Council minutes 16th June 2015 ‐ At the Royal Southampton Yacht Club

1. Confirmation of Minutes to Last Meeting – 23rd April 2015
The minutes to last meeting were agreed as being a true record. 

2. Matters Arising
There were no matters arising not covered below. 

3. Certifying Authority Committee

MCA Audit
Paul Johnson was unable to attend the meeting. It was noted that the MCA, during their latest audit earlier this week, were still not satisfied with progress made (700 vessel files not yet checked and status of Quality System Procedures and their implementation). The restriction placed upon the Society, to not accept new vessels, will continue. They will return after three months in September and if they are still not satisfied they will consider removing our approval as a Certifying Authority.  

Ross Hunter’s written report was read out, copy attached. In reply to Mr Hunter’s criticism of his non attendance at the audit, the President said that he had warned about a dental appointment on the Monday; that Tuesday was the last day that he and Clive Robinson had to finalize the SeaWork stand for the designer and graphic artist; and that he gave a clear intention to attend on the last day, Wednesday. He was not told (by the Secretary) that the auditors finished on Tuesday until after they had left. He had every confidence that Paul Johnson would handle the audit efficiently. 

There followed a discussion on the MCA Audit. No particular conclusions were reached. 
Regarding representation of the Society’s CA with the MCA, the President stated that only those so authorised could discuss the Society’s CA business with the MCA. 
It was proposed that the Society’s Certification Authority be divested into a subsidiary company because of the difficulty found by the membership committee in assessing its true financial viability during their negotiations with Paul Johnson in his application for the post of Secretary/CEO. Discussion continued under item 4. Ross Hunter appeared to be in agreement with this proposal in his email. No final decision was made. 

4. Membership & Professional Standards
Members
The Secretary reported that there had been 11 new members this year and 8 members had left. He cautioned that there were 18 members whose subscription was still outstanding, so number who left may increase.  
He also reported interest on our Stand from people wanting to join the Society during the first day of SeaWork. 

Recruiting a new Secretary
Maurice Perrin reported on progress made and explained why a final appointment had not been recommended. 

The Secretary remarked that there appeared to be a lack of communication between the recruiters and the candidate.  
David Walker asked if there was a conflict of interest with the workload being proposed, it was agreed that an Examiner could not scrutinise his own surveys.

Clive Robinson said the outside perception of what the Secretary/Society was doing in total also needs to be considered, especially at this time when we are under close scrutiny. 
Discussion on this subject continued – including that the function of managing the CA and membership should be two separate jobs. 

Clive proposed that an independent Business Consultant be engaged to provide an opinion on the future of the Society to include, staffing, finances and office location.  Seconded by Maurice Perrin and agreed by all on the condition that there was minimal delay in carrying this investigation out. Clive and Maurice agreed to provide a brief for the Business Consultant, members asked to see the brief before it was finally approved.

In view of the delay in the recruitment process the Secretary said it was not clear who would be conducting the additional work required for the next MCA Audit.  
Regarding Paul Johnson’s application, it was agreed that the work he had recently done in preparing for the MCA audit was very much appreciated and there was no criticism of him.  
Bob Barnes agreed to contact Paul Johnson. 

5. Budget Managers’ Report
The Secretary distributed figures. There was no time to discuss. 

6. Development Committee
No time to discuss this item. 

7. President’s Report
No time to discuss this item. 

8. Headquarters Relocation
No change to the situation except that dates are likely to be put back. 

9. Matters for AGM
It was agreed that the Council would not recommend adding members to Council at this time.

10. Any Other Business
Nothing raised

11. Date of Next Meeting
Due to the start of the Reception and AGM, the President adjourned the meeting at 1800 on a future date to be to be advised  

Attached: 
1/ Email from Ross Hunter to Council, (16 June @ 11:28). 
2/ Email from Euan Davidson to Council (Received too late to table at the meeting; dated 15 June 2015 @ 19:22)

Message from Ross Hunter: 
Councillors. Well, the inevitable has happened. And yes, in spite of having to breaking my vacation, I have been in contact with the CA Chair following each days audit and was advised chapter and verse. Did anyone else do the same? I think I could guess the answer. On the face of it maybe Seawork ranked higher on others agenda than audit interrogation. 

I say inevitable simply because those appointed to attend to item 1 on the MCA Audit agenda, as was promised by our President, failed so to do.  For those who are unaware of what that item is, it is the appointment of a competent technical lead at the office. This, for whatever reason, has remained outstanding for an unacceptable 2 months. I have tried to understand why this is and I can only think that the total embarrassment and humiliation the CA Chair suffered, not to mention the expressed annoyance of the Auditors, has arisen out of procrastination (deliberate or otherwise) and a complete lack of understanding as to the situation we, the SCMS, are in and trying to resolve. 

Yes, there are other failings at the audit, which with the continued good work of the few involved on a regular basis at Lambeth, can relatively easily and quickly be resolved. However, I cannot overemphasise how critical it was to have a competent technical lead in position – even and interim position - prior to the audit. And I mean someone with considerable experience at the sharp end and not someone either outside of the business or with only a couple of vessels on the register. As it was this failing must made for a very fraught time at audit. 

So where are we now? Another 3 month sanction imposed on the CA. What does this tell our examiners client base? My own clients are continually requesting an update on the results of the audit. I am having to stall, but I can only do this for a few days more. In truth I will stall until after the AGM, when I will have a better idea as to who is in place. 

On that note, this whole ‘recovery’ process has been led from the top and has apparently failed. Maybe change is needed. Because unless these audit points are addressed in full the SCMS, or at least the CA part of it, will no longer exist in a very short time, of that you can be sure. We will then remain the old boys club – or “London Dinosaurs” as we are known  in higher circles – we always have been. I would further table that we should consider splitting the CA from the SCMS membership side. Contrary to popular opinion the CA revenue is not there to fund the overall membership of the SCMS. It is only by default – or crafty accounting - that this has been the case. After all, pre-CA, the membership survived did it not? 

As for Seawork, we should be embarrassed to be attending this year with this sanction in place. What are we hoping to achieve? 
Good luck, we are going to need it. 
Regards Ross

Message from Euan Davidson: 
I have been looking out for the minutes from the last Council meeting in April, but have not received a copy, and as far as I can tell they are not yet available on the Council website, the last minutes listed on the site being for October 2014. 

Since my retirement in 2011 I have been gradually disengaging myself from Council business, since as a retired non-practising member I found it increasingly difficult to involve myself in matters which would have a direct effect on those members who were still fully active. Being of the opinion that matters of this nature should more correctly be decided by those who would be directly affected. 

In this respect I am specifically referring to the discussions and proposals regarding the way forward and future focus of the Society. 

More recently I am referring specifically to the discussions regarding the SCV Code of Practice and associated MCA Audit, and the eventual consequences of the decisions taken or deferred. 
Previously I have continued to follow Council activities from a remote distance since my retirement, but during the last year in particular I have been involved in an increasing extent of overseas travel, with the duration of each trip also becoming more extended. While I have continuously monitored my personal e-mail address, I regret I have not maintained continuous monitoring of my marcon.mobile@btconnect.com e-mail address, which was associated with my previous employment, and was registered as my contact e-mail for SCMS. 

As a result I regret I did not become aware of the more recent developments regarding the SCV Code work and MCA Audit until after the event. 

Under these circumstances I would like to offer my retrospective apologies to Council for my past negligence in not responding to the various correspondence, or attending Council meetings, or submitting remote comments/voting intentions. 

To rectify the situation, and hopefully allow a younger and fully active member to take my place, I would like to tender notice that I wish to resign as a Member of Council, and do not wish to be considered for re-election. 

I realise that as an ex-President, I am effectively an ‘ex-officio’ member of council, but trust that my wishes, as expressed above, would allow for deletion of my name from the mailing list for all correspondence referring to Council business. 

I am well aware that several other ex-Presidents are also retired and non-practising, but continue to play a valid and active part in the affairs of Council, and the ongoing administration/management of Society matters, and I am also aware that in several cases the Society would suffer significant loss of input if Message from Euan Davidson: 
I have been looking out for the minutes from the last Council meeting in April, but have not received a copy, and as far as I can tell they are not yet available on the Council website, the last minutes listed on the site being for October 2014. 

Since my retirement in 2011 I have been gradually disengaging myself from Council business, since as a retired non-practising member I found it increasingly difficult to involve myself in matters which would have a direct effect on those members who were still fully active. Being of the opinion that matters of this nature should more correctly be decided by those who would be directly affected. 

In this respect I am specifically referring to the discussions and proposals regarding the way forward and future focus of the Society. 

More recently I am referring specifically to the discussions regarding the SCV Code of Practice and associated MCA Audit, and the eventual consequences of the decisions taken or deferred. 
Previously I have continued to follow Council activities from a remote distance since my retirement, but during the last year in particular I have been involved in an increasing extent of overseas travel, with the duration of each trip also becoming more extended. While I have continuously monitored my personal e-mail address, I regret I have not maintained continuous monitoring of my marcon.mobile@btconnect.com e-mail address, which was associated with my previous employment, and was registered as my contact e-mail for SCMS. 

As a result I regret I did not become aware of the more recent developments regarding the SCV Code work and MCA Audit until after the event. 

Under these circumstances I would like to offer my retrospective apologies to Council for my past negligence in not responding to the various correspondence, or attending Council meetings, or submitting remote comments/voting intentions. 
To rectify the situation, and hopefully allow a younger and fully active member to take my

place, I would like to tender notice that I wish to resign as a Member of Council, and do not wish to be considered for re-election. 

I realise that as an ex-President, I am effectively an ‘ex-officio’ member of council, but trust that my wishes, as expressed above, would allow for deletion of my name from the mailing list for all correspondence referring to Council business. 

I am well aware that several other ex-Presidents are also retired and non-practising, but continue to play a valid and active part in the affairs of Council, and the ongoing administration/management of Society matters, and I am also aware that in several cases the Society would suffer significant loss of input if they were to cease their valued contributions, I thank them most sincerely for the time and effort they continue to dedicate to Society affairs. 
However I do not consider that this applies in my case. 

I am also aware of the difficulties in persuading younger members to take up Council responsibilities, so hopefully, the resignation of an ex-officio member may leave room for, and encourage, a younger member to step in as replacement, and become more directly involved in the ongoing administration, and determination of the future, for the Society. 

I will continue to maintain my membership on a non-practising basis, and wish Council success with their ongoing efforts to ensure the viability and relevance of the Society in the future
Regards, 
Euan Davidson.