Re: how does an exec meeting work?

Thoroughly agree with all of that. The exec is there to support and assist
the group in the work it does for the YP; which is delivered through the
section leaders. The exec should be very very keen on you attending.

As for funding/equipment - agree seriously important to buy the correct
stuff - not just what you can afford today.

Rich

"Ewan Scott" <ewanscott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:vq4452lkrsbdn8p9d1ms3ealjehf70456a@xxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:39:18 GMT, "poison dwarf"
<newsgroup.2nd4th@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Our exec seems to be stricter than a lot of those I've read about here.

Couple of questions:
1) I'm told I'm a defacto member of exec, but I'm not allowed to attend
the
meetings, is this right?

2) when should minutes be produced, no-one is willing to give me a copy of
any of the past meetings.

3) How do you operate regarding getting money from group?

we asked for a ball park figure of how much was available for tent
replacement, instead we've been told to find out what we like and they
will
decide whether or not suitable and if to get them! Makes a change from
last
time when they told us that they had been looking on our behalf but hadn't
found any suitable. Not one of them has had to be involved in active
camping
since they were in shorts half a centery ago!

1/ POR Rule 3:23:2 parts a and b, i and ii in particular.

The Group Council

The Group Scout Council is the electoral body, which supports Scouting
in the Scout Group. It is the body to which the Group Executive
Committee is accountable.

Membership of the Group Council is open to:

Scouters;
Group Scout Fellowship members;
Colony, Pack and Troop Assistants;
Skills Instructors;
Administrators;
Advisers;
Patrol Leaders;
all parents of Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts and Scouts;
the Sponsoring Authority or its nominee;
any other supporters including former Scouts and their parents who may
be admitted by the Group Scout Leader, the Group Executive Committee
or the Group Council;
Explorer Scout Leaders (if stated in a Partnership Agreement);
the District Commissioner and District Chairman are ex officio members
of the Group Council.


The Group Executive Committee

The Group Executive Committee exists to support the Group Scout Leader
in meeting the responsibilities of their appointment. The Committee is
responsible for:

the maintenance of the Group's property and equipment;

the raising of funds and the administration of the Group's finance;

the insurance of persons, property and equipment;

Group public occasions;

assisting with the recruitment of Leaders and other adult support.

The Group Executive Committee consists of:

Ex offico members

The Group Chairman;

The Group Secretary;

The Group Treasurer;

The Group Scout Leader;

The Assistant Group Scout Leader;

All Section Leaders;

The Group Scout Fellowship Chairman;

The Explorer Scout Leader (if stated in a Partnership Agreement);

The Sponsoring Authority or its nominee.

Nominated Members

persons nominated by the Group Scout Leader

the nominations must be approved at the Group Annual General Meeting

the number of nominated members must not exceed the number of elected
members.

Elected Members

persons elected at the Group Annual General Meeting

these should normally be four to six in number

the actual number must be the subject of a resolution by the Group
Scout Council

Co-opted Members

persons co-opted annually by the Group Executive Committee

the number of co-opted members must not exceed the number of elected
members.

Right of Attendance (of non Group Members)

the District Commissioner and the District Chairman have the right of
attendance at meetings of the Group Executive Committee.


So, the GEC is answerable to the Scout Group Council which elects it.

In that light any member of the Group Council may attend an Exec
Meeting, but may not vote.

The GEC has no right to exclude any Leaders as they are , by
prescription in POR , members of the Exec.

That is my interpretation. However, I might add that as the GSL I
would be more than happy to have ANY member of the group attend Exec
meetings and contribute to the management of the Group and its assets.
I would exclude nobody - even if I could.

2/ There is no requirement to produce minutes, though it is good
practice to do so. At our group they often arrive at the meeting,
sometimes they don't appear at all, the secretary's post has been
notoriously difficult to fill.

The minutes are not really private, the GEC is answerable to the
members and any member has the right to see the minutes. We post ours
in the hall when we have them.

3/ The GEC meets ten times a year and we plan fundraising events and
address hall management issues. If I need something and we have the
money available, we buy it. I apply for funding for projects, so I
decide what i need and how much I'm paying, where I'm getting it from
and where the money is coming from. We do discuss the projects but in
12 years the only time the Exec said no was when I wanted to buy
telegraph poles for a project I had in mind.

The GEC is there to support the Scouters and the Scouts (all levels).
It is not for the GEC to say you can and cannot have, or what you can
and cannot have. It is for them to support your decision. If you can
show that you have a need for a £10,000 Giant Hat Kata complete with
central fire hearth, flues, tables, benches and lights, then it is
their duty to support you in fundraising to acquitre that equipment.
It is not their duty to say no to any well considered plan. It is not
their duty to specify what you can and cannot have or do. What they
might do is say, look, we don't mind you buying your Giant Hat Kata
and all the kit, but how do you propose to store that equipment? How
are you going to transport it? If you cannot answer those questions
they would be within their right to say, hang on, let's think about
this project before we spend the money. If on the other hand you can
show how you can store and transport said GHK and kit, then they have
no valid reasons for saying no.

I'm sorry for the long response but I feel very strongly about this
subject.

You DO NOT ask what the budget for buying equipment is. You first
establish what the need is, then you go and find the best possible set
of equipment to meet that need. You then negotiate on price and find
the funds to meet your purchase. It is a completely wrong-headed way
of doing things to set a budget then buy the kit.

Example from Scouting. You need four six man tents for use by Cubs,
Scouts and Explorers. They will be used on campsites where you are
working with open fires. They will be chucked in the back of whatever
car is available. they will be stored for extended periods in
non-ideal conditions. They will be hauled at, pulled at, thrown,
dropped, walked upon, blown down, and badly abused.

You ideally need heavy canvas patrol tents or Bell tents with HD
ground***, sacking sod cloths and wooden poles. They will cost
about, say, £800 each, so your specified tentage will cost you
somewhere around £3,200. That is what you need to find the funding
for.

On one hand you go and see what you can do about accessing the
required funds, on the other you negotiate with the supplier. You get
some money from the Group Exec, some from the Masons and the Roiund
Table, and some from Awards For All, (perhaps). In the meantime you
hagle the price down by £200, or you get £200 worth of additional kit
thrown in.

The alternative, your exec says that you have £600 to spend. So you go
to Agros and buy four six man dome tents that will last for two camps,
and you are back to square one.

I was introduced to this approach to buying by a retiring managing
director of an engineering firm. his firm produced a piece of
equipment, that on paper resembled that of any of his competitors.
However, his equipment was about 40% more expensive and he regularly
lost orders to competitors with cheaper, less well engineered that was
supposed to do the same job. Time and time again customers that had
bought competitors' equipment came back and said, next time we will
buy yours, because the downtime from the cheaper equipment has cost us
dearly.

First - specify what you need
Second - locate what you need and identify the price
Thirdly - approach the funding of the items you need
Fourthly - never compromise on quality

I could have had funding last year to buy canoes, but the funder
wanted me to downgrade our specification and buy *** boats that most
people say are good enough for beginners. Well sorry, if you put
beginners in difficult to control equipment they won't stay beginners
for long - they will quit. Put them in good equipment that handles
well and they will learn their skills and take the hobby forwards. So,
I'm still fundraising, but I will get what we need, not what someone
else thinks will do.

Hmmm. I giues your GEC and I wouldn't see eye to eye :-)

Ewan Scott


.

Quantcast