Minutes for approval v2 AP THE COUNCIL OF BRITISH ROWING - MINUTES OF AN ORDINARY MEETING OF COUNCIL held on Saturday 23rd February 2013, at The Watermen’s Hall, St Mary-at-Hill, London EC3R 8EF at 12 noon. PRESENT AND APOLOGIES EXECUTIVE BOARD Mrs D.M. Ellis CBE, Chairman * Officer Present G. Harris, Deputy Chairman * Officer Present Mrs A. Phelps, Deputy Chairman * Officer Present O. Kimberley, Hon. Treasurer * Officer Present M. Morrice* President, Scottish Rowing Apologies S. Osborne* Chairman, Welsh Rowing Apologies M.D. Williams* Chairman, Finance Committee Present M. Stallard* Chairman, Sport Committee Present A. Crawford* Deputy Chairman, Sport Committee Present P. Hill* Athlete Representative Apologies NON-VOTING MEMBERS Ms. K. Burt* Chief Executive Officer Present C.G.V. Davidge OBE Hon. Life Vice President Apologies Dr. C. Killick Hon. Rowing Safety Adviser Apologies J.A. Veats Hon. Life Vice President Apologies M. Brandon-Bravo OBE Hon. Life Vice President Present REGIONAL CHAIRMEN AND REPRESENTATIVES B. Hawden East Chairman Present Dr H. Hedgeland East Regional Representative Present A Johnson* East Regional Representative Present G. Nicholls East Midlands Chairman Present M. Laing North Chairman Present B. Millns North Regional Representative Apologies C. Edwards North West Chairman Present J.C. Davies North West Regional Representative Present M. Humphrys Thames Chairman Present M. Blandford-Baker* Thames Regional Representative TU-1 Present P. Knowles Thames Regional Representative TU-2 Present A.J. Evans Thames Regional Representative TU-3 Present R. West Thames Regional Representative TU-4 Present F. Ljubicic Thames Regional Representative TC-5 Present L. Dillon Thames Regional Representative TC-6 Apologies C. George Thames Regional Representative TC-7 Present M. Teale Thames Regional Representative TL-8 Present P. Clements WAGS Chairman Present C. Eales Wessex & South East Coast Chairman Present R. Mallett West Chairman Present R. Bayliss West Midlands Chairman Present C. Anton West Midlands Representative Present A. Cawood Yorkshire Chairman (Substitute – see below) Apologies BRITISH ROWING STAFF Hazel Mosienko Finance Director Present Mrs R.E. Napp National Manager Present Sir David Tanner, CBE International Manager Present Mrs P. Randolph Minute Secretary Present Miss W. Kewley Rowing & Regatta Apologies ALSO ATTENDED N. Walton Yorkshire Chairman Substitute * Denotes member of Executive Board. 1. CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS Council stood to remember in silence members of the rowing community who had died since the last meeting; Acer Nethercott, Olympic Silver medallist 2008, John Bell of Bedford RC and recipient of the Diamond Jubilee Medal, Simon Porter of London Rowing Club, Keith Green of Bridgnorth Rowing Club, Robert Bruce of Medway Towns Rowing Club, Alf Botterill of Erith Rowing Club and formerly the Lea Rowing Club. The Chairman welcomed Nick Walton attending as substitute for A. Cawood, and also the new Finance Director, Hazel Mosienko, to her first Council meeting. Mrs Ellis congratulated Sir David Tanner on his knighthood, and the coaches and athletes who had been recognised in the New Year’s Honours. With the legacy of London 2012 in mind the Chairman said it had been very pleasing to see so many medals won by young rowers at the Youth Olympic Festival in Australia. At home there was further good news as membership figures rose to 32,000, reflecting the hard work of everyone in the sport to increase participation. 2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Noted and recorded above. 3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Non pecuniary Mrs. D. M. Ellis : SRA Director; BOA Board Mrs A. Phelps : BPA Trustee Mr. M.D. Williams : FISA Treasurer Pecuniary A. Crawford : UKCC Assessor G. Nicholls : UKCC Assessor G. Harris : UKCC Tutor, Assessor and Verifier 4. MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on Saturday 24th November, 2012 were agreed to be an accurate record and signed, subject to the following amendments; Agenda Item 1: Les Evans of Furnivall Sculling Club (correction to spelling). Agenda Item 3, Declarations of Interest: A. Crawford is an Assessor and not a Tutor. Agenda Item 5, Matters Arising – para 3 Canal & River Trust (C&RT) and not River & Canal Trust (RCT) as recorded. Agenda Item 6, (Questions – para 5): correction noted as follows- It was agreed that, on behalf of Council, the Chairman should write a letter of support to the Trustees of Dorney Lake, over the matter of fibre optic cabling the droveway. 2 5. MATTERS ARISING a) Optic Cabling (6.0) The Chairman confirmed that she had written to I. Lloyd, Chairman of the Dorney Lake Services Trust, on the matter of the droveway. A. Crawford said the cabling would be left in place for the World Rowing Cup in June. b) Regional Visits (6.0) The CEO had embarked on a series of visits to the Regions. She had recently spent two days in Yorkshire with further visits planned to the East, North East and North West Regions. She said it was extremely helpful to meet clubs and Regional representatives and she looked forward to extending this programme. c) Event Budgets (9.6) The Hon. Treasurer was pleased to report that all Events had now submitted their budgets and he thanked members of Council for their input. d) Membership (10.0) Additional information about the breakdown of membership would be sought from clubs when the declaration forms are sent out. Action: REN 6. CEO REPORT a) CEO’s Report Miss Burt informed Council that her priority at this time was the forging of new partnerships and the replacement of a key funding partner for the GB Rowing Team. The establishment of an endowment fund was progressing well with a view to a launch event at the World Rowing Cup in June and also at the River & Rowing Museum during Henley Royal Regatta. i. Strategic Plan 2013 – 2017: The plan will be submitted to UK Sport by the end of February. A copy would be forwarded to the Regional Chairmen in due course. Action: KB ii. Human Resources: The Staff Handbook and contracts had been reviewed and updated. The Finance Director has been looking at financial reporting systems and the CEO continued work on a centralised plan for external communications. iii. Indoor Rowing: A number of new products and programmes were in development, to be aligned to the Competition pathway. iv. Endowment Fund: A fund operated on a charitable basis was also being researched. O. Kimberley explained that the aims of British Rowing meant the governing body could not be run as a charity. However that did not preclude specific areas, such as an Endowment Fund, applying for charitable status. b) Whole Sport Plan 2013 – 2017 Mrs Napp presented a Report to Council with an update of the current status. British Rowing was still waiting on final confirmation of the funding award before the plans could be implemented. Mrs Napp told Council that funding would be on a payment by results basis and if annual targets were not met, future funding would be cut. A number of locations had been identified as having the capability to increase participation. A map illustrated the locations of the three key strategic development areas (Birmingham, Leeds and East London) where we have a range of different stakeholders and delivery partners, where there is well-established evidence for a strong market for rowing, and where there is the potential to increase participation by 300-500 people. Another twelve areas across the Regions have been identified as having above average potential to involve a number of delivery partners, and which can produce increases in participation of 200+. Participation programmes will be delivered through a number of different supporting programmes including education & training and ‘Generating the Habit’, a skills development programme for rowers and volunteers. Club volunteers are vital to the success of the sport and the Regions will play an important part in identifying key people for the future. Specific delivery programmes aim to engage people and keep them in the sport. The England Talent Development Pathway programme, being developed on a collaborative basis with the GB rowing team, will be delivered through four talent coaches working in clubs, and by a new programme designed to support the development of the higher level of competition, leading to the newly programmed British Rowing Championships at its October date. 3 Adaptive Rowing was to be re-branded to ‘RowAbility’ to bring Rowing in line with other water sports. The CEO was involved in initiatives to expand Indoor Rowing and Sport England had indicated there could be further funding for IR programmes. This would allow British Rowing to expand the sport in areas with limited or no access to water. Mrs Napp said she would welcome input from Council for a ‘Primary Service’ – the establishment of a service level agreement for Clubs and Regions. She would be exploring what would be a reasonable level of support that our clubs could expect whilst aiming to provide an excellent on-line resource in a ‘Club Handbook. This will ensure that we are able to make best use of our staff resources, to support delivery of our WSP targets. She asked Members to let her know where they most need support and to identify their priorities. Action: Regional Chairmen and Representatives In the light of the WSP priorities there would be changes to the ways the staff operate. A number of titles were changing to bring British Rowing in line with delivery of our programmes and also to reflect the way governing bodies had to work with partners on a county basis. In addition to the core membership services team there would be three teams covering ‘Participation’, ‘Education & Training’ and ‘Insight & Product Development’. An important aim is to provide more local and affordable training for volunteers across a wide range of subjects to sustain and improve delivery of our sport.