Structure Group Report 2013-06-30

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT June 2013

http://freegle.it/Structure

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st May , covering messages 12175 to 12216.

The topics we have discussed or are still live/pending this month are below:

Trading Subsidiary Task Team

The Team gave a report on June 1st. Our group has accepted the recommendation that rather than form a subsidiary, the whole of Freegle needs to change its structure. The proposal is that Freegle will become an Industrial and Provident Society for Community Benefit, using the charitable rules so we can get HMRC charitable status for the new organisation. The final report from the Team is due any day now and will give detailed recommendations for change.

Task 104 - Complaints Procedure Review

We are still discussing the best way to proceed with this review.

Task 73 - Freegle Mailbox Guidelines

It was suggested last year that it might be a good idea to have some guidelines for those using Freegle mailboxes. The central info@mailbox has a remit, but the various other addresses used for Freegle don't. Discussion is continuing on this.

Task 95 - Specialist Group Affiliation

We are still awaiting GAT’s response to the proposed amendments to affiliation for specialist groups, so they can be recommended to be adopted.

Task 101 - Paying for Services, and Reps

After discussion on this group, a message was posted on Central (38135) proposing a poll after a period of discussion. The poll was posted and the result was:

Payment for Services: Structure group proposes that any Volunteer - whether elected, active centrally, or not - can receive payment for services for Freegle, as long as everything is properly documented and the process is fair and transparent. If this proposal is accepted here (by a simple majority), work will commence on adjusting relevant policies and procedures to enable this to happen.

Yes, I agree with this proposal - 61 votes / 89%

No, I disagree with this proposal - 6 votes / 8%

Abstain - 1 vote / 1%

A note was made on http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Financial_Management_and_Controls

to reflect the results of the poll. The Reps will look at this document in detail to see if recommendations are needed for further changes. Structure group will look through other documentation to see if changes are needed elsewhere.

Task 102 - Equalities Monitoring

Discussion has started on this, but has stalled this month. The discussion is whether it is practical and/or desirable to consider equalities monitoring of group members.

Task 103 - Mediation for Members

We noted that we are still awaiting information from the Ombudsman on this task from last year.

Task List

Our Task List is here : http://freegle.it/StructureTasks , with the current and pending tasks listed on the first page. If you wish to take part in the discussions on any of the tasks, please do join in!

Group ‘Personnel’

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley). Owners are Jacky and Wendy. Group membership stands at 76 (no change since last month).

Back to Structure Group Report 2013-05-31, forwards to Structure Group Report 2013-07-31