Final Agenda for March 2013 board meeting Meeting to be held at 2pm on Sunday 17th March at irc.starlink-irc.org #autscape Attendance Apologies 1. Request from the company secretary for directors to waive their right to formal notice of this meeting 2. Announcements 2.1. Autscape's address is now: Autscape PO Box 138 FLEETWOOD FY7 9AP 2.2. Autscape's phone number is now 07511774654 3. Proposals 3.1. Annual report. The company secretary proposes that we approve the draft 2011-2012 annual report, including advance approval of minor corrections and any subsequent necessary changes made by our accountants prior to submission to the relevant statutory authorities. 3.2. Accounting. The company secretary proposes that we: 3.2.1. re-appoint CASE as Autscape's accountants (decision to be reviewed in 2 years time) 3.2.2. authorise a budget of £550 for accountancy services for the preparation of the 2011-2012 accounts (without independent examination, as previously decided) and the filing of our corporate tax return (see Appendix A for rationale). 3.3. TEN renewal. The company secretary proposes that we delegate the annual decision about whether it is appropriate to renew/obtain a TEN and other necessary licensing for Autscape to run a bar to Elaine and authorise any necessary and reasonable expenditure for this purpose (approximate cost GBP150 annually). (See note in Appendix B regarding delegation). The board will review the financial and reputational issues involved periodically, but authorises Elaine to take these administrative steps without waiting for such a review to take place. 3.4. Formal programme budget. The company secretary proposes that we delegate a budget of GBP 1000 to the formal programme coordinator to cover: 1. presenters' accommodation (one night per presentation) 2. up to two essential carers for presenters 3. invited presenters' travel expenses 4. other exceptional expenses for any presenter 5. other costs directly related to the formal programme which are reasonable in the opinion of the formal programme coordinator [see Appendix C for breakdown] 3.5. Publicity budget. The company secretary proposes that we delegate a budget of GBP 220 to the Publications and Publicity subcommittee chair to cover: 1. A quarter-page advertisement in AuKids Magazine (last year's cost GBP 120 incl. VAT). See http://www.aukids.co.uk/. 2. Printing and posting flyers and/or posters to organisations and events that might distribute them (e.g. The Autism Show will be held at the London Excel Centre June 14-15 2013 with an additional show added at the Manchester Event City June 28-29 2013.). 3. Any other expenses that are reasonable in the opinion of the subcommittee chair. [see Appendix D for breakdown] 3.6. Alternative/leisure programme budget. The company secretary proposes that we: 3.6.1. appoint an alternative programme coordinator 3.6.2. agree an alternative programme budget of £300 to cover: * lifeguards * Glowsticks (sparklies and 'olympics'), * Refreshments during registration period (incl special diet needs), * Art, craft and similiar material refunds, * Stickers and other costs associated with registration activities, * Cheap table tennis bats, balls, nets (if venue's are not adequate), * And other relevant items. This allows a margin for error in the costings. 3.7. Transport. The company secretary proposes that we either: (A) appoint Elaine to book and arrange transport, set a deadline of 1st July to appoint an onsite transport coordinator, do not commit to booking and arranging transport for participants until that appointment has been made. (B) decide not to provide transport in 2013 and ensure this information is communicated to participants as widely as possible (particularly through the registration system) 4. Follow-ups 4.1. Director recruitment (Yo) 4.2. Purchase/transfer of autscape domains (Martijn) 4.3. Potential sponsorship offer (Martijn) 4.4. Outstanding 2012-2013 minutes awaiting approval (Martijn) 4.5. Automatic re-posting of chat list guidance (Stephen) 4.6. Guidelines for the use of the announce email list for proposal to the board (Martijn) 4.7. Collecting powerpoints/handouts from 2012 presenters (Trish) 4.8. Amendment to gender question on registration form for equality reasons (Stephen) 5. Subcommittee progress reports 5.1. Programme (Chair: Martijn)(proposal submissions, proposal voting arrangements, proposed invitations including benefits adviser suggestion, other issues) 5.2. Fundraising (Chair: Elaine) (fundraising strategy, other issues) 5.3. Research (Chair: Elaine)(childcare providers, transport providers, writing up venue findings, storage research, other issues) 5.4. Publications and publicity (Chair: Martijn)(AU advert, poster/flyer, NAS directory, adverts in other publications, updating website text esp. from 2012 to 2013 venue/fee/registration information, information pack, other issues). To be noted in report - unfortunately 'Easy News' (a newspaper aimed at people with learning disabilities) is not yet taking adverts but has agreed to keep our details on file in case that changes in the future. 6. Key position progress reports (matters not covered earlier) 6.1. Registrar (Kalen)(registration system, opening and closing dates) 6.2. Venue Coordinator (Elaine)(matters arising, obtaining plan of fire doors, special diet discussion/draft menu) 6.3. IT systems manager (Stephen)(handover, website updating - inc. getting new fees on website, national diversity awards logo, proposal submission system, registration system, anything else) 6.4. Interim Treasurer (Stephen)(progress of the accounts and expected cost - funding for this needs to be requested from the board, actions taken under delegated authority, handover progress, training needs, contact with bank/accountants, anything else) 6.5. Company Secretary (Yo)(annual report, bulletins, follow ups from previously delegated actions, actions taken under delegated authority, outstanding issues) 6.6. Chair (Martijn)(road map, actions taken under delegated authority, board functioning and communication, progress so far in 2012-2013 and next tasks) 7. Any other business APPENDIX A Preparation of the accounts without examination is expected to cost around £300-400. Filing of the corporate tax return is charged at £150. Advice from the former treasurer (Peter) on Corporation Tax returns (given last year): I recommend that we ask for the accounts to file a corporation tax return if one is requested by HMRC. I have filed the return for this year, but changes that are in progress at HMRC mean that this will become increasingly difficult to do without special software. The effect of the changes are that it trivial for the accountants to do the filing, but much more difficult for us. (Note that this is not the same as filing the accounts, though it is related.) APPENDIX B Advice from the company secretary regarding delegation: Delegating something to an individual or subcommittee gives them the power to do it. It does not prevent them from bringing the issue back to the board should unexpected complications arise. In my opinion it is not sensible for the board to micromanage everything. Delegation involves some degree of trust that the person concerned will use their common sense and bring things back to the board if necessary. Under Bye-law 8.3 expenditure over £50 has to be counter-signed by a second director (even where the board has pre-approved it like in this proposal) which provides some measure of safeguard. APPENDIX C These figures are simply a copy of 2012's budget. Breakdown of how the budget has been calculated: 1. 8 x £55 = £440 2. 2 x £55 = £110 3. 2 x £200 = £400 4. £50 5. Any surplus from the above. APPENDIX D These figures are simply a copy of 2012's budget. Breakdown: 1. £120 2. up to £80 3. any surplus from the above