Talking News Federation

TALKING NEWS FEDERATION

Committee Meeting

Saturday21st July 2012

Holiday Inn Express,Stevenage– 11am

MINUTES

Attendees:

Mike Wood / Chairman
Bob Finch / Guidelines
Julia Richardson / Secretary
Barry Symonds / Treasurer
Tony Vale / Local Support
Brian Watts / Campaign
Ann Willis / Communications
Apologies for absence:
John May
Elaine Hanson (Crawley TN)
1. / Welcome
Mike opened the meeting and welcomed everyone attending.
2. / Apologies for Absence
Received from Elaine Hanson (Crawley TN) and John May
3. / Minutes of Previous Meeting on 12th May 2012
The minutes were agreed as being a true record and were signed and dated by Mike Wood.
4. / Matters Arising from Minutes (reference numbers relate to the minutes of the 12.5.12 TNF committee meeting)
a) Guidelines (ref minute 11)
In the minutes of the last meeting, mention was made of the timing for review of existing guidelines, and two years had been suggested as a suitable time limit. It was clarified that this meant that each guideline should be reviewed every two years. There was no need to amend existing guidelines to add a review date.
b) Library of TN recordings (ref minute 4b)
It was questioned whether there had been any recent developmentsregarding the Library of TN recordings. Mike Wood stated that the management of this is currently under review.
c) TNF accounts (ref minute 5a)
At the last meeting, during discussions relating to the Ronald Sturt fund, it was noted that the current trustees for this fund are the TNF committee members.
Bob Finch questioned whether co-opted members of the committee are trustees of the Ronald Sturt fund. It is the belief of the committee that co-opted committee members are not trustees of the Ronald Sturt fund.
There was further discussion about what the Ronald Sturt fund can be used for, and it was noted that in each year, only the interest from the fund is available to be used.
d) HMRC tax exemption reference number (ref minute 5b)
There had been discussion at the last meeting about tax exemption codes, and it was questioned whether more information on this needs to be provided to the TNF membership. It was suggested that an article should be included in TNN, and Barry agreed to write this.
Action: Barry Symonds
Barry also confirmed that gift aid can be claimed for street collections if the organisation concerned is registered for gift aid.
e)RNIB visiting TN listeners (ref minute 8g)
Tony Vale noted that he had not yet had a reply from Michael Paxman (RNIB).
5. / Treasurer
a) TNF accounts and 2011/12 Annual Accounts
Barry spoke to his reports.There was discussion about renewals of membership, and Barry noted that these were coming in slowly. All reminders to TNs were done by email. BACS is the preferred method of payment, although some TNs have made arrangements to pay by standing order.
There was discussion about the balance in the TNF bank accounts, and about the need to have a contingency fund. A figure of £5000 was suggested.
It was noted that the Charities Commission rules state that charities are not allowed to budget for a loss in any financial year
The quarterly accounts and 2011/12 accounts were approved.
Membership of TNF entitles member TNs to take out insurance at a reduced rate, and it was felt that as insurance renewals became due, that this would prompt TNs to renew their membership.
Barry suggested that it would be helpful for him to have the charity number for each TNF member organisation (where these are charities). TNF office are getting the information where applicable.
6. / Development
a) TN areas
John May had submitted his report, covering developments in this area.
Ann Willis reported on discussions that had taken place at Sight Village, which included discussions about the possible closure of Gwent and Beacon TNs. Ann Willis said that she would provide details of these to John May.
Action: Ann Willis
7. / Registrar
a) Membership update
Ann Willis had provided an update of the numbers of current members in each category:
Honorary Associate Members / 8
Individual Members / 6
Life Members / 74
Full Members / 228
TOTAL / 316
Service Providers / 4
8. / Communications
a) Website
Ann Willis spoke to her report. There have been no major changes to the website other than various updates. The next review is due to take place in September.
There was also discussion about access to the members' area of the TNF website for those TNs who had not yet renewed their membership. This year, website access was cut off on 1st April to those TNs who had not renewed their membership. However, following discussion, it was felt that the website access should be kept until 1st September before being cut off.
b) Proposal for TNF committee to have individual access to TNF website
There was discussion about Bob Finch's proposal that TNF committee members should have their own personal access to the TNF website members' area. This may need to be created as a separate category in terms of managing the website.
Committee members voted on the proposal that all committee members (trustees only, not co-opted members) should have their own personal access to the TNF website:
for the proposal / 5
against the proposal / 1
abstentions / 1
Therefore the proposal was agreed.
Action: TNF office
c) National Conference 2012
Ann Willis reported that the programme is nearly finalised.
Mike Wood reported that there was some concern that the number of bookings so far was quite low, compared to the same time last year. Ann Willis noted that a reminder will be provided in the next issue of TN Network.
The contract that has been agreed with the hotel includes the reservation of a guaranteed 75 rooms. These will need to be paid for, even if all are not used for the conference.
It was agreed to review the number of bookings for the conference at the end of August by the conference organisers.
d) Exhibitions
Ann Willis spoke to her report. There had been a good day at the RNIB Low Vision day at the end of June in Chelmsford with Chelmsford TN. This resulted in them gaining six completely new listeners and two listeners from other areas. Their Chairman Pat Wilson has visited all six new listeners and provided them with players for their USB sticks.
Sight Village in Birmingham had also proved to be very useful, with 130 people attending the TNF stand.
There are two more exhibitions to be attended this year:
Kent Association's Low Vision Day on 11th October, and Sight Village London on 6th/7th November.
An invitation has also been received to the Association of Scottish Talking Newspapers (ASTN) annual one day conference on 27th October.
e) Magazine
The next edition of TN Network is due to be issued at the beginning of August.
f) Local TN support
Tony Vale spoke to his report.
Portsmouth TN hosted a regional meeting on 23 June. They had a good range of speakers but unfortunately it wasn’t that well attended, with only four local TNs represented. Mike Wood gave a presentation on behalf of TNF.
National publicity
There was an opportunity to promote the TN service on the BBC Online News service, which resulted in an article on the BBC website:

TN Week 2012: 8 – 15 September 2012

Tony reported that an approach has been made to the President of the Newspaper Society about the possibility of a joint TNF/Newspaper Society awareness campaign during TN Week, highlighting the value of local newspapers to the wider community.
This would include the production of an article (written by TNF) to increase the awareness of TNs. It was agreed by the committee that if alternative funding could not be found, that £500 could be allocated for this.
9. / Chairman
a) Office Accommodation
Mike Wood spoke to his report. The TNF office is still located in Royal Wootton Bassett, but it is expected that notice to leave will be given soon. Research into renting office space nearby has been made, but Mike reported on an opportunity that has arisen in Swindon (approx 6 miles away). The building is owned by Swindon Council, and there is an obligation on the council that it can only be used for organisations that help blind and partially sighted people.
Mike provided an estimate of the costs of relocating (approx £1440), plus £400 legal fees to Swindon Council. Some decoration will be necessary before any move is made, and the move could be made in November 2012.
It was agreed that travel costs for existing TNF volunteer office staff would be made for a period of three years.
There was discussion about whether the TNF leaflets would need to be reprinted to include the new address, and whether new exhibition banners would be needed. It was noted that the leaflets and banners need to be updated anyway as they are several years old, and that it may be possible to apply for Lottery funding to cover the cost.
Mike agreed to provide Barry with details of an exact moving date, when this is known, so that if necessary, funds can be made available.
b) General comments
Mike Wood reported that the UKAAF (UK Association for Accessible formats, had just issued updated standards, and that progress is being made with the TNF training package.
Twitter and Facebook for TNF are still being developed, although progress has been slow due to absence of TNF office staff.
10. / Guidelines
Bob Finch reported that there are currently 14 TNF policy documents/guidelines, and that most of these are due to be reviewed over the next year. It was noted that these policy documents can be used by TNs as guidance for the production of their own guidelines.
There was discussion about the following guidelines:
Allowances
This mentions that allowances are "subject to a maximum …", and it was agreed that this should be £5 per night away. The car allowance rate is 35p per mile, and it was agreed that this should remain the same.
Financial
This states that it should be "reviewed regularly", and that signatories are "renewed on an annual basis". Current financial signatories are Barry Symonds, Mike Wood and AnnWillis. It was agreed that this item will be discussed at the next meeting of the committee after the AGM in October.
Health & Safety
This currently has no review date.
Insurance
This is currently dated 2006, and needs to be updated to include a review date. Brian agreed to update the document, and provide a copy to Bob.
Action: Brian Watts
Local Conferences
A date for review is needed for this guideline.
Long service certificates
This guideline needs to be updated, and a review date added.
11. / Campaign
Mike Wood reported on a meeting of Reading through Audio, which had met during Sight Village in Birmingham. The next meeting is due to take place in September.
VAT on food for guide dogs
Brian Watts reported on a current campaign to remove VAT on food for guide dogs. The current rules state that no VAT is payable on food for "working dogs", but that guide dogs are not includedwithin the definition of a working dog.
12. / Any Other Business
a) Annual Report
Mike Wood tabled a draft of the latest TNF annual report. Committee members provided feedback and suggested some minor amendments.
b) Right to Read Alliance
Barry reported that the Right to Read Alliance wants to increase its scope to include people with cerebral palsy, and are investigating this area.
c) Shipping costs of TNF equipment
Barry proposed that an audit of the shipping costs for providing promotional material on loan to TNs should take place. This was agreed by the committee.
13. / Date of Next Meeting - Saturday 3rd November 2012
11am at Holiday Inn Express, Stevenage
Signed: / …………………………………………… / Chairman
Date: / ……………………………………………
TNF committee minutes 21.7.12 / 1