After we had posted the Notice of the
General Meeting procedures are described under Rules 28 to 51 of our registered Rules which can viewed on our website www.impstrust.co.uk
Annual General Meetings have to be called within six months of the end of each financial year – so for our Trust that means before June 30th of each year. We additionally have to give twenty-one clear days notice of an Annual General Meeting to our members. In our case we usually give about six weeks notice. That has been questioned but we believe that the time we allocate in our planning to allow members to receive the papers and to make arrangements to stand for election, if they wish to, is right. Members who wish to be candidates in elections for the Board, or for election as Supporter Director, need time to get nominations and to provide candidates statements. The Board in it’s planning tries to take into account the Easter dates (which increases postal delivery times), televised football matches which we know from experience reduces turn-out, any likely dates for re-arranged matches and also, amongst all the postage and nomination to and fro, allow at least one home game for candidates to meet members and finalise nominations and also to do some lobbying for support.
Annual General Meetings are only for reports to be made, including audited accounts, the Trustees’ report, any relevant election results and the appointment of auditors, and are not the usual constitutional vehicle for Rule changes.
For Rule changes a Special General Meeting has to be called.
Special General Meetings are only called when there has been a request from fifty adult members or ten percent of the adult membership, whichever is the greater. An SGM must be held within twenty-eight days of the request, but coincidentally there must also be fourteen days notice of the meeting to members.
It can be seen that to be able to deal with a Rule change request from a member and have the SGM thus called and the
The Board can introduce a request for members to consider and support a Rule change on the same date as the Annual General Meeting, but this facility is recognised in the Rules as the Society Board can call an SGM as long as it gives fourteen days notice and this is straightforward without the conflicting requirements of Rule 30 making any requisition be held within twenty-eight days (which does not apply to the Board). The Trust has, in the past, called an
In order to be very clear how the Annual General Meeting will be conducted this coming year there will only be, as per the Trust Rules, discussion on matters pertaining to an
However, to also recognise the Board’s desire to answer general questions from our members, an arrangement has been made to deal with members’ general questions immediately after the
Of course, any member wishing to call a Special General Meeting is free to do so using the guidance provided by the Rules. However, if a member is considering suggesting a Rule change they are encouraged to talk to the Society Secretary at the earliest opportunity, so that any procedural concerns can be addressed.
In conclusion, the Rules are not provided by the Trust Board but belong to the membership and can be changed if a majority of members attending a Special General Meeting concur with a change.
The Trust belongs to the members and the members are the Trust!
Roy Noble
