United Kingdom: ME Association governance issues

bobbler said:
Does this mean that the following are not being included:

- the motion that was put forward regarding trustees and length of time

- the issue regarding the article by Neil Riley

?

Or do those items get covered in any other business without any heads up to anyone about eg the motion or the Neil Riley article?
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Nothing to see here, basically is how I take it all.

ETA; A closed shop.
 
bobbler said:
Does this mean that the following are not being included:

- the motion that was put forward regarding trustees and length of time

- the issue regarding the article by Neil Riley

?

Or do those items get covered in any other business without any heads up to anyone about eg the motion or the Neil Riley article?
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Motion might be included under AOB - but I have no confirmation of this.
 
Sasha said:
Thanks, Kitty. My concern is that even though decisions ought to be void in such a case, I'm not sure that anyone outside the same group of people at the MEA who would have chosen to run an unconstitutional meeting would be in a position to treat those decisions as void in practice.
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ah the old 'what are they going to do about it anyway' approach?
 
Fainbrog said:
So, in the details of the AGM, no reference to election/re-election of BoT...
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A percentage of board members retire by rotation every two years (but can stand for re-election). This may be a year in which no board member is due for retirement but is re-standing. There may be no nominations for new trustees. But if there were trustee elections, my understanding is that notice should have been given weeks in advance and this has not been the case.

"23.
(a) Not less than ten weeks prior to an annual general meeting at which one or more of the directors retire, the company shall give notice to members asking for nominations for members to become directors of the company..."​
 
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Fainbrog said:
So, from the email I have just had from the MEA, the AGM is going ahead on the 9th.

…..
  1. MINUTES – Minutes of the last AGM, held by video conferencing and at Unit 7 Apollo Office Court, Gawcott on 11th December 2023 to be put before the Meeting for approval. Their acceptance to be moved by Chairman, a seconder sought and a vote taken.

  2. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT – 2023 as published on the website of the ME Association.

ETA details
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Does this mean there’s been no formal meeting of the trustees since the last AGM?
 
Dx Revision Watch said:
My understanding is that the minutes of an AGM are approved at the next AGM, not at the next routine meeting of the board but I am happy to be corrected.
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On the basis of the Agenda, this is this case. The managing group (ie the Trustees) will probably have discussed the draft minutes of the previous AGM at their first meeting after the AGM and initiated what they regard as appropriate action, but the minutes will only be formally adopted by the next AGM (or possibly a subsequent EGM).

Presumably if members feel after this AGM that it was unconstitutional because of inadequate notice their only course of action would be to seek to call an EGM or to object to the minutes at the next AGM in a year’s time.
 
I guess, if the motion is not included and none of the BoT is for re-election, other than signing off the last AGM minutes, there is nothing for anyone to vote on.

Would be interesting if anyone here is a member and able to attend online, what actually goes on.
 
Sorry, I'm lost as haven't been following this in full - who is Nicky Proctor and what is her motion?
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Two people put together a document raising concerns about the management of the MEA including their accumulating excessive reserve funds. They proposed a motion that the MEA should adopt the recommendations of the Charity Governance code, which would effectively prevent trustees from serving longer than 9 years. The whole thing can be read here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zqPp0tdq0T41N469H6JJ2s4pBlNgk-LAsUnEqOE22lI/edit?tab=t.0
 
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Cinders66 said:
I didn’t think that’s how it worked at the Appg AGM but I really have no idea
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APPGs are informal cross party groups convened to pursue a particular topic or interest. The running of these groups is subject to the rules for APPGs as set out by the Parliamentary Committee on Standards:

https://www.parliament.uk/globalass...-groups/rules/guide-to-the-rules-sep-2023.pdf


The MEA is a company limited by guarantee, registered with Companies House and the Charity Commission and subject to the Companies Act 2006, and its Articles of Association. The trustees are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Act.
 
Apparently the members' magazine did not arrive in this morning's post.

If the magazine does arrive on Monday, this will mean that members have been given just 6 clear days' notice, instead of the required "21 clear days".

(All members are expected to be provided with the AGM notice + agenda + any other materials, not just those who are writing to the MEA to request a copy to be sent to them by email.)

Last year, 7 days before 11 December 2023 AGM, Neil Riley published a pre AGM Chairman's statement:

https://meassociation.org.uk/2023/12/the-me-association-annual-general-meeting-chairmans-statement/

Can we expect a chairman's AGM statement this year or will Riley be keeping his head below the parapet?

MEA on Facebook remain silent around this AGM despite busily posting and commenting on other issues. There have been no comments replied to on MEA Twitter/X for weeks.
 
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I'd like to state my position at this juncture:

I do not support the encouragement of members to attend an invalid meeting. In my view, attending an invalid meeting is legitimising the MO of a board that intends to knowingly proceed with an unconstitutional meeting.

The meeting should be postponed and rescheduled for next year.
 
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