Present: chairman F Warburton, secretary R Kavanagh, treasurer G Tonge and delegates from all teams except Legh Arms.
The chairman opened the meeting at 7.30 and welcomed all delegates.
Apologies:
None.
Minutes of previous meeting:
The secretary read the minutes of the 2017 pre-season meeting which were accepted by the delegates. There were no matters arising.
Secretary’s report:
He was somewhat relieved to report that there had been no changes to the composition of the league since last year, and in particular since the fixtures were done. The season should therefore progress as shown in the fixture cards.
The relevant clubs had been issued with invoices from Greater Manchester County. If clubs wanted to arrange their public liability insurance through Endsleigh, this now had to be done online, with a unique reference for each club. These numbers had been issued to the relevant clubs. However the web site was still offering policies for the previous year (running to 30 April). It will possibly be updated the following Monday (19 March). It was also difficult to find - on the BCGBA page you needed to click on Play Bowls, then Membership, then Insurance Portal.
As planned, the BCGBA had increased its club levy to £25.
Delegates may have heard that BCGBA had decided that every club must have a named safeguarding officer. The league had written to Greater Manchester opposing this move as ill-thought-out, and Greater Manchester voted against. It seemed only one other county did so.
The clubs that affiliate to Greater Manchester through the Sale league had a form with which they can get their officer accredited. The safeguarding officers had to be in place by March 2019, so there was no need for panic but no room for complacency either.
At the time it was not very clear how this was going to operate. The actual rule in full was “Every Club must have a named Safeguarding Officer who holds a current DBS. Failure to comply will result in an appropriate penalty.” Greater Manchester county seemed to be taking an officious approach to this, insisting that the named person meet one of their DBS checkers for their identity to be confirmed. The secretary had also heard that a DBS check obtained for another purpose would not do - a separate check must be done via the county. On the other hand, he had also heard a story that the safeguarding office did not need to be a member of the club. If this were true, it opened up the possibility of one person doing the job for lots of clubs. This would of course make a mockery of a policy that has already come in for a lot of mockery. Things may become a bit clearer at the county meeting the following Monday.
There were another 37 proposals discussed at the BCGBA rules revision meeting. he had not been able to find out how any of these were decided, but we would get the BCGBA handbooks the following Monday with the answers. He thought the only change that was likely to concern us was that in future a mark will be measured from the from of the mat, not the middle.
He had mentioned at the AGM an informal approach from the Altrincham and South Manchester league. Following this, we had discussed possible co-operation with the Urmston league, but their general meeting rejected this by a small margin. The league had now had a letter from the Altrincham and South Manchester league, proposing a merger.
The idea was to form one association, running leagues on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Member clubs would be able to play in either or both of these. Member clubs and bowlers would be able to enter the competitions of either league. The claimed benefits were better management and financial stability, as well as a larger pool of clubs and bowlers.
The committee would discuss this, and we may agree to meet the ASM league to see what they have to offer. It would not affect the current season, and nothing would happen without the approval of general meetings of both leagues. If anything significant happens the secretary would keep delegates informed.
Treasurer’s report:
The treasurer reported that all clubs except Legh Arms had paid their flat fees. Otherwise there was little activity at this time of year.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 7.50 pm