Changes in the Management of the Association

16/07/18

At the Annual General Meeting 2018 those members present supported two important changes to the way the membership has been involved in the management of afPE.

The first changed the system for the nomination of potential trustees by members followed by an election process whenever the number of nominations exceeded the vacancies on the Board. For several years a lack of interest in becoming a trustee has led to there not being the number of nominations to necessitate an election resulting in the Board operating, effectively and efficiently, below the maximum number of twelve trustees. A system of identifying and selecting trustees, based on the skills needed for the Board to function effectively, has been introduced.

The provision for members to nominate potential trustees will continue as before. These will be supplemented by the Board advertising for both member and independent trustees from which the Board, supported by the Nominations Committee, will select, interview and invite some nominees to join the Board where the necessary skills needed to support the management of the Association are evident.

The second change is to end the requirement to hold annual general meetings. The law does not require private companies such as afPE to hold such meetings. The Board has continued with an AGM in order to maintain one of the procedures for involving the membership in the development of the Association. In recent years numbers present have been very low with the possibility of conducting the business of an AGM being at risk. The decision to abandon annual general meetings will not affect the level of information provided to members nor the opportunity to call other general meetings from time to time should it become necessary for the better administration of the organisation.

Clearly members’ interests in what they want from the Association and what they want to be involved with has changed in recent times. These changes are in response to the evidence of members’ chosen involvement in the business of afPE.

Member benefits, opportunity for involvement or access to information are not affected in any way. Effective and efficient management of the Association will be improved.