MINUTES OF THE BEOA COMMITTEE MEETING
20th November 2018
Edgecote, Banbury
| PRESENT | Livy Agnew, Andrew Chadwick, Jan Cottam, Tina Ure, Josie Brettell, Karen Bartlett, Pete Collins, Heidi Davies, Kim Knightly, Hannah Matthews, Sarah Taylor, Simon Bates, Rachael Corry, Nell Stourton, Shelly Bacon, Rachel Faulkner, Laura de Wesselow, Rachel CorryInvited Douglas Weymouth, David Holmes and Jude Matthews attended the meeting. |
| 1. APOLOGIES | Sharon Tovey, Jo Verey, Diana Bown, Helen West |
| 2. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING | Approved – Diana Bown not Brown.SB to ask if there were any note that could be circulated to Organisers about Ground Care day at Blenheim.
Actions: SB to find out about Groundcare day notes for circulation to Organisers |
| 3. MATTERS ARISING | Due to a lack of time at the last meeting, 3 items of AOB were referred to this meeting. It was agreed to deal with these at the start of discussionsUnaffiliated v Affiliated Competitions The Sport Committee has asked that representatives for Organisers, Riders & Owners should form a working group to discuss this issue. They were asked to invite Rachael Faulkner to join them. JC suggested that LA should also be included as she now has a special interest in the unaffiliated market. The meeting was suggested for February
Doctor Register This has been spoken of in the past, with no satisfactory answer. The Organisers’ Facebook page has been helpful for events struggling to find help. The Medical Equestrian Association is worth contacting. Other Matters Arising
ACTION: Committee Members to send photos to JC |
| 4. Health & Safety | Health and Safety AC spoke with Ray Hipkin regarding the grey areas between H&S and Competition responsibilities. The view of RH was there should be a Risk Assessment for members of public, especially for the cross country course. H&S is a matter of team work between officials and organisers. RC stated there was no help from BE to cover the cross over between country fair and a BE event. JC explained the field of play is the responsibility of BE Officials. Everything else is down to the organiser. Cross country is signed off using the control log book, at the point the BE Steward gives permission for the first horse to commence the course. Show jumping and dressage sign offs needs to be clarified. Wendy McGowan had a meeting with the insurers who definitely did not want a check list to be completed by BE Officials. JC to continue to press for clarification on this matter. 21 H&S inspections were planned for 2018 but only 14 were carried out From 2019 Health & Safety Officer on site for entire event. Health and Safety Executive – AC reported that during a recent H&S Executive meeting, the general feeling was that the Equestrian industry were over reporting injuries. Accidents still need to be reported in the Event accident book but may not need to be reported to RIDDOR. AC will find out more about this. Motorised Vehicles – It is theOrganisers responsibility to say if these vehicles are not wanted on site. This must be stated in the program. ACTION: |
| 5. Chairmans’s Report | EGM There were no takers for the conference calls & meeting arranged by BE prior to the EGM. This was a difficult meeting. RF said a good outcome was that members became more engaged with BE. KB felt this attributed to the good attendance at the AGMAGM This was well attended. The presentations were good. The Board member responsible introduced each topic, which was then explained by the relevant member of BE staff. The Q&A session did not work as well due to the number of questions submitted from members who were not present. As a consequence, the meeting ran very late & in the end was closed with unanswered questions being responded to in writing at a later date.
The minutes had just been published. JC was disappointed to see some discrepancies but had not had time to study the minutes properly. KB said those that had attended had a duty to check the minutes carefully & report back, aiding the flow of communication. ST felt it was important that the minutes should be a true reflection of the content of the meeting. Communication JC felt there was currently insufficient acknowledgment of the issues that had generated the EGM & subsequent strength of feeling. There seems to be a lack of ‘plans’ for how to resolve other than ‘surgeries’ to be held in 2019. DH explained about the ‘surgeries’ & indicated these would only be at the bigger events. The committee expressed a lack of confidence that the Board had an adequate understanding of the Sport & the roles played by various Stakeholders. JC proposed that a representative from each of the associations – BEOA, EHOA & ERA, should attend Board meetings as ‘listening ears’. They would not have a vote but would be able to express a view. JC to further this KB stated the current process was groups reported to the Sport Committee & the Chair of the SC put across conclusions reached. It was felt the Board overruled some of these decisions. The BEOA has concern that the current structure was not working. KB noted Board members do not have or need to have the detailed knowledge of SC members. SB said the Board should feedback when SC decisions are changed. KB stated that communication was key. JM explained that part of her brief as a Board member was to improve communication. She appreciated that Organisers all had very different ways of running their events & wanted to understand how BE could help. LA stated that lots of little things were happening, which collectively led to dissatisfaction. There was a request for more BE staff to attend events to improve their understanding of the Organiser’s role. DH said this was happening but the committee felt the experience had not been constructive. Both BE staff & Organisers need to be positive about this. JC commented on a report from Les Smith that a number of Organisers were unhappy with the statement sent out about the EGM. They felt BEOA did not get in touch with them. JC has asked LS for numbers &, if possible, names to check she has contact details for these Organisers. Nothing has been heard as yet. JC asked DH about Debbie Pritchard’s replacement whilst on maternity leave. DH said this was being finalised but it will be someone with experience. Officials Meeting JC reported some of the main facts from the Officials wash up meeting
ACTION: |
| 6. Sport Committee | JC reported that papers presented for consideration by SC Members are often numerous & received with very little time to study. It is particularly difficult when Organisers need to be consulted.JC stated that she often felt outnumbered by BE representatives. It was imperative that she represented all Organiser views. She was always grateful that committee members came back to her so quickly when she had questions to ask.
ACTION Consider ways to engage better with volunteers JC to remind Organisers re insurance. Inform SC that Organisers wish the rule to remain unchanged. |
| 7. Treasurer’s Report | Due to a lack of time, a report was not given but funds are healthy & there is enough to cover the costs of the planned Networking Day.The number of starters was lower in 2018 due to abandonments. LdW asked if this would have a knock-on effect for the Abandonment Fee. JC stated there would be no change as this was on a 3 year contract.
There will be 169 events in 2019 Entry Fees These were announced very late. JC to request that as soon as ratified by the Board, and at least by September 1st, these should be made know to Organisers. When future Entry Fee rises are decided on, the equivalent rise in Prize Money should be taken into account. We also need to consider the additional cost of filing VAT digitally JC to send a summary of the responses to the questions asked at the SC to KB, who write a report. ACTION: JC to request that as soon as ratified by the Board, and at least by September 1st, Entry Fees should be made know to Organisers. Email consultation with committee prior to the proposed meeting with BB in February |
| 8. Prize Money | JC had spoken to WMcG about prize money rising at the same rate as Entry Fees. Although JC had been told this always happened, there is nothing written down to confirm this. This rise should be taken into account when Entry Fees are decided.Bruno Breninnkmeijer is working on a formula to apply in order to award the winner of each section, the equivalent to their Entry Fee, in prizemoney. Fewer competitors would receive prizes but they would be of greater amounts.
Figures being worked on are 7.9% for 90’s, 7.8% for 100’s & so on to Advanced at 25.2% Concern was expressed regarding Prizes in Kind as this type of sponsorship is felt integral to assisting the atmosphere at events. The AGM minutes suggested that these would be phased out, which would not be a popular move ACTION: JC to ask if the money awarded would include Abandonment & Insurance |
| 9. Printed Matter | Due to time restraints, JC asked for a show of hands to find who was not in favour of events printing their own numbers. WMcG is under pressure from the Board to introduce this for the 2019 season. DH was of the opinion that this would not be coming in until 2020. The committee was unanimous that this should not become mandatory.DH stated this was about efficiency and improving waste. It was pointed out that the same volume of numbers would be printed as there was always the need for spares.
JC said there was significant stationary wastage throughout the whole supply. FJ booklets etc. etc. The supply of Event Stationery is a service provided to affiliated events. To start to reduce this service would be the start of dumbing down the point of running affiliated events. DH suggested that Wendy McGowan came to a meeting to discuss. JC to investigate this & also produce a response for WMcG There was additional strong feeling this should not be implemented as the Entry Fee rise had already been agreed and this action would increase expenses for Organisers & be against the ethos of the Affiliation Agreement. There was a determined view that this must not be allowed to happen & the BEOA should work with BE to avoid this change ACTION: JC to enquire if WM could attend a meeting to discuss Printed Matter JC to produce a response for WMcG |
| 10. Strategic Fixtures Plan & Fixtures | Application Form RC was shocked by the emphasis on commercial. JC agreed there was too much mention of sponsorship & not enough on Sport. The relationship between BE & the Event, with respect Sponsorship is not clear. RC asked how sponsorship details were relevant to BE. JC to take this back to BE as Organisers are very protective of their sponsors.JC had not had many Organisers speak to her about the application process for 2020. She made the point that the document could have been better proof read, prior to circulation. A definition of County & Championship standard show jumps was requested of the committee. PC & SB stated there was a difference described by BS. These sets were of ‘good’ quality. JC asked DH why NS had not been consulted about the decision to run an Intermediate at Burnham Market. It was agreed that as Allerton ran 2 weeks after Burnham Market, it was outside the Fixtures Protocol. As events need to be full in order to achieve viability, perhaps the Protocol should be looked at to extend to 2 weeks. NS said that having been moved to Blenheim week, she would lose out on entries. JC to make this point to the Fixtures Team JC spoke of changes to the Fixtures Protocol to extend the distances between events. 80-Novice 100 miles 150 miles 2.5 hours travelling to 3 hours travelling A 105 Championship would not happen for the foreseeable future as the take up was still fairly slow. LdW said it needed to develop its identity. TU explained the 105 allows members to achieve challenges, prior to going Novice. The Fixtures List was very late in publication. It had been reported that this was due to an unprecedented number of changes being asked for. DH agreed this should not happen & the list should be published earlier. 2018 saw 54 days of sport lost. There were 72250 starters Since 2003 entries have doubled but the fixtures concept has remained unchanged ACTION: JC to ask for clarity on the relationship between BE & event sponsors as stated in the Strategic Plan |
| 11. Working Groups |
DH explained that this conference had been a ‘step in the dark’ for BE & until they had run it, they did not know which direction to go in. DH encouraged the BEOA to give BE some practical ideas. RC was disappointed at the lack of BE branding at events plus not much encouragement regarding press releases & social media interaction. DH refuted this but most felt it was only for a select few. JM said she would look into event signage. ACTION:- |
| 12. Networking Day | ST, JB & SB are organising a Networking Day on 27th January at Somerford Park The intention is to use this as a day to get stakeholders to interact. A flyer has been produced & will be circulated shortly.ST gave a short description of the format of the day. It is hoped that, alongside Organisers, riders, owners, sponsors etc will all attend. There will be a focus on aspects such as sponsors letting us know what they want out of events etc. as well as an opportunity to share ideas & concerns. |
| 13. Dates of Next Meetings | All venues to be confirmedEntry Fee Formula Meeting 8th January Stoneleigh Committee Meetings 7th February 2019 Stoneliegh 9th April 2019 London 18th June 2019 Edgecote 1st October London 20th November Edgecote It is hoped to hold Open Meetings at Badminton, Bramham & Blenheim The meeting to discuss the Entry Fee formula will be held at a date to be arranged |
| 12. AOB | There was no AOB |
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