Report of the 56th Annual Delegate Meeting held on 9th January 2016
Laurie Wiseman - Delegate for Suffolk Beekeepers’ Association
(For all papers of the 2016 ADM click and see -
The President of the BBKA - David Aston - opened the 56th ADM welcoming all delegates and guests.
The meeting opened promptly at 10:30am with fifty nine delegates representing their associations at the Chesford Grange Hotel Leamington Spa. The President asked the delegates to stand for a short while to mark the passing of several members during the past year. The formalities of the meeting being completed the meeting proceeded.
Adpotion of Standing Orders - change to election procedure Clause 16
The delegate for Dover said that there were clear instructions on the procedure to carry out elections in the Constitution. Therefore the delegates should follow this procedure or change the constitution. The standing orders officer said that the delegates were supreme and could decide how they wish to conduct the meeting. There was a vote on whether to accept the change to clause 16 or to follow the constitution procedure. The vote was to follow the constitution voting system.
33For 25 Against. 25 1 Abstention.
Standing Orders were suspended for discussion about the order of the agenda for the meeting. After a short debate the President ordered that the order of the agenda to stay as it is.
Adoption of 2015 Minutes
The minutes were adopted after several points were raised about the minutes.
Matters Arising from 2015 Minutes
There were no matters arising.
Executive Actions on the 2015 Proposals
Proposal on neonicotinoids-2015/04. No resultsof the field scale work by the Centre of Ecology andHydrology had yet been published. There are legal proceedings underway so all parties have stopped communcating. Reports may be published by April 2016. Although the moritorum has ended it still remaims in operation. The Centre of Ecology and Hydrology is looking into whether honey contains neonicotinoids and to this end will be asking BBKA members to supply them with samples of honey in the near future. The executive, not only has concerns about neonicotinoids but have concerns about sprays, insectercides and the mixtures of fungicides and herbicides. Since the moritorium of neonicotinoids the executive has had discussions with the Volunary Initative Group, the NFU and the Crop Protection Association regarding a web- based system to centrally report crop treatments. This means that farmers will login to a central computor and report what treatments they are to apply, when and where. This information will be available to those beekeepersthat are registered on the system. A database of the treatments will also be available telling of possible harm the treatment has on insects and other pests. Thesystem should be up and running by June of this year and effectively replaces the Disease Liason Officers that are perceived to be not effective. Those beekeepers registered on the system will receive automatic alert warnings if treatments areto be within 5 Kilometres of their hives
Wiltshire Proposition 2015/07 - EU moritorium support. Little can be done about this proposition until the reports are published. Some delegates criticised the executive for not taking the proposals on Neonicotinoids seriously.
Yorkshire Proposition 2015/10 -Sugar Waste. Difficulty has been found in ascertaining who is responsible for this waste and the Enviromental Agency need more information about this problem. Consequently it is assumed that this problem is local and members should contact the Enviromental Agency or their Local Authority Enviromental Officers.
West Sussex Proposition 2015/16 -Ban on imports of honeybees and bee products. The government is reluctant to interfer with legitament trade in these products. The BBKA believes greater effort should be placed on rearing queens and colonies in the UK and is aware of the need to increase the provision of education in this field. All concerned are taking the issue of the Small Hive Beetle seriously.
The motion regarding the whistle-blower policy was raised from the floor. The executive said their policy covered only employees not Trustees or volunteers. The EC said that Trustees cannot suffer detriment that is why they are not covered. Other delegates stated that many charities cover Trustees, volunteers and employees.
Annual Reports
Education and Husbandry Committee. This report stated “The complexities of the budgetof E&H have been addressed as previus DEFRA funding passed through BBKA Enterprises Ltd as did course fees through the shop and tutor payments. This made monitoring virtually impossible and totally confusing on published accounts as large amounts of money seemed to be missing.”The chairman of this committee said they had a great deal of trouble with accounting for payments to tutors and of courses but he stated that all monies had now been accounted for.
Governance Committee. A Government Committee had been formed that would seek to help the Honey Bee. The MP who set up the committee is a beekeeper.
Technical and Environmental Committee. The BBKA have been made aware the National Bee Unit (NBU) Inspectorate wish to resurrect the Disease Liason Officers and enlist BBKA members. The BBKA has been in discussion with its insurers to acertain the insurance position of BBKA members who take on this role. The National Bee Unit (NBU) has been told not to recognise these BBKA Disease Liason Officers. A question from the floor said that this could undermine the position of the Seasonal Bee Inspectors (SBI’s). The NBU had nine vacances for SBI’s beforethe announcement of agovernment cut of 30% in funding was imposed on DEFRA . Nobody knows what is to happen but the Government wants stakeholders to ‘look after themselves’ in the future. The executive said they were aware of this possiblity.
Annual Cycle Working Party Report. The executive has received this report and is to continue to work upon it until a satifactory conclusion is found. The report on the survey carried out will be published in the near future.
Financial Report.
Trustee,Howard Pool, had taken over the role of Chairman of the Finance Committee in October 2015 after Andrew Royce stood down due to ill health. Mr Pool was very impressive and is very well qualified to undertake this role. He has been responsible for a variety of financial positions within major international companies and has been involyed in running ‘change management’ of large companies. The delegates were very impressed with his presentation. He said his approach would to be transparent and would only be happy until he had seen all accounts before signing them off. He said that the BBKA Enterprise Ltd was set up some years ago,had had its day and was now out of date. Discussions are now in place to ‘wind up’BBKA Enterprises but will maintain its VAT advantages by other means. He said last year had seen a5% increase in membership and the deficit was £34,414. This was made up of £14,000 for two SDM’s and increases in postage, with all other cost centres managed within budget. He said the executive had monthly updates of all expenditure of all cost centres so that they could see and take any timely action where necessary. The Association was healthy with £600,000 in reserves. The policy of the BBKA was to have two years of reserves (£400,000) covering operating costs. He said that it is normal for businesses to have a six month reserve of operating costs. He also said that each association should have a closer relationship with their Link Trustee as this would help with to keep everyone up tp speed as to what is happening in the BBKA. He felt that we were getting value for money at £19 a year. Postage was a heavy cost at £4 per member - that is £100,000 per year.There were a few questions from the floor with suggestions as to possible cuts to the budget which the executive took on board to consider. The delegate from Buckinghamshire thanked Howard Pool, Chairman of the Finance Committee for his clear and informative report. This prompted a clappingresponse from other delegates in support of Buckinghamshire. A vote to accept the financial report was:
50 For 2 Against 7 abstentions
A vote to accept the Financial Statment (accounts) was:
29 For 19 Against 12 Abstentions
Capitation Proposition 2016/01
(For supporting notes and the EC response see the full propositions see above)
2016/01
From the Executive. “That the annual capitation for the 2016/17 financial year, payable in April 2017 and September 2017, be increased from £19 to £21 for each registered member and pro rata increase for all the other membership categories”.
The executive said this increase was set at a level that just allowed it to stand still and is not an increase as such. All the expenditure is now ‘project based’ and will not impinge on membership services. There was a vote on the capitation increase:
32 For 27 Against 1 Abstention
A membership vote was called:
10,167 For 12874 Against 216 Abstentions
The proposal Fell
Elections for President, Trustees and Examination Board.
John Hendrie was overwhelmingly elected for President.
The elections for five positions of Trustees and six positions of the examination board was sucessfully filled.
Propositions for consideration.
(For supporting notes and the EC response see the full propositions in the 2016 ADM papers)
2016/02
From Glouscester. “That the future funding to the Examination Board by the capitation is maintained and to besubject to a maximum of 60p to cover the deficit between the income generated from the assessment fees and the costs associated with conducting all assessments. This is to ensure the current examination fees do not increaase and the number of exams conducted each year remains unlimited.”Amendment shown in bold
17 For 41 Against 1 Abstention. Amended proposal
2016/03
From the Executive. “That the Standing Orders used for the ADM 2016 be adopted for the future Delegate Meetings. Should any changes become necessary, they will clearly indicated by a vertical line in the margin, alongside the changes which have been made, in order that they may be identified.”
Referred back to the executive: 55 For 4 Against
2016/04
From Devon. “By January 2017, BBKA will have forulated a standard set of ‘Standing Orders’ for use at Annual and Special Delegate Meetings.”
2016/05
From Dover and District. “That Standing Orders for Delegate Meetings shall be by overt propositions for changes, stating whether they are to stand or to apply only for one specific meeting. Change propositions may come from either the Standing Orders Committee or an AAM with a seconder. Normal Delegate Meeting deadlines shall apply, so that propositions for changes can be ciculated with the meeting papers.”
2016/06
From Somerset. “That BBKA uses the standing orders from the 2015 Annual delegates meeting as the basis for standing orders for future delegates meetings (Annual and Special). Amendment(s) to,or revision of these standing orders should be listed as propositions in the delegates packs alongside the established standing orders with an explanation of the amendment(s) or revision at the ADM or SDM. The Amendments or revisions can only be voted on at an ADM or SDM meeting.”
Propositions 2016//04/05/06 referred back to the executive on block: 56 For 3 Against
2016/07
From Wiltshire. “That the BBKA should have a Standing Orders Committee whose members are elected by the Delegates at the ADM, and that no more than half of the seats on the SOC should be occupied by any members who are concurrently serving on the BBKA Executive or the Examination Board. The EC is asked to form a working party including a representative from AAM’s to recommend the size, election procedure, and duration of appointments for the SOC; also to revise the Standing Orders for the ADM’s and SDM’s. Enabling amendments to the BBKA Constitution will be prsented for adoption at the 2017 ADM.”
14 For 44Against
2016/08
From Dover. “That for every vote at a Delegate Meeting using the electronic voting system, an account shall be published, and not least included with the minutes, identifying those AAM’s voting For, voting Agaist and Abstaining.”
11 For 47 Against
2016/09
From Dover. “It shall be the policy of the BBKA that any external entity under the control of the charity’s trustees shall be subject to the same financial scrutiny as the charity itself. This shall apply not least to entities established with the expectation of raising funds for the charity by means of trading activities. All Trustees, the BBKA Treasurer and potentially the auditors shall be permitted the same access to the papers and data of all bodies that are under the ultimate legal control of the Trustees,as if those were papers and data of the BBKA. Accordingly, if any of the persons are refused access to any such information; they are under an obligation to report this, without delay, to the Member Associations.”
31 For 26 Against 2 Abstentions
2016/10
From Hampshire. “It is proposed that alongside the current General Husbandry Examination the BBKA should offer a two part alternative that allows for those with less spare time to take the same assessment in two halves at their own time of choosing. This will make the General Husbandry exam much less daunting to propective candidates who see it as a large syllabus to learn and very time consuming to undertake. The proposition would enable the qualification to maintain its reputation as a premium award in beekeeping, while enabling a greater number of candidates to undertake the examinations and possibly progress towards more advanced qualifications.”
Referred back to the Executive: 55 For 4 Against
2016/11
From Hampshire. “Proposition 2014/09, passed at the 54th BBKA ADM does not warrant the time and financial expendicture of the BBKA to achieve its goal. As such it should be repealed. The consequences of HM Treasury agreeing to a VAT reduction or waiver on beekeeping eqipment would set a dangerous presedent, which would undoubtedly lead to similar organisations in the UK demanding a VAT reduction or waiver on their equipment. HM Government will already understand the likely outcome of setting such a presedent for beekeepers and as such are highly unlikelyto consider a bill or amendment to the law which would allow for such demands.”
35 For 25 Against 1Abstention
2017/12
From Devon. “That the BBKA should record all its Executive Council meetings and make the minutes available to BBKA members through its website.”No seconder - the proposition fell.
2016/13
From Executive Committee. “Delegares are asked to confirm their agreement to BBKA hosting the International Meeting of Young Beekeepersin 2017but only if account funding is obtained.” Amendment shownin bold.
43 For 15 Against 0 Abstentions
2016/14
From Executibe Committee. “Delegates are asked to agree to a one off levy of £1 per member being paid by associations to specifically contrbute to the cost of hosting the 2017 International Meeting of Young Beekeepers.To become effective only if £30,000 has been raised by commercial sponsors by the organising group for gauranteed sponsorship.” Amendment shown in bold.
41 For 15 Against 2 Abstentions
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Honorary Membership Awards for 50 years, 60 years and 70years of Beekeeping.
There were three Suffolk beekeepers that were to receive this award for having completed many years of beekeeping. These beekeepers are: David Adams - 50 Years, George Rivers - 60 years and John Fairhurst - 70 years.
Presentation of the Surrey and George Knight Memorial Shields.
The Surrey Shield is for the county with the most passes in the Basic Exam and the George Knight Shield is for the association with most successes in all catagories of education. The Surrey shield was presented to Derbyshire Association and the George Knight shield to Yorkshire Association.
BBKA Chairman - Doug Brown.
The chaiman thanked David Aston for his many years of sevice on the executive now that he is finishing his term of office.
BBKA President
The president thanked Doug Brownfor his many years of service now that his term had come to an end.
The meeting closed at 4:30pm