Young should discuss terms and conditions with Rosy as soon as possible. Assuming a satisfactory outcome, it was agreed that an announcement should be made in the first 2008 Newsletter. MY; CHC
7. Directors’ responsibilities - plans, reports and questions
A. Legislation David Hurley said the legislation committee was working well and he had no plans to change the basis on which it operated. He had nothing to add to the minutes of the meeting that had taken place on 31 October save that he was having further discussions with the Driving Standards Agency on the instruction and testing regime for new drivers of large vehicles. These were becoming ever more complicated and costly and ever less relevant to those wishing only to drive large historic vehicles in a hobby context.
A liaison meeting with the All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicle Group had taken place on Wednesday, 14 November. It had been attended by Chris Hunt Cooke, Andrew Burt, David Hurley and Geoff Smith from FBHVC and by MPs Greg Knight, Kelvin Hopkins and Stephen O’Brien and Lords Cope and Steel. The meeting covered all topics on the agenda and all items were being followed up. It was noted that the meeting had called for further information in respect of dropping the Science Museum’s Inspired project from the Big Lottery competition.
David Hurley, Sandy Hamilton, Nigel Harrison and the secretary had attended a routine liaison meeting at DVLA on Thursday, 15 November. The meeting had been almost entirely involved in routine case-work, and there was no suggestion of any new policies. The meeting had been Sandy Hamilton’s last before handing over responsibility for DVLA liaison to Nigel Harrison. DVLA marked the occasion by making a presentation to Sandy in appreciation of his considerable work in recent years that had both improved understanding of DVLA procedures by club members and had smoothed many problems where lack of specialist knowledge had meant DVLA staff had been uncertain of the most appropriate action.
B. Budgets, finance and planning The secretary had handed round management accounts made up to 30 November (the first six months of FBHVC’s financial year) and commented that although subscription income was slightly ahead of budget, other income was down on expectations mainly because of a significant drop in the number of FIVA ID cards being issued. This was likely to recover somewhat in the second part of the year in the run up to the Mille Miglia, but any such recovery was unlikely to be sufficient to offset the first half shortfall. Costs of travel were also running ahead of expectation: as far as UK travel was concerned, this had been caused by several extra meetings in recent months, while the foreign travel
was up due to the FIVA General Assembly whose costs fell into the first half of the year, thus skewing the figures somewhat. David Davies warned that he could see no way of avoiding a steady increase in European travel costs if FBHVC was to increase, and then maintain, its influence in FIVA.
Mike Young said the combination of the downturn in other income and the appointment of a new secretary meant it was necessary to review the budget. H said he would do so and report at the January meeting. He also agreed that it was time to prepare a new forward plan. MY
Geoff Smith said he had been approached by Angus Forsyth, the managing director of the UK element of American insurance brokerage, Hegarty, who had wanted to know how Hegarty could help FBHVC. It had been arranged for the chairman and Geoff to meet Angus early in December, and Geoff wondered what help should be requested. Two suggestions were made: sponsorship of the report covering the further research being undertaken and providing insurance cover at modest cost for young drivers of historic cars for Drive It Day. It was agreed that the secretary should advise Willis of this latter suggestion to avoid risk of spoiling the relationship with Willis by arranging a service from another insurance broker without giving them the opportunity to match it. JW; GS & CHC
C. Heritage Eri Heilijgers reported on recent meetings with English Heritage, explaining how the aim was to improve FBHVC’s general heritage credentials to increase political influence. The Transport Trust had been identified as an influential body covering all elements of transport heritage and a meeting with the chairman of the Transport Trust would be taking place shortly with a view to FBHVC and the Trust working more closely together in areas of common interest.
D. Communications Henry Lawson said he had asked Rosy Pugh to continue to edit the Newsletter, and was planning to have a discussion with Rosy and the secretary after the main meeting with a view to seeing how FBHVC’s communications could be developed and improved. He said he was keen to see better use made of electronic methods for occasional news bulletins. The chairman commented that a simple summary of newsletter contents available electronically would make it easier for clubs to carry an outline of FBHVC activity.
E. International Relations Andrew Burt reported success at the recent FIVA General Assembly: FBHVC now had two board members in Tony Davies (director for trade and skills) and himself as senior vice-president with responsibility for operations. FBHVC was also well represented in the various commissions with Alan Putt serving on technical; Colin Francis on events; Eri Heilijgers on heritage and David Davies, Eri Heilijgers and himself, on the legislation working group while David Hurley remained the primary UK contact for the wider legislation national group.
There was general discussion about the need for succession planning to ensure there were people developing credibility within the organisation to ready to replace those retiring in due course. It was noted that the chairmanship of the heritage commission would be due for election at the 2008 General Assembly, and that there was an opportunity to revive the virtually moribund utilitarian commission.
David Davies remarked that he would be happy to back out of the legislation working group. He wondered, however, if he should maintain his position as one of three accredited stewards for FIVA motorcycle events. To do so, he would have to attend a stewards’ seminar in Barcelona in January. It was agreed he should attend.
Andrew Burt reported on contract negotiations for a US representative, on applications for trade mark registration and work on reviewing internal regulations. He also said that the role of the General Secretary was currently being re-defined prior to seeking a replacement for the late Richard Sanders.
Geoff Smith commented that he had been encouraged by recent progress, but still felt the need for FBHVC to be prepared in case the future directions of FBHVC and FIVA were to diverge. He said he had prepared a discussion paper about a year ago to consider what FBHVC’s strategy might be in the event that it could no longer rely on FIVA to provide a satisfactory lobbying and monitoring. He felt this was just as important now as it had been then and asked that it should be included on the agenda for the next meeting. This was agreed. JW
F. Events In the absence of Colin Francis, there was no discussion under this heading.
G. Trade Relations Tony Davies handed round a sheet of paper outlining his draft strategy for improving communications and relationships with traders and invited all present to give him comments by the end of the month. He explained that his current thinking was to work on a regional basis by appointing local coordinators to help identify traders operating in their patch. FBHVC would need a definable benefits package if it was to encourage a translation of moral support (which could largely be assumed) into subscription. He had been heartened by recent policy announcements that suggested government might put some funding into skills training and had been pleased to learn that APPHVG member, Kelvin Hopkins, was involved with this initiative: there was obviously scope for further discussion.8. Drive It Day 2008
The secretary reported the latest position in respect of FBHVC’s application to register Drive It Day as a trade mark. It was likely the application would be “advertised for opposition” before the end of the year.
Ideas for encouraging participation in DID included providing a list of heritage venues and motor museums that would welcome visitors in old vehicles, perhaps by offering cut price admission. There needed to be a stronger message about what DID is all about, and some guidance on a suitable response to those who might criticise FBHVC for encouraging old vehicles on to the road.
9. Other matters
David Davies said he had tentatively booked FBHVC the same space as usual at the Classic Bike Show on 26/27April 2008. After brief discussion, it was agreed FBHVC should attend. It was agreed that the usual stand at Beaulieu should be booked. There were no plans to attend any other shows, although it was likely that FBHVC may have a presence at the Race Retro show by dint of lending its display equipment to Classic British Quality Charter. Henry Lawson said he had been pleased to see the FBHVC logo on so many stands at the recent classic car show at the NEC, and advocated a further supply of mounted logos for such purposes, commenting that this was probably a far more effective message than having a stand.
The secretary said that of eight clubs that had not renewed their subscription for the current year, one had been wound up and another had (so far) proved impossible to contact. The remainder had all expressed the intention of renewing.
10. Schedule of meetings 2008
A draft schedule of dates for meetings in 2008 had been circulated prior to the meeting. This had been based on repeating the 2007 schedule, but it was noted that the AGM would either have to change venue or be held week later than usual. It was agreed that the draft schedule should stand (subject to availability of venues) with the AGM taking place at the usual place on the third Saturday of October.
………….…………………………….. Chairman P H J Whyman, Secretary.
NOTE: Subsequent to the meeting, two dates on the schedule of meetings for 2008 have been changed. The meeting originally planned for Tuesday 20 May has been moved (tentatively) to Thursday 22 May due non-availability of the room and the meeting planned for Friday 5 September moves a week later due to the Beaulieu Autojumble itself being a week later than expected. The dates below reflect these changes.
Dates of future board meetings:
Sunday, 20 January - Vintage Motor Cycle Club, Burton on Trent 1100
Tuesday, 18 March - Motor Sports Association, Colnbrook 1600
Thursday, 22 May - Vintage Sports Car Club, Chipping Norton, 1800 [Subject to confirmation on 20 January]
Tuesday, 27 July - Motor Sports Association, Colnbrook 1600
Friday, 12 September - National Motor Museum, Beaulieu 1600
[Saturday, 18 October - AGM - RREC Paulerspury]
Sunday, 16 November - The George, Dorchester on Thames, 1100
Sunday, 18 January 2008
Tuesday 17 March 2008