Agenda for June 2010 meeting

1.      Approvals

1.1.   Minutes of May meeting (draft posted 23/05/10)

1.2.   Peter's report on the reserves (Appendix A)

1.3.   Merchandise agreement (Appendix B)


2.      Proposals

2.1.   [In line with Autscape's general policy on the storage of documents.] 
That, with immediate effect, that copies of the insurance documents and such 
records as may be required by the insurer to demonstrate that the conditions 
for the policy are being honoured shall be held by the secretary, as well as 
on-line in the committee files area.

2.2.   From 2010/2011 onwards that the secretary shall have responsibility 
for checking that appropriate insurance is in place for Autscape and that 
all conditions of that insurance are met, but may delegate tasks as 
necessary. (if approved, this should be added to the secretary's job 
description)

2.3.   That Autscape should submit the final draft of the Memorandum & 
Articles of Association to the Charity Commission 
for their approval and, subject to that approval, adopt these as the governing 
documents of The Autscape Organisation.
      
2.4.   In view of the recent government announcement, to put on hold doing 
anything about the Vetting and Barring Scheme (Independent Safeguarding 
Authority) until details of the new scheme are announced.


3.      Delegations

3.1.   To delegate [volunteer needed] to obtain a quote for directors 
indemnity insurance and report back to the committee

3.2.   To delegate [volunteer needed] to obtain advice from an insurance 
broker as to what other types of insurance we might require and report back 
to the committee

3.3.   To delegate Peter to write a Health and Safety Policy and set a 
deadline to submit it to the committee for approval

3.4.   To delegate the Treasurer to prepare a budget for 'optional' items 
according to priorities indicated by the committee. (List and priorities 
will be made available to the Treasurer by 25 June.)

3.5.   To delegate to the transport working group assistance in arrangement 
of transport for those staying off-site.


4.      Subcommittee and working group Progress Reports (suggested topics 
listed)

4.1.   Venue

4.2.   Tech

4.3.   Publications/publicity - progress on business card, expected date for 
information pack

4.4.   Constitution

4.5.   Fundraising - progress on finding a chair

4.6.   Childcare

4.7.   Programme - schedule

4.8.   Transport working group


5.      Key position progress reports (matters not covered earlier)

5.1.   Venue coordinator (contributions towards computer and pool, upper 
dovecote on Tuesday)

5.2.   Registrar (registration, under 18 issue)

5.3.   Treasurer (progress towards finding and consulting with an 
accountant, access to bank account and PayPal)

5.4.   Secretary (solicitor situation)

5.5.   Chair


6.      Any other business



Appendix A

A certain amount of money is retained by Autscape as 'reserved funds'.

The reserves mainly exist to cover the venue deposits, which are
payable before we have any income for an event. The reserves also
serve to protect against a shortfall in income which may result from
failing to predict the demographics of the participants at an event,
and they may be needed to cover unforeseen operational costs.

Even assuming no growth, the venue deposit is be up to 25% of the
accommodation cost for Autscape, which is up to £2500 depending on
the venue. This is the minimum safe level of reserves - if the
reserves fall below that, we have to raise funds before we can put
on an another event.

In practice, we may have to pay a deposit for the following event
before we have had any income from the current event and consequently
maintaining reserves at twice the venue deposit. [1]

We need a safe margin, say £500, above this level for unexpected costs.
This makes the upper threshold for the reserves £5500. [2]

After Autscape 2009, we had £7785 available. £2000 [3] was
designated for solicitor and for company secretary training, leaving
the reserves at £5785.

The fees for Autscape 2010 were designed to accrue no funds, but now look
set to do so as expenditure on childcare has been less than budgeted.

Provided that the actual income matches the forecast, we can expect
the reserves to be £1035 above the upper target. This excess is
available for charitable activities, eg. sensory equipment, reducing
next year's fees, etc.

[1] If we can get registration open early every year, that solves the
    venue deposit cashflow problem and means we can reduce the
    reserves by £2500. We aren't in a position to guarantee that yet.

[2] That figure is chosen arbitrarily as a value that feels about
    right. I'll try and come up with a figure that has a
    justification, but I can't promise to do so before the next
    committee meeting.

[3] This is based on the original designation of ~£2500, of which
    ~£500 was spent in financial year 2008/09. Now that most of the
    legal work has been done, it may be possible to give a more
    accurate figure, which in turn affects the reserves.


Appendix B

Draft of merchandise agreement:

1) Please provide a list of items you are lending to the table,
including the price you paid for each item.

2) If an item of yours is sold, Autscape agrees to repay you the price
you paid for the item out of the proceeds from selling that item. Any
unsold items will be returned to you at the end of Autscape.

3) Any item of yours which is lost or damaged while under Autscape's
responsibility, or accidentally sold at a value less than its cost,
will be recompensed out of the proceeds of sales of other lent
merchandise, or as a last resort, out of Autscape's own funds, up to a
limit of £50 in total claims among all lost items, shared
proportionally if total claims are greater than £50.

4) If you take back your own items off the table make sure it is noted
on your list of items.

5) Autscape cannot recompense items lost or damaged while they are not
lent to the merchandise table (in particular when being transported to
and from Autscape). You are advised not to bring more than you could
afford to lose, or to have other cover.

6) The remainder of the proceeds after deducting any possible
recompense due to loss or damage will be donated to Autscape as
unrestricted funds.


Notes:
1) If you can't remember the price you paid just give me an estimate
and I will accept that.

3) I will try to limit the risk by stock-checking at the end of each
merchandise session. That way I will know if there has been any loss
or damage and if so how much, and I will mention it in the daily
organisers' meeting, and we can decide what to do. I won't limit the
amount of stock on the table to £50 like I proposed before, as I think
I was being too risk-averse in worrying about a sudden large loss.

4) This is to make sure that my stock-checking above adds up.