MINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETING 27/11/2010

THE COUNCIL OF - MINUTES OF AN ORDINARY MEETING OF COUNCIL held on Saturday 27th November, 2010 at the Royal Over-seas League, Over-seas House, Park Place, St. James’s Street, London SW1A 1LR at 1.30 pm.

PRESENT AND APOLOGIES EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Mrs D.M. Ellis CBE, Chairman Present G. Harris, Deputy Chairman Present Mrs A. Phelps, Deputy Chairman Present R.M. Paterson, Hon. Treasurer Present

APPOINTED MEMBERS R. Phelps, CUCBC (Div 8) Present M. Blandford-Baker, COUR (Div 10) Present D. Saoul, Present M.D. Williams, Present C. George, (Substitute – Christiana Sykes) Apologies

ELECTED MEMBERS B. Millns (1) Northern Apologies T. Edwards (2) Yorkshire Apologies S. Darnbrough (3A) Lancashire & Greater Manchester Apologies J.C. Davies (3B) Cheshire, Merseyside & N.Staffs Present P. Fenoulhet (4) East Midlands Present C. Anton (5) West Midlands Present S. Brown (7) West Anglia Present A. Johnson (9) East Anglia Present A. Weekes (11) Upper Thames Present P. Moore (12) Reading Present A.J. Evans (13) Middle Thames Present A. Crawford (14) Staines & Molesey Apologies R. West (15) Kingston & Twickenham Present J. Davey (16) Chiswick & Mortlake Not present Mrs S Cassidy (17) University of London Apologies Dr N. Jackson (18) Barnes & Hammersmith Present J. Howell (19) Putney Not present M. Stallard (20) South Anglia Apologies J. Clayton (21A) Lower Thames & Medway (& Chairman SERRC) Present R. Noakes (21B) Kent & Sussex Coast Apologies M.E. Green (22) Hampshire & Dorset Present Mrs P Sondheimer WAGS Present Ms V. J. Perry (24) Devon & Cornwall Present C. Jenkins WARA (+1 representative) Apologies M. Morrice (+2 representatives) Apologies

MEMBERS APPOINTED BY COUNCIL Miss K. O’Sullivan Chairman National Coaching Committee Present F. Dennis Chairman British Rowing Championships Apologies P. Ibbotson Chairman National Competition Committee Present C. Killick Chairman Water Safety Sub Committee Present R. Mallett Chairman National Development Committee Present

MEMBERS CO-OPTED BY COUNCIL Miss A. Faiers Present B. Hawden Present W.C. Thomson Apologies J. Turnbull Present Mrs F. Dennis Apologies

NON-VOTING MEMBERS Hon. Life Vice-Presidents - C.G.V. Davidge OBE Apologies J.A. Veats Apologies M. Brandon-Bravo OBE Apologies

BRITISH ROWING STAFF J.R. Allsop Financial Controller Present Mrs R.E. Napp National Manager Present D.W. Tanner CBE International Manager Present Mrs P. Randolph Minute Secretary Present Miss W. Kewley Rowing & Regatta Apologies

REGIONAL CHAIRMEN C. Eales Wessex Present M. Humphrys Thames Region Present J. Purkess Hants & Dorset

ALSO ATTENDED Ms F. Rennie BUCS P. Simpson Div 19 (Divisional Representative Elect)

1. CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS

Mrs Ellis welcomed Miss Christiana Sykes, substitute for Thames Rowing Club , Mr Peter Simpson (Division 19), and Mr Martin Humphrys, Chairman Thames Regional Rowing Council, to the meeting.

Council remembered in silence members of the rowing community who had recently died, Andy Holmes MBE, Olympic Gold medallist in 1984 and 1988, Dr Mike Budd of Ross Rowing Club, Alan Hawes of Thames and Vesta Rowing Clubs, John Davis of Thames and Bewl Bridge Rowing Clubs, Katrina Jacks, GB J16 Junior and WARA Commonwealth Regatta team, and Karen Hough of .

Mrs Ellis opened the meeting by congratulating all our athletes and their support staff for their incredible results at the World Rowing Championships in Lake Karapiro, New Zealand. All agreed that this was an outstanding performance and joined with the Chairman in asking the International Manager to relay their congratulations to the rowers and support staff.

There had been further successes for GB Rowers; Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins had won the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Team Award and Edward Nainby-Luxmoore had been named overall winner of the OCS Young Sports Person Awards 2010, winning a prize of £10,000 to support his rowing over three years. David Hosking, ex-international sculler, would be making another record-breaking attempt to cross the Atlantic with his team in December. British Rowing would follow his progress on the website.

Chris Anton (Div 5) would be appearing on Mastermind on Friday 3rd December, his specialist subject was Henley Royal Regatta.

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Noted and recorded as above. The Chairman advised members that M. Brandon-Bravo and his wife were enjoying improved health and Council joined her in wishing them both well.

3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Non pecuniary Mrs. D. M. Ellis : CCPR Director; BOA Board Mrs A. Phelps : BPA Trustee Pecuniary S. Brown : UKCC Tutor and Assessor M. Green: UKCC Tutor and Assessor

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G. Harris : UKCC Tutor, Assessor and Verifier K. O’Sullivan : UKCC Tutor and Assessor

4. MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on Saturday 25th September, 2010, subject to the following amendments, were agreed to be an accurate record and signed.

Attendance: Add P. Clements. Financial Matters 8c Subscription Proposals: For clarification under Club payments it was noted that the charges proposed for 2011 were; Minimum payment of £76 for up to 10 members, £5.60 for each additional member. 8c: Second paragraph. Delete ‘T. Edwards queried the £10 increase for event subscriptions’, replace with: T. Evans queried the 25% increase in club subscription.

5. MATTERS ARISING a) Selection Appeals Procedure/Selection Policy (5b): Following consultation a meeting was being arranged to pull together comments and make the final amendments to the policy and the appeals procedure. These would be circulated to Council before the February meeting. It was noted that the majority of the changes were to the appeals procedure rather than the policy. Action: DME b) Event Bids (6a): British Rowing was keen to register its interest in a bid for the 2015 World Championships. If 2015 could not be achieved we would look at 2017. British Rowing had also registered its interest in bidding for 2014, 2016 and 2018 World Cup Regattas at Dorney Lake. FISA’s new sponsor, Samsung, might wish to see a global World Cup in March/April which could be held in Australia. c) Junior Sculling (7c): Council was given time to read a paper from M. Martin, tabled as a response to questions raised at September’s meeting about ongoing concerns around the standard of junior sculling. C. Anton asked if the suggestion made to Henley Royal Regatta that the Fawley rules be changed to admit entries only from single clubs or schools would be debated by Henley Stewards at their forthcoming management meeting. M.D. Williams said he was not sure where the proposal had originated from but that it had come to the attention of the Stewards’ Management Committee and was an item for discussion on 8th December. Council members said that a recommendation should not be made to the Stewards by the Junior Rowing Commission as this implied it came with the approval of Council. Divisional Representatives were unable to put forward an informed view as they had not had the opportunity to seek the views of their constituent clubs, although the general feeling was that clubs would be opposed to such an alteration of the Fawley rules. D.W. Tanner said he understood that the Chief Coach Juniors believed that composite crews encouraged club hopping and this worked against clubs investing in the development of their own programmes and crews. B. Hawden said that in his region rowers aligned themselves to coaches rather than to clubs. Council however did not have jurisdiction over Henley Royal Regatta and its rules of competition and this proposal did not address the question of improvement in standards of sculling. The debate should not centre around Henley Royal Regatta as there were a number of other events that could seek to influence standards. There was consensus that the Henley Stewards should be asked to refrain from making any decision based on this paper. Mrs Ellis said that she had informed the Chairman of Henley Royal Regatta that this was an individual opinion and not the view of Council and she agreed to make their views on the matter known to him. Action: DME Chief Executive Officer: See discussion under Item 10.5.

6. FISA The challenging conditions facing athletes at the World Championships had given rise to discussion about the effectiveness of the Fairness Commission. This would be continued. The International Manager had also asked FISA to reconsider the decision to hold the Junior and U23 Championship finals over two days. The Chairmen of the Junior and Events Commissions would take this forward. Mrs Ellis said that Ann-Louise Morgan had been present at the FISA Congress and would take up the issue of ear-pieces with LOCOG. FISA and LOCOG would meet in January 2011 when a number of issues such as big screens would be discussed in greater detail. British Rowing was trying to obtain two screens but there were a limited number available. With regard to membership of FISA Commissions names were put forward with the approval of Council. 3

7. INTERNATIONAL REPORT Council received the Report of the International Manager. D.W. Tanner thanked Council members for their congratulations and said he would pass them on to the rowers and support staff. Arising from the report; Fairness Commission: The International Manager said that the Commission had been heavily criticised for its decision to allow racing to go ahead on both the first day and the Friday of the World Championships. However, despite his strong concern that neither the M4- or the WLwt2x had received a fair crack of the whip, it had been an excellent Championships. M.D. Williams said the current structure of the Commission should be reviewed. This was an item on the FISA Agenda for January and there would be further discussion in March. Adaptive Rowing: There were concerns about the FISA rules on strapping which had affected one of our athletes and had been extremely upsetting for the rower, her coach and other members of the team. The Adaptive Commission had been asked to look into this. D.W. Tanner said that the athletes and support staff had expressed concerns with the overall standard of officials. He felt that on the whole there was now less contact with the competitors and the team managers and that communications could be improved. The Chairman invited questions on the Report: European Championships 2011: The team’s development boats had attended this event in the past. As these crews included young athletes the timing was a difficulty and a decision about attendance would be made nearer the time. If FISA altered the summer schedule to hold a global World Cup in May it was possible that the European Championships could be held earlier in the season. FISA Standards: D.W. Tanner thought that any representation to FISA about standards should be done through the Chairman on behalf of the Federation. He offered to write a short paper outlining his concerns and those of the coaches and athletes for Mrs Ellis. The Chairman thanked the International Manager and said that it would also be politic to seek support of other Federations. Action: DWT/DME Strategy Documents: The International Manager said he would look at the consistency of wording and terminology throughout the documents. Action: DWT GB Rowing Team Dinner: The dinner would be held at the RFU Stadium in Twickenham on Saturday 29th January. All Council members were welcome to attend and were asked to email [email protected] to request an invitation if they would like to come. The cost was £58 per head.

8. FINANCIAL MATTERS a) National Management Accounts: The Treasurer gave some brief background to the accounts for the six month period ending 30 th September 2010. Subscriptions remained healthy as did the magazine and coaching scheme figures although these were susceptible to timing issues. Some savings had been made on administration and insurance and at this stage the account reflected a less than budgeted deficit. The funded programmes itemised at 8b were ring-fenced and had no impact on the overall picture.

b) International Management Accounts: Council received the International cash flow for the period April to September 2010 and was reminded that these accounts followed a different pattern because of the way that grant funding was allocated. The VAT recovery had been greater than budgeted.

Council questioned the costs of the Home Countries and Commonwealth Regatta events. The Treasurer said that there had been an accident with the trailer returning from the Home Countries. The claim had been paid out but not yet recovered from the insurance company. The costs and administration of these events would be reviewed. Council approved the Management Accounts.

9. NATIONAL REPORT Council received the report of the National Manager. Whole Sport Plan: Since writing the report Mrs Napp had met with Sport England and all interventions were on amber or green. Amber reflected the late start to the programme and was a timing issue. British Rowing had also just completed its governance assurance audit which had

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achieved the green traffic light. The Chairman said that she had a copy of the report if members would like to read that. The Active People Survey: Sport England had rationalised the survey questions on indoor and outdoor rowing and this had raised rowing in the overall sport participation figures. Comprehensive Spending Review: Revenue funding for sport, in the run up to London 2012, had been reasonably well protected. The Legacy of the sport with increased participation at grassroots level was very important to future funding. There was to be a 15% reduction in revenue funding across all sports in the next round of funding (2013/2017) although the percentage cut for each sport will not be the same. However, capital spending, which affected both Facilities and Explore Rowing boats had received an unexpected cut of 40% from April 2011, which has resulted in a loss of £480,000 in our planned expenditure for Years 3 and 4 of the WSP. It is not yet clear how this 40% cut will be managed by Sport England and we have supplied some additional information demonstrating the value and effectiveness of previous capital funding.

It is possible that there may be some capital funding available through one element of the new government programme ‘Places People Play’ which would focus on providing facilities funding for 1000 community clubs. The clubs who achieved the funding would be able to use the 2012 Inspire Mark. Explore rowing: An Events Activity Co-ordinator had been appointed on a one-year contract to support the Explore Rowing programme and establish new activities and events with the participating clubs. Coaching Stream: As a follow up to the members’ new email newsletter, a coaching newsletter would be launched in the new year. This would be followed by ‘Club Stream’ which would tie in with a club management system currently in development stages. Membership Benefits: Further to the 15% discount recently negotiated for members with Cotswold Outdoor, we would be launching a membership discount offered by the Intercontinental Hotel Group in December. A discount of 30% on rooms would be available (with limited availability) for members and a 10% discount for Council members and staff that would apply to any bookings. British Rowing Almanack Index: Keith Osborne had not been idle in his retirement and has compiled an Index of the Almanacks from 1861 – 2010. This was a very handy reference and cost £10. Fiona Rennie of BUCS referred to the other two elements of the Places People Play scheme previously referred to that aimed to increase the number of volunteers in sport (People) and to develop new participation through schemes like the “Gold’ challenge (Play) and she believed that there would be some good opportunities for rowing to benefit from those. Environment Agency Boat Licences: Mrs Napp was asked to send the advice about day licences to Event organisers. Action: REN

10. REPORTS OF THE COMMITTEES 10.1 National Development Committee Council had received the Report of the Committee. R. Mallett said he would like to record the thanks of the Committee to R. West and R.E. Napp for their work on the Environment Agency Boat Licensing scheme. Recreational Rowing Tour: J. Turnbull confirmed that a tour in Cornwall was in the planning stage. Port and Starboard: It seemed that this rule caused confusion for both rowers and race officials. The Chairman asked for this to be looked at by the Coaching and Competition Committees. Action: KOS, PI Umpires Age Rule: There was discussion about the Recommendation. C. Anton said in this day and age competence and not age should be the deciding factor. R. West said that the age limit had just been extended from 65 to 70 and he would rather see more active recruitment of younger umpires. M. Blandford-Baker said that the National Umpires Commission would need to give careful consideration to how competency would be judged. P. Ibbotson said that this year out of 450 umpires, three had reached the age of retirement and he did not believe that keeping people on beyond 70 would solve the problem of a shortage of umpires. British Waterways: R. West had not discussed boating licences with British Waterways. Council asked him to talk to British Waterways to see if there was any change there. Action: RW D 13 - Recommendations:

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That the National Competition Committee/National Umpires Commission review the age restriction for Umpires with a view to the removal of this rule, and that Umpires licence renewal should be assessed on competence and not decided on age. Action: PI

10.2 National Coaching Committee The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Saturday 11th December. Nil Report. 10.2.1: The Report of the Junior Rowing Commission was received and noted.

10.3 National Competition Committee Council had received the report and attachments. Arising from the report: Lightweight Racing for Juniors: There were no Lightweight events specifically for Juniors. Unfortunately timing issues in the consultation process meant the proposal for a rule banning juniors from taking part in senior Lightweight events had been deferred until next year. However, P. Ibbotson said that he would be asking events to take note of the advice from the Medical Sub-Committee and the Child Protection Group and consider imposing local rules. C. Anton said that any coach who asked a junior to fast was guilty of abusing the athletes in their charge. He asked if the Coaching Committee could highlight this for coaches. Mrs Phelps said that it was implicit in the Codes of Conduct relating to Safeguarding & Protecting Children. D.W. Tanner said that the GB Lightweight coaches were very thorough and did assess potential lightweight rowers very carefully before they were taken on. He believed strongly that there should not be junior rowers in any lightweight categories. Regatta Calendar: J.C. Davies agreed to pursue a local issue with P. Ibbotson outside the meeting. It was noted that there were still one or two dates to be amended. Rules of Racing: There was discussion about item 11 of the proposed new rules, ‘Large Entries’. P. Ibbotson said that the recommendation of the Review Status Group was that events with nine entries should award two points for a win. S. Brown said Peterborough Regatta felt this would be a detrimental step. A.J. Evans said that Regattas could decide to split events up. Item 11 was put to a vote and supported unanimously (1 vote recorded against). Primary Regattas: C. Anton wished to record thanks to the National Competition Committee for their efforts in finding a definition of Primary Regatta that would work, hopefully. D Recommendations: 11. That the amendments to the Rules of Racing attached as Appendix A be approved to come into effect on 1st April 2011. Approved. 12. That the Guidelines for setting event dates attached as Appendix B be accepted. Approved. 13. That the Racing Calendar for 2011 be approved, subject to any amendments agreed by the National Competition Committee. Approved.

10.4 British Rowing Championships Committee The Report had been circulated with the agenda and was noted. M.D. Williams asked the Committee to address the actions that should be taken to improve the quality of entry. Action: FD 10.5 Executive Committee Caversham Update: D.W. Tanner thanked A. Crawford for his good work in moving the issue of rate liability forward. An update on progress had been tabled for information. Review Groups: The Chairmen of the groups would present papers to the February Council meeting. Mrs Ellis thanked the Chairmen for their hard work. Action: M.B-B, AP, PI Vulnerable Adult Policy: Although the policy was not due for review until 2011, a number of revisions were necessary to incorporate recent legislative changes and these were outlined in a paper presented by Mrs Phelps. In addition three new Welfare Guidance Documents had been introduced to relate British Rowing’s good practice procedures more specifically to Vulnerable Adults. Approved. Child Protection Group: The CPG Report was noted by Council. The Myths and Evidence paper by Celia Brackenridge was included with the report and gave some interesting case studies of the sorts of allegations made in sport. This was a document that related to young people but there were parallels with Vulnerable Adults. Appointment of Chief Executive: A recommendation made by the Executive Officers had been circulated with the Report. The Chairman said an appointment such as this could not be considered in isolation; the future role of the Chairman and the timing of the new appointment would be a matter for consideration and she was grateful to M. Blandford-Baker for his work in consulting with members of commissions and committees on a future volunteer structure.

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The Executive Officers considered that the appointment of a CEO should be scheduled for January/April 2012 and that to appoint earlier would not be prudent use of the sport’s funding. These were uncertain times for organisations reliant on funding. The Chairman cited as examples the recent news that the Henley Stewards’ Charitable Trust would have to reduce funding for the HSCT programme by 25% and the impact of Exchequer cuts on the Explore Rowing programme. There was discussion about the timing. In answer to concerns that a four month induction ahead of the Olympic Regatta was not sufficient, Mrs Ellis said that in her view any CEO worth their salt should be able to hit the ground running and that British Rowing deserved such a person to take it foward. Headhunters had been lined up and she believed that they would be able to put forward suitable candidates within the time frame. With regard to the volunteer structure under review by M. Blandford-Baker’s group, it was anticipated that any revisions to the structure would be in place before the appointment was made and the CEO would look at the rest of the structure. A draft job description had been circulated earlier, further work would be done on this and would be presented to the June Council meeting. N. Jackson said that while he agreed the organisation should be prudent he would wish to see the timing allow for initial failure in appointing. The Chairman said that failure was an alien concept in rowing. There would still be a period of overlap in the proposed time-scale which would allow the CEO to shadow Mrs Ellis until her retirement in 2013. M.D. Williams said the Finance Committee would not wish to speculate on how the budget would be drawn up for 2012/2013, as a number of other factors would have to be taken into account. In the more immediate future three months funding for the position would be set aside in the 2011/12 budget. P. Sondheimer asked if Council could be told again what the amount was that it was prudent to keep in reserve. Action: RP The proposal was put to a vote and unanimously approved by Council.

10.6 Water Safety Sub-Committee Membership: New RWSA appointments were Karen Means (West Midlands), Des Cook (East Midlands). Justin Smallwood had indicated that he would now continue as RWSA for the West Region. Bow Balls: There was no evidence that boats with vertical bows presented a greater risk than others in a collision. All boats were required to conform to Rules of Racing 2-3-8b and provide proper protection. Heel Restraints: The advice about modifications to manufacturers’ designs had been circulated as an update to Row Safe, in the new format ‘Row Safe Plus’. Incident Reporting: The majority of the development work had been done and the IT team were currently working on implementation of the new online system. C. Killick urged members to ensure incidents were reported by clubs as this was an important learning tool and helped the sport to improve safety wherever possible. Events in particular often failed to record incidents and these only came to light through club reports. In response to a request from C. Anton, the HWSA said an advice sheet would be available giving guidance on reporting a capsize. Action: CK Launch Discussion Paper: There had been no response to this consultation from Council. It was not too late to comment and C. Killick would welcome any feedback. The main focus next year would be on training. A recent incident would be written up as a case study t0 highlight the unsuitability of tin fish launches in a rescue situation. There were also questions to be answered about the training of launch rescue crews hired in for events. Being proficient in First Aid did not mean that an individual knew how to pull an uncooperative person from the water. The Water Safety Sub-Committee would be following this up and would publish their findings.

10.7 Medical Sub-Committee Pre-Event Medicals: N. Jackson referred to para 5 of the report and the recommendation that pulling people from the water should be practised before racing. C. Killick said he had not had the opportunity to discuss this with the Sub-Committee but took the point that this would not be achievable for many events. K. O’Sullivan said that junior volunteers at her club were able to demonstrate they could pull people much larger than themselves from the water. Briefing volunteers before the event on how to do this would be achievable and this would be followed up. C. Killick said we needed to be very clear what our requirements were from safety launches and he would also talk to Umpires and Marshalls. Action: CK Anti-Doping and Caffeine: D. Saoul asked if there was specific guidance on methylhexaneamine (MHA). Athletes in other sports had recently tested positive for this drug resulting in bans. D.W. 7

Tanner said that British Rowing’s Policy on the use of supplements gave very clear guidance to athletes that they should only take supplements on advice. Medical Cover at Events: Guidance had been drawn together by Dr Free in response to a request from Council. Without wishing to be too prescriptive, she had addressed the key issues that arise at events and the sort of questions that event organisers might want to consider or should be asking. C. Killick said that the planning guidance could be added to the risk analysis procedure for events. Action: CK

10.8 National Olympic Committee The report was noted.

10.9 British Paralympic Association The report was noted.

10.10 Commonwealth Games Council for England. Nil Report.

11. RESULTS OF DIVISIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ELECTIONS The result of the elections for the Divisional Representatives whose term of office finishes on 31st December, 2010 was as follows:

Div 2 Yorkshire Terry Edwards Div 9 East Anglia Andrew Johnson Div 13 Middle Thames Tony Evans Div 14 Staines & Molesey Andrew Crawford Div 15 Kingston & Twickenham Richard West Div 16 Chiswick & Mortlake to be confirmed Div 19 Putney Peter Simpson

12. TO NOTE THE MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 25th September, 2010 had been circulated prior to the meeting and were noted. Two amendments to be made to the attendance list.

14. AFFILIATIONS AND RESIGNATIONS Murray Edwards College Boat Club, Cambridge was in Division 8 and not Division 10 as recorded in the Executive Report.

15. CORRESPONDENCE There was none.

16. ANY OTHER BUSINESS There was none.

17. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting of Council takes place on Saturday 12th February, 2011, at the Royal Overseas League, Park Place, St James’s Street, London WC1A 1LR at 1.30 pm.

The meeting ended at 4.35 pm

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