Agenda for December 2010 committee meeting
Meeting Chair: Peter
1. Announcements
1.1. The dates of Autscape 2011 are confirmed as 22-25 August and the
venue will be Ackworth School, West Yorkshire.
2. Ratifications
2.1. Minutes of November meeting (posted 6/12/10)
2.2. The co-option of Katja Gottschewski as a member of the Autscape board
2.3. To delegate henceforth the power to sign venue related agreements on
behalf of Autscape (including committing Autscape to a contract with
the venue) to the venue coordinator, provided legally binding agreements
have been checked by the company secretary prior to signing and the
venue coordinator is acting in accordance with relevant decisions of
the board.
3. Proposals
3.1.1. Travel Expenses policy (see Appendix A)
3.1.2. To pay travel expenses where the cost was incurred before the policy
in 3.1.1 was adopted.
3.2. To delegate to the company secretary the power to complete and sign
the charity registration form, and all documentation to be submitted
to the Charity Commission, on behalf of Autscape.
3.3. Not to co-opt any further committee members at this time
3.4. To suspend adoption of the General Confidentiality policy and reopen
discussion as to its content.
4. Follow ups
4.1. (If 3.4 is rejected) In line with the decision of the board in the
September meeting (September 4.1) to adopt Autscape's General
Confidentiality policy, board members are required to agree to abide
by it. Kalen, Peter and Katja still need to state this agreement
(please do so before or during this meeting).
5. Declaration
5.1. Each prospective Autscape trustee declares that:
* I am not disqualified from acting as a charity trustee and that:
* I am capable of managing and administering my own affairs;
* I do not have an unspent conviction relating to any offence
involving deception or dishonesty;
* I am not an undischarged bankrupt nor have I made a composition or
arrangement with, or granted a trust deed for, my creditors (ignore
if discharged from such an arrangement);
* I am not subject to a disqualification order under the Company
Directors Disqualification Act 1986 or to an Order made under
section 429(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986;
* I have not been removed from the office of charity trustee or
trustee for a charity by an Order made by the Charity Commissioners
or the High Court on the grounds of any misconduct or mismanagement
nor am I subject to an Order under section 7 of the Law Reform
(Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990, preventing me from
being concerned in the management or control of any relevant
organisation or body.
* I am not subject to a disqualification Order under the Criminal
Justice and Court Services Act 2000.
* I am not disqualified under the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List.
[Each prospective trustee (i.e. each current committee member)
needs to respond 'I so declare']
6. Subcommittee Progress Reports (suggested topics listed)
6.1. Venue (liaison with Ackworth so far, 2012)
6.2. Tech (questionnaires)
6.3. Publications/publicity (advertising)
6.4. Constitution (progress on governance policy)
6.5. Fundraising (progress on fundraising)
6.6. Youth (funding, recruitment, childcare booking)
6.7. Programme (theme description, deadline decisions, subsidy decision(s),
leisure issues, CfP)
7. Key position progress reports (matters not covered earlier)
7.1. Venue coordinator
7.2. Treasurer (accountant)
7.3. Company Secretary
7.4. Chair (Peter as interim Nov-Dec chair)
8. Any other business
Please note that, under the current rota, Elaine will become interim
committee Chair following this meeting until the January meeting.
APPENDIX A
Draft Travel Expenses Policy
Autscape cannot guarantee to fulfil an expense claim which has not been
agreed in advance. Exact costs may not be known in advance, but an estimate of
the cost should be agreed with the treasurer.
The expense claim should detail
* the purpose of the travel
* which budget should be used (if known)
* the start and destination
* the mode of transport
* the total cost
* the amount claimed per mile (for journeys by car)
and be accompanied by appropriate evidence - see below.
The person travelling should check for the most cost-effective, practical
form of transport (as appropriate to their disability-related needs, if
any). It may be cheaper to hire a vehicle or to use public transport than to
pay for business insurance for one day. Adjusting the time of travel may
reduce a train fare considerably.
Claims are not normally allowed for travel to/from the Autscape conference -
we are all there anyway in our capacity as participants.
1) Use of personal cars
a) To permit expense claims of up to 40p per mile for work undertaken
for Autscape.
b) The payment of expenses is conditional on expense claim being
accompanied by evidence of appropriate insurance.
2) Use of hired vehicles
2) Use of hired vehicles
a) To permit expense claims for hired self-driven vehicles of an
appropriate size for the work being undertaken.
b) Fuel is refunded at cost
c) Receipts are required for the hire agreement and the fuel used.
3) Use of other transport
a) To permit expense claims for public transport, taxis and private hire
vehicles.
b) Appropriate evidence of costs is required. Where possible, this
should include tickets (eg. the return half of a train ticket), but
other forms of receipt will suffice (eg. a booking confirmation).
c) No contribution is given towards the cost of railcards and other
discount vouchers.
d) If a season ticket is used for all or part of the journey, a fair
proportion of this may be claimed, provided that the total amount
claimed is not more than the cost of the journey without the season
ticket, and providing that you are not being paid for the same part
of the journey by a third party.
The above rules are bound to have edge cases. When interpreting the rules,
the governing principle is that expense claims should put you back in the
position you would have been had you not needed to travel for Autscape.
If you profit from travelling then making an expense claim, the claim
isn't valid.