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SUNDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2006

Present:
Andrew Burt (chairman) Tony Beadle Jacqueline Bickerstaff
David Davies Colin Francis Sandy Hamilton
David Hurley Henry Lawson Peter Mead
Rosy Pugh Mike Young

In attendance
Ian Edmunds (CBQC) Geoff Smith (vice president) Jim Whyman (secretary & treasurer)

[Due to road delays caused by an accident on the M25, Andrew Burt was absent for the opening stages of the meeting which took place with Geoff Smith in the chair.]

The meeting welcomed Henry Lawson as the recently elected representative for pre-1919 vehicles.

1. Apologies for absence

Lord Montagu; John Billard; Julian Ghosh; Tim Holt.

2. Approval of minutes of meeting of 8 September 2006

The minutes of the meeting of 8 September were approved and signed by the chairman on his arrival.

3. Matters arising from meeting of 8 September and from AGM

Matters arising from the previous committee meeting were covered on the agenda.
The secretary confirmed that the review of the Public Liability Insurance scheme mentioned at the AGM had taken place, and Willis had subsequently confirmed that they had persuaded underwriters to adjust the exclusion clause in the optional Product Liability section so that it would now only exclude the manufacture of safety critical components, but allow the sale of such parts.

4. Implementation of Vision 2005-10 and associated topics

Due to pressure of other business during the year, it had not been possible for the committee to review progress against the plan since the beginning of the year. Reports were made as follows:-

A. Review Articles of Association and Constitution
The secretary said the draft of new articles of association that had been approved at the Beaulieu committee meeting was currently with a solicitor for checking both for internal integrity and for compliance with the law. He said he was expecting a report at any time and was confident that it would be possible to publish the draft for consultation in February, as planned. JW

B. Draft job description for secretary; plan appointment of new secretary & subsequent handover
Mike Young apologised for not taking the steps to link the secretary’s job description, the recommendation of the planning group and the budget into a single paper for consideration by the committee. It was noted that a description of how the present secretary operates had been prepared earlier in the year, and it was agreed that this should be circulated to all. JW

It was understood that four people had expressed tentative interest in the position. The secretary re-iterated his comment to the planning group that although he had given notice of a wish to stand down in autumn 2008, he would be happy to leave earlier if that would be helpful.
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4. Implementation of Vision 2005-10 and associated topics (contd)

B. Draft job description for secretary; plan appointment of new secretary & subsequent handover (contd)
It was agreed that there should be a meeting of the planning group to produce the paper suggested at Beaulieu and to recommend a timetable for a proper orderly hand over period. It was also agreed that the chairman should speak to the four tentative applicants to assess their degree of interest. An announcement should be made in the next newsletter to enable others to put themselves forward. AB; JG; MY; JBld; JW

C. Exploit heritage links
Geoff Smith commented that efforts were being made through the All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group to establish links with the culture and heritage departments, but progress was slow and no meeting had yet been fixed. The matter would be raised again at the next APPHVG meeting. GS

The secretary said he had taken two steps towards improving heritage links - first, he had discovered that the tenth World Forum for Motor Museums was to take place at the Haynes International Motor Museum in September 2007 and he had suggested that FBHVC should be invited to put up a speaker to promote the importance of links between museums and enthusiasts groups. This had been welcomed with open arms: it would now be up to FBHVC to decide who should prepare and give the presentation. All to consider

The other action that had been taken was to seek involvement with the Motoring Collections Network, an embryonic organisation being led by the National Motor Museum and the Heritage Motor Centre with a view to improving links between collections, sharing information and avoiding duplication. Since several clubs had very significant collections of archive and library material, it was important they should be represented and the secretary said he would be attending a meeting shortly with a view to ensuring this happened for the mutual benefit of all concerned. JW

D. Legislation; E. Fuels; F. DVLA
The actions under these headings had either all taken place or were continuing.

G. FIVA
The chairman said that, despite sufficient pledges of support, the recent General Assembly had elected Peeter Henning to the position of director with responsibility for communications in place of David Davies. This had left FBHVC with only one board member, himself. Concerned that this left him somewhat exposed, and FBHVC under represented given that it is by far the largest body within FIVA, the chairman said he, David Davies and Geoff Smith had met earlier in the month to review the position and make recommendations for future action.

He handed round papers showing the various FIVA commissions and listing those involved. Colin Francis was serving on the Events Commission; David Davies had joined the Technical Commission as representative of motorcycle interests and Alan Putt was already attending Technical Commission meetings in his capacity as controller for FIVA ID card in UK. Andrew was director responsible for Finance and Planning and also served on the Legislation Commission. The aim was to ensure that FBHVC retained at least this current level of representation, and to re-establish a position where there were at least two FBHVC members on the board.

It was proposed to achieve this by targeting specific board positions as they fell vacant with candidates who could show skill and expertise in those fields, and the obvious first targets were heritage and trade matters: if FBHVC could field candidates for those positions with a proven track record, the tables could be turned.

Earlier in the year, a similar discussion had taken place that had led to the publication of a note seeking helpers for international representation: this had produced several volunteers, two of whom had stood out due to their experience in international affairs. The chairman said he wanted to establish a sub-committee comprising all those serving on FIVA commissions to deal with the relationship with FIVA in advance of the new constitution. This was agreed and it was also agreed that the chairman should speak to both the volunteers to see if their expertise would fit what was required and to find out if they would be willing at least to join the FBHVC sub-committee in the first instance. AB

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4. Implementation of Vision 2005-10 and associated topics (contd)

H. Review website design and content; review general media contact; review newsletter format & policy
The secretary said the website had undergone a revision in the summer, and was kept up to date effectively by Steve Day. A commercial search facility had been included and was proving effective. Henry Lawson asked what the website was intended to achieve: there had been no formal statement, but the aim was to have a web presence that provided both subscribers and the public with information about FBHVC.

The difficulty was keeping the site refreshed, especially when there was nothing of substance new to report. Efforts to encourage external contribution for events and photographs had been of limited success, and so far virtually all the text content had been originated by the secretary who commented that it would be a great help if committee members were occasionally to produce some material. A project to create a search facility to help the public find clubs suited to their needs was being undertaken by Paul Frost’s team at Motorbase at no cost to FBHVC and this was expected to be launched before the end of the year.
David Davies commented that now he no longer had responsibility for FIVA’s website, he would be happy to assist with the FBHVC site. This was welcomed.

The secretary suggested that the next development of the website should be to use the site to replace paper distribution of minutes etc., but this needed further thought, and there was concern that whilst envelopes were generally opened on a daily basis, not everyone checked their e-mail as regularly. There was, however, agreement that FBHVC should move to electronic distribution of committee paperwork for 2007. JW

Classic and Sports Car and Classics Monthly were now both receiving monthly contributions from FBHVC, and most of the classic vehicle press had learned that FBHVC was a useful point of contact for a balanced view of topical stories. Sandy Hamilton said that he had been approached by the new editor of Classic Car Mart who was also keen to include FBHVC material, and who had been disappointed to find that others had the same idea. Sandy agreed to provide material with a DVLA flavour. SH

David Hurley was concerned at the tendency of some journalists to make unwarranted and ignorant attacks on government departments and agencies that could prejudice future negotiations. He felt it important that FBHVC should seek to curb such excesses. The meeting, however, considered it was not FBHVC’s position to interfere with journalistic practice and the main thrust of our links with the press should be to make the press aware of FBHVC’s existence and to show what is being done.

The review of the Newsletter format and policy had taken place and had clearly been effective. If initial indications were to be sustained, the net cost of the newsletter would actually reduce due to increased revenue from advertisers.

J. Improve means of recruitment; encourage and educate youngsters
It was recognised that there was relatively little scope for significant further recruitment of clubs of any magnitude, but the insurance scheme had proved a valuable encouragement for smaller organisations to join. The most important area was the trade: the recent survey report had encouraged some traders into membership. There was the possibility that Willis might put on a scheme for traders serving the historic vehicle movement: if it happened, it could be a valuable recruiting tool.

The international survey report, in particular, had highlighted the need for closer liaison between clubs and traders. The new FBHVC constitution included provision to have a member of the board to be responsible for improving relations with the trade, and chairman said he proposed to appoint someone early in 2007 to take on that role with a view to encouraging more traders to give their support to FBHVC and also to stand as a candidate for a FIVA trade liaison officer in the fullness of time [see G, above]. He asked anyone who might be interested in this position to let him know in good time prior to the next meeting. All

There was some discussion on how best to instil an interest in older vehicles in youngsters. Henry Lawson made the point that the internet is the single most effective means of reaching the youth of today that spends more time “on-line” than they do watching television. Henry agreed to consider what might be done and to report back at the next meeting with some thoughts for future action. HL

K. Plan responsibilities and succession; cater for contingencies
Essential contingency plan had been put in place, but given that the constitution was likely to change in the next year, it was agreed that detail succession planning should wait until after the 2007 AGM.
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5. Drive It Day

It was agreed that it was not feasible to plan a re-run of any parts of the 1000 mile trial in time for the 2007 DID which was to take place on 22 April.

It was suggested that those participating might be encouraged to give rides to youngsters [secretary’s note: there are child protection considerations to be taken into account before FBHVC can make this suggestion public]. JW

The FBHVC website would have a page dedicated to events planned for DID before the end of the year. The idea was to encourage enthusiasts to get out on the road that day, and all effort should be directed at publicising this aim. All

6. Legislation

David Hurley said there had been two new consultations since the legislation committee meeting earlier in the month: first VOSA was consulting on proposals to increase the fees for tests undertaken at VOSA testing stations by 5%, part of the increase being justified by the extra work required to cross check vehicle identity and registration records. There was an implication within the consultation that vehicles would need both VIN and registration, and FBHVC’s response would point out the need to be able to test recent imports or restorations that had lost their original registrations on the basis of just the VIN in order for them to obtain an age related registration number. DH

The other consultation was a further offering from Transport for London in respect of the proposed Low Emission Zone. The analysis of responses to the earlier consultation ran to 600 pages, and David said he had noted that some responses had been mis-quoted. The new consultation was a follow up and mentioned proposals to extend the scheme to cars. The meeting agreed with David’s view that it was essential that the scheme in London should be as fair to old vehicle users as possible, including a need for the threshold for any historic vehicle exemptions, to be on a rolling basis. It was almost certain that what happened in London would become the model for arrangements in other urban areas. It was agreed that a return to a rolling date for the historic vehicle taxation category would make matters simpler for all and it was agreed that this should be raised again at the next APPHVG liaison meeting. JW

Sandy Hamilton reported on a recent liaison meeting at Swansea to which Nigel Harrison, his understudy, had been invited. DVLA had realised that some drivers had lost motor cycle entitlement when renewing their licences at 70. This problem had affected a few thousand applicants and DVLA was trawling its records to put matters right. The results of the consultation on fees were still awaited, but it had been hinted that FBHVC would not be displeased. On the other hand, DVLA had confirmed that it would not be possible for owners to seek non-transferability of registration numbers. There was now a team dedicated to V765 work, which should improve consistency of approach. It was understood that inspections would be required in all cases where applications were made to transfer numbers of vehicles over 15 years old.

7. FIVA report

The secretary reported that the Guide for Users of Historic Vehicles appeared to have been well received and he was expecting circulation in UK to cover at least half of FIVA’s commitment to publish 80,000.

8. Finance including review of expense system

Management accounts made up to the end of November were handed round. These showed that despite income being marginally below expectation and some elements of expenditure being greater than anticipated, the overall result was ahead of budget.

It was noted that committee travel was substantially greater than the amount budgeted. The meeting discussed the issue of committee expenses and agreed that there should be no change to the arrangements set in place earlier in the year, and, to remove doubt, it was also agreed that committee members were entitled to charge travel for attending the AGM.

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9. Schedule of meetings and events for 2007

A draft schedule of dates for meetings in 2007 had been circulated prior to the meeting. The secretary said he had understood from John Billard and Julian Ghosh that they were happy with most dates save that John would not be able to be present at a meeting on the last Sunday in November. Others had difficulty with the proposed August legislation meeting, and David Davies said the VMCC offices at Burton on Trent could be available if the January meeting was moved to the last Sunday in January. The schedule was adjusted accordingly and agreed. [NOTE: subsequent to the meeting, it became necessary to advance newsletter deadline dates from the Wednesday a fortnight prior to publication to the Monday. A revised schedule is included with these minutes.]

Space had tentatively been booked at the Classic Bike Show taking place at Stafford over the weekend of 28/29 April and it was agreed to go forward with a display under David Davies’ guidance. David commented that he wanted to give thought to revising FBHVC’s display before then. It was also agreed that FBHVC’s display should be available to CBQC for the Retro show in March. DD

10. Other matters

Geoff Smith said that the recent research report had only recorded material that could be analysed by computer: there was much more to be found from a manual analysis of the questionnaire forms that had been received. He believed that substantial new information could be found for a budget of approximately £12,000. The secretary commented that the contingency budget for the survey was underspent by some £6,000, and said FBHVC could certainly afford the amount proposed. It was agreed that Geoff should prepare a firm proposal for further research for the next meeting of the legislation team. GS

………….…………………………….. Chairman P H J Whyman, Secretary.