Constitution

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CONSTITUTION

THE ROYAL SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY WEST LOTHIAN BRANCH

  1. NAME

The name of the Local Association shall be “The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society – West Lothian Branch” (hereinafter called “the Local Association”).

  1. ASSOCIATION WITH THE ROYAL SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY

The Local Association is an autonomous body consisting of:

(a)      Members of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (hereinafter called “Society Members” and “the Society” respectively);

(b)      Associate Members of the Local Association (see Clause 4, 2(a)).

While it has similar objects to and associates with the Society under a formal Licence            Agreement, it operates and carries out its administration and management independently of the Society.

  1. OBJECTS

The objects of the Local Association shall be to advance the education and engagement of the public in the district/area of West Lothian and its neighbourhood in traditional Scottish country dancing and in furtherance thereof:-

(a)      to preserve and further the practice of traditional Scottish country dancing;

(b)      to provide or assist in providing education or instruction to Society standards in the practice of Scottish country dancing;

(c)      to promote the enjoyment and appreciation of Scottish  country dancing and music by any suitable means;

(d)      generally to do such other things as are or may be considered by the Local Association to further the foregoing objects and those of the Society in the district or area to which it relates, including building working links with other local traditional dance and music initiatives.

  1. MEMBERSHIP AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

1.       Membership of the Local Association shall be open only to members of the Society (ie “Society Members”).  A range of Society membership subscriptions is available, including Youth Membership (12-17 years).  Society membership can only be through one nominated Local Association.  Only such Members as have attained the age of 18 shall have the power to vote in matters concerned with the management of the Local Association.

2.       (a)      Any member of the Society for whom the Local  Association is not their primary Local Association,  and persons under the age of 18, may become  Associate Members of the Local Association.

(b)     The privileges accorded to such Associate Members  shall be regulated from time to time by the Committee Management of the Local Association and approved by the Local Association and its relationship with the Society

The rates of local subscription for both classes of members  shall be such as may be determined from time to time by the Local Association in General Meeting.

  1. OFFICE-BEARERS

1.      The Office-Bearers of the Local Association, all of whom  shall be Society Members of West Lothian Branch who have attained the age of 18, shall consist of the Chairman, the Chairman Elect (when in office), the Honorary Secretary, and the Honorary Treasurer who shall all be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Local Association in accordance with the Rules of the Local Association.

2.      The Chairman shall hold office for one year and on  completion of his/her year of office shall be eligible for re-election.  The maximum consecutive term of office will be five years.

3.      The Chairman Elect (if required) shall be nominated and elected so that he/she shall hold office for one year before  normally being elected Chairman at the next Annual General Meeting.

4.      The Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer shall hold  office for one year and shall be eligible for re-election.

5.      The Committee of Management shall have power to appoint an Interim Chairman, Chairman Elect, Honorary Secretary, and/or Honorary Treasurer to fill vacancies in any elected posts occurring between Annual General Meetings but any Office Bearer/officer so appointed shall  serve only until the next Annual General Meeting when he/she shall be eligible for election to complete the unexpired term of an office caused by resignation or death.  In this case the provision of the preceding clauses 2 and 3 would not apply.

6.      The Local Association may appoint an Honorary President and Honorary Vice-President.

  1. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT

(a)    Membership/Meetings

1.     The affairs of the Local Association shall be administered by a Committee of Management (hereinafter referred to as “the committee”) composed of the Chairman, Chairman Elect (if in office), Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, any other elected officers and 10 ordinary Members.

2.     Ordinary Members of the Committee and any elected officers shall be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting of the Local Association.

Nominations for vacancies of Office-Bearers and Committee Members, duly proposed and seconded, and with agreement of the Nominee, should be submitted to the Honorary Secretary, in writing, before commencement of the meeting.  The Chairman reserves the right to accept nominations from the floor should there have been insufficient written nominations for the vacant posts.  A Member serving on the committee of another Local Association is not eligible to serve on the Committee.  On completion of his/her year of office a Member shall be eligible subject to Clause 5.2 above for re-election to the Committee.

3.      The Committee shall have the power to fill a vacancy among the ordinary Members of Committee by co-option but any Member so co-opted will serve only until the next following Annual General Meeting when he/she may stand for election.

4.      All Members of the Committee must be Society Members of the Local Association and shall have attained the age of 18.

(b)     Powers and Duties of Committee

1.      A Quorum of the Committee shall be seven Members.

2.     The Committee shall have the power to constitute Sub-Committees on an ad hoc basis either from its own membership or by co-opting other Society Members of the Local Association and to entrust them with such duties as it considers necessary for the efficient working of Local Association affairs.  Such co-opted Members shall not have voting powers.

3.      Committee meetings shall be held at regular intervals for the efficient running of the Local Association.

  1. DUTIES OF OFFICE-BEARERS

1.     Chairman – The Local Association Chairman is the executive officer of the Local Association.  The Chairman shall preside at Local Association Meetings and at meetings of the Committee.  In the absence of the Chairman from a meeting the Chairman Elect (if in post) shall take the chair, failing whom a chairman shall be appointed from among those present.  The Chairman of any meeting, whether a Local Association or Committee meeting, shall have a casting as well as a deliberative vote.

2.     Honorary Secretary – The Honorary Secretary shall see that regular meetings are held and properly recorded and conduct the correspondence of the Local Association.   Additionally the Honorary Secretary shall:

(a)    prepare an annual report of the activities of the Local Association during the preceding year

(b)    ensure that a register of Society Members of the Local Association is maintained and communicated to the Secretary of the Society as required.  Where possible this should be by use of the Society’s online Membership database.

3.     Honorary Treasurer – It shall be the duty of the Honorary Treasurer to receive, bank in the Local Association account, and account for all monies collected by whatever agency from Members of the Local Association or from other sources.  Additionally the Honorary Treasurer shall:

(a)    cause proper account books to be kept and ensure that the annual accounts of the Local Association are properly examined or audited after the end of the financial year, 30th April, as required by law;

(b)    make the annual Local Association accounts available for inspection at reasonable times and present the accounts for adoption by the Local Association at the Annual General Meeting;

(c)    ensure that all cheques issued on behalf of the  Local Association be signed by two Office Bearers.

(d)   should familiarise himself/herself with OSCR requirements regarding financial reporting.

  1. LOCAL ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

1.     (a)     The Annual General Meeting of the Society Members and Associate Members of the Local  Association shall be held within six months after the end of its financial year at such place and at such time as may be determined by the Committee.

(b)   All such Members shall be given 14 days written notice of a General Meeting.  Every notice shall contain a statement of the business to be discussed at the meeting.

(c)   Members under the age of 18 years may attend and, with the permission of the Chairman, speak at a General Meeting but may not vote.

  1.  The order of business at an Annual General Meeting shall, as nearly as may be, the following:

(a)   Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting and of Special General Meetings, if any, held in the course of the year;

(b)   Honorary Secretary’s Report on year’s working of the Local Association;

(c)   Honorary Treasurer’s Report and Accounts;

(d)  Appointment of Office-Bearers and Committee;

(e)  Motions, which must be in the hands of the Honorary Secretary in writing not later than six weeks prior to the Annual General Meeting

(f)   Any other competent business.

3.    A Special General Meeting may be called at any time by the Chairman or shall be called on a requisition signed by not less than one-tenth of the Society Members of the Local Association entitled to vote.

4.    One quarter of the Members or twenty-five Members of the Local Association entitled to vote, whichever shall be lesser, shall constitute a quorum.

5.    The Local Association in General Meeting may enact such rules (hereinafter referred to as the “Rules”) as it may determine for the proper working of the Local Association.

  1. FINANCE

1.    All monies raised by, or on behalf of, the Local Association shall normally be applied to further the objects of the Local Association and for no other purpose; provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the payment in good faith of reasonable and proper remuneration to any employee of the local Association and fees to professional and technical advisers; or the repayment to Members of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.

2.    The only exception would be in the case of a profit-making function/activity for a specific charity/good cause approved by the Management Committee and clearly advertised as such.

  1. SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP

1.    The Committee may suspend temporarily or terminate the membership of any person whose conduct is, in their opinion, prejudicial to the interests of the Local                   Association.  Suspension or termination shall not alter other rights or status of the person concerned as a Member of the Society.

2.    Before suspending or terminating any person’s membership, the Committee shall notify in writing the person concerned stating the reasons for the proposed suspension or termination and giving that person the opportunity of replying and of appearing before the Committee, if the Member so wishes, to seek revocation of the suspension or termination.

3.    The person whose membership has been suspended or terminated shall have the right of appeal at a Local Association General Meeting when a two-thirds majority of those present and entitled to vote shall be necessary to confirm the suspension or termination.

4.    Where suspension or termination has occurred or, where appropriate, has been confirmed as in 3 above, the matter, with reasons, shall be notified to the Secretary of the Society without delay under ‘Confidential – Addressee Only’ cover.

  1. DISBANDMENT

1.    Notice of intention to disband the Local Association shall be given to the Secretary of the Society at least two months before the date proposed for such disbandment.

2.    The balance of the funds, after all liabilities have been met, shall be transferred to a recognised charitable body or bodies having objects similar to those of the Local Association (excluding geographical limitations) as the members in General Meeting, whom failing, the Committee, shall decide.

3.    All property belonging to the Local Association shall be treated in the same way as the balance of funds in 2. Depending on the form of the property its value should be realised and added to the balance or it should be offered to an appropriate archive repository.

  1. REPRESENTATION IN THE SOCIETY

1.    In accordance with the Constitution and Rules of the Society, any Society Member aged 18 years or over may stand for election to management posts within the Society.

2.    In accordance with the Constitution and Rules of the Society, the Local Association in General Meeting (which failing, the Committee), may appoint a delegate or delegates; all of whom shall be Members of the Society who have attained the age of 18, to attend a General Meeting of the Society and represent the Local Association at such meeting. In the event of an appointed delegate being unable to attend such meeting, an accredited substitute, who shall also have attained the age of 18, shall be allowed.

  1. ALTERATION OF CONSTITUTION

1.    The Constitution of the Local Association shall only be altered by Resolution passed by the Local Association in General Meeting and only after receiving the vote of not less than two-thirds of the Members present and entitled to vote.  No alteration shall be made which would have the effect of causing the Local Association to cease to be recognised by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) as a charity.

2.    Under the Licence Agreement the Local Association agrees to notify the Society in writing of any proposed changes to the Constitution of the Local Association two months prior to any such change being approved by the Local Association.

2.    No alteration may be made to this Constitution which would result in a contravention of the Licence Agreement unless approved by the Society through the re-negotiation of the Licence Agreement.

  1. GENERAL

The Local Association shall be governed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction within which it is situated, this Constitution and with Rules made by the Local Association in General Meeting.

 

(Rev June 2015)

 

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