RPRA Rule Change Proposals 2020 -

[willie reynolds]

Please note that the existing Rule is printed in italics/bold, and the proposed
Rule is in plain/bold print.
Explanations for Rule changes are highlighted in Red.

7/1 LONDON REGION PROPOSE
Delete Rule 16
Any school, college, university or other educational establishment or
institution shall be entitled to be recognised as a member of the Association
by virtue of the membership of an individual who is a member of the
Association and agrees to act as nominee for the school, college, university or
other educational establishment or institution.

Replace with
Any school, college, university or other educational establishment or
institution or communal or community project, shall be entitled to be
recognised as a member of the Association by virtue of the membership of an
individual who is a member of the Association and agrees to act as nominee
for the school college university or other educational establishment or
institution or communal or community project.
Reason for altering this Rule is to allow communal or community projects the
same rights as educational establishments.
Ie. Old people’s homes or residential homes in the community. One such
Communal project has just got underway in 2019 run by Mr Lennie Jenkins in
the Dagenham Essex area.

7/2 COUNCIL OF THE RPRA PROPOSE

Delete Rule 27
Each Club (including any National or Specialist Club) shall pay to the
Secretary of its Local Region.
(a) an annual subscription to the Association £7 ( inclusive of VAT) for each
member of the Club except any member who has paid their annual
subscription through another Club.
(b) and an annual subscription to the Clubs Local Region of £3 for every
member of the Club except any member who has paid their annual
subscription to the Local Region through another Club.
(c) all Junior members under the age of 18 who are members of a Club will
pay an annual subscription to the Association of £3 (inclusive of VAT) except
any Junior member that has paid their subscription to the Association through
another Club. and an annual subscription of £2 ( inclusive of VAT) to the
Clubs Local Region except any junior member that has paid their subscription
to the Local Region through another Club.

Replace with
Each Club (including any National or Specialist Club ) shall pay to the
Secretary of its Local Region.
(a) an annual subscription to the Association £7 ( inclusive of VAT) for each
member of the Club except any member who has paid their annual
subscription through another Club.
(b) and an annual subscription to the Clubs Local Region of £3 for every
member of the Club except any member who has paid their annual
subscription to the Local Region through another Club.
(c) all Junior members under the age of 18 who are members of a Club will
pay an annual subscription to the Association of £3 (inclusive of VAT) except
any Junior member that has paid their subscription to the Association through
another Club. and an annual subscription of £2 ( inclusive of VAT) to the
Clubs Local Region except any junior member that has paid their subscription
to the Local Region through another Club.
(d) an annual insurance premium of £2 per member.

Reason: to cover the cost of the RPRA insurance scheme that provides clubs
with equipment and Public Liability cover.

7/3 SOUTHERN REGION PROPOSE

Delete Rule 27
Each Club (including any National or Specialist Club ) shall pay to the
Secretary of its Local Region.
(a) an annual subscription to the Association £7 ( inclusive of VAT) for each
member of the Club except any member who has paid their annual
subscription through another Club.
(b) and an annual subscription to the Clubs Local Region of £3 for every
member of the Club except any member who has paid their annual
subscription to the Local Region through another Club.
(c) all Junior members under the age of 18 who are members of a Club will
pay an annual subscription to the Association of £3 (inclusive of VAT) except
any Junior member that has paid their subscription to the Association through
another Club. and an annual subscription of £2 ( inclusive of VAT) to the
Clubs Local Region except any junior member that has paid their subscription
to the Local Region through another Club.

Replace With
Every club (including any national or specialist club) shall pay to the secretary
of its local region.
(a) an annual subscription to the Association of £7.00 (inclusive of VAT) for
each member of the club except any member who has paid their annual
subscription through another club.
(b) and an annual subscription to the club's local region of £3.00 for each
member of the club except any member who has paid their annual
subscription to a local region through another club.
(c) and an annual subscription to the Association of £3.00 (inclusive of VAT)
for each member of the club aged 8-18 except any member aged 8-18 who
has paid their subscription through another club
(d) an annual subscription to the club's local region of £2.00 for each member
of the club aged 8-18 except any member aged 8-18 who has paid their
annual subscription through another club
(e) all members aged 8-18 will be entitled to 20 free life rings annually
supplied by RPRA headquarters

Reason: Age 8 is recommended as the minimum age at which an individual
could be considered to race pigeons in their own right
Individuals are required by law to be in education until reaching the age of
18”.

7/4 SOUTHERN REGION PROPOSE

Delete Rule 32
An individual Member shall pay
(a) An annual subscription of £5 to the Association and
(b) An annual subscription of £5 to his Local Region.
(c) An individual Junior member under the age of 18 will pay to the
Association an annual subscription of £3.
(d) an individual Junior member under the age of 18 will pay to their Local
Region an annual subscription of £2. All individual subscriptions shall be paid
to the Secretary of the Local Region not later than 1st March each year and
are inclusive of VAT. Individual members will only be entitled to the privileges
and benefits of the Association when the fees for that year have been paid.
Individual members may apply from 1st November for the following years
membership.

Replace with
(a) An individual member shall pay an annual subscription of £5.00 to the
Association and an annual subscription of £5.00 to their local region.
(b) An individual member aged 8-18 shall pay an annual subscription of £3. to
the Association and an annual subscription of £2.00 to their local region.
All individual members aged 8-18 will be entitled to 20 free life rings annually
supplied from RPRA headquarters
All individual subscriptions shall be paid to the secretary of their local region
not later than 1 March each year and are inclusive of VAT.
Individual members shall only be entitled to the privileges and benefits of the
Association when the fees for that year have been paid.
Individual members may apply from 1 November for the following years
membership.

Reason: Age 8 is recommended as the minimum age at which an individual
could be considered to race pigeons in their own right
Individuals are required by law to be in education until reaching the age of
18”.

7/5 NORTH EAST REGION PROPOSE

Delete Rule 59
The Association shall pay or reimburse Councillors for the cost of second
class return railway fares or if travelling by car an allowance of 35p per mile,
hotel costs will be paid for by the Association. In attending meetings of
Council or any Committee of the Council the following sums by way of
expenses will be paid;
a) when necessary for a Councillor to arrive for a Thursday evening meeting -
£20.
b) when necessary for a Councillor to arrive Thursday night - £10.
c) in respect of any Saturday - £20 irrespective of what time the meeting
finished.
d) in respect of any other day - £40.

Replace with
The Association shall pay or reimburse Councillors for the cost of second
class return railway fares or if travelling by car an allowance of 45p per mile,
hotel costs will be paid for by the Association. In attending meetings of
Council or any Committee of the Council the following sums by way of
expenses will be paid;
a) when necessary for a Councillor to arrive for a Thursday evening meeting -
£20.
b) when necessary for a Councillor to arrive Thursday night - £10.
c) in respect of any Saturday - £20 irrespective of what time the meeting
finished.
d) in respect of any other day - £40.

Reason; To set the mileage allowance at a more realistic level and still within
that allowed by HMRC.

7/6 SOUTHERN REGION PROPOSE

Delete Rule 59
The Association shall pay or reimburse Councillors for the cost of second
class return railway fares or if travelling by car an allowance of 35p per mile,
hotel costs will be paid for by the Association. In attending meetings of
Council or any Committee of the Council the following sums by way of
expenses will be paid;
a) when necessary for a Councillor to arrive for a Thursday evening meeting -
£20
b) when necessary for a Councillor to arrive Thursday night - £10
c) in respect of any Saturday - £20 irrespective of what time the meeting
finished.
d) in respect of any other day - £40.

Replace with
The Association shall pay or reimburse Councillors for the cost of second
class return railway fares or if travelling by car an allowance of 45p a mile in
attending meetings of Council or any committee of Council. All necessary
hotel costs will be paid for by the Association in attending meetings of Council
or any committee of Council. All other necessary expenses will be reimbursed
by the Association on production of a receipt.

Reason: The 45p mileage allowance brings the allowance in line with what is
paid to staff.

7/7 SOUTHERN REGION PROPOSE

Delete Rule 134
Exhibitors may not be able to judge and show at a show which they are
exhibiting.

Replace with
Exhibitors may judge at shows at which they are exhibiting provided
(a) All exhibits to be penned before the selected judges are informed of the
class/classes they have been nominated to judge.
(b) The exhibits of the judge in the class/classes he/she has been nominated
to judge will be withdrawn.
(c) All stewards to be provided by the show organisers.
(d) No contact or conversation will be permitted between judges while judging
is in progress.
(e) On completion of judging of his/her class/classes the judge will be required
to leave the hall immediately until all judging is completed.
Any violation of the provisos will result in the offending judge being withdrawn
along with all his/her exhibits.

Reason: Existing Rule 134 is badly worded using the word may.
Experienced judges are in short supply and are often exhibitors in their own
right with safeguards exhibitors should be allowed to judge at shows at which
they are also exhibiting”.

7/8 WELSH REGION PROPOSE

Delete existing Rule 139 (b)
These Rules may be altered by the Council at any annual general meeting
provided not less than 28 days notice of the proposed alteration has been
given to the secretary of each Local Region Committee and advertised in any
two papers devoted to the sport of racing or showing homing pigeons
circulating nationally in the United Kingdom.

Replace with
These rules may be altered based on a majority vote of individual members,
one member one vote all of whom must have paid a fee for the current year.
Voting shall be facilitated through the provision of ballot papers published on
the RPRA website, social media and in the British Homing World Journal at
least 21 days before the voting deadline. An online electronic voting system
may also be provided. For the purpose of this Rule an individual member will
be defined as those individuals who are members of clubs/organisations as
well as the definition of individuals within Rule 2. The collation of votes will be
administered at the RPRA HQ and it will be the responsibility of the RPRA
Chief Executive to ensure that a fully auditable trail is maintained for scrutiny
for at least 6 months after voting. The cost of postage (ballot papers) will be
incurred by each individual member.

Reason: To provide an opportunity for every member of the Association to
have a say in the direction, governance and rules of the Association as
opposed to the current governance structure that requires club delegates to
attend region meetings. A small percentage is engaged in the current
process. The recent member’s consultation exercise proves that a larger
percentage of members will engage in this process as opposed to the regional
structure. Please note this proposition does not remove the requirement of the
Regions and only proposes to amend how rules are adopted and/or changed
and reflect the outcome of the recent member’s consultation.

7/9 WELSH REGION PROPOSE

New Rule 159 (b)
Any RPRA member who is refused membership of a club in accordance with
Rule 159 shall be notified in writing. Such notification shall include a reason
for the refusal. The applicant then has 14 days to object the decision to
his/her local region. The region shall determine whether the reason is
justifiable. If the region find that the refusal for membership was not justifiable
then the RPRA member will be granted membership of the club.
Accompanying Appendix
The following reasons should not be considered justifiable
Any reason linked to the member’s ability to race pigeons successfully or
otherwise.
Justifiable reasons are as follows:
The member is outside the club radius.
The member is a defaulter, including a defaulter with other recognised unions.
The member is already a member of an existing RPRA club, excluding
national or specialist clubs.
That the member has resigned from an RPRA club within the last 12 months –
excluding national or specialist clubs.

Please note the above is not an exhaustive list an other reasons can be
considered.

Reason: There are far too many RPRA members that are unable to continue
with their hobby/sport due to the fact they are unable to join a club for no real
justifiable reason.

7/10 WELSH REGION PROPOSE

New Rule 159 (c)
Any member of the RPRA who is not within the boundary of a club shall be
granted, upon written application to the Federation secretary, individual
membership of his/her nearest Federation. However the Federation may
refuse membership if a justifiable reason can be provided.
Any RPRA member who is refused individual membership of a Federation,
based on a majority vote, shall be notified in writing. Such notification shall
include a reason for the refusal. The applicant then has 14 days to object the
decision to his/her local region. The region shall determine whether the
reason is justifiable. If the region find that the refusal for membership was not
justifiable then the RPRA member will be granted membership of the
Federation.
He/she shall be able to compete for Federation honours and will race mark
his/her pigeons at the nearest club affiliated to the Federation
Accompanying Appendix
The following reasons should not be considered justifiable.
Any reason linked to the member’s ability to race pigeons successfully or
otherwise.
Justifiable reasons are as follows:
The member is a defaulter, including a defaulter with other recognised unions.
The member is already a member of an existing RPRA club, excluding
national or specialist clubs.
That the member has resigned from an RPRA club within the last 12 months –
excluding national or specialist clubs.
Please note the above is not an exhaustive list an other reasons can be
considered.

Reason: There are far too many RPRA members that are unable to continue
with their hobby/sport due to the fact they are outside the boundary of all
clubs.

7/11 COUNCIL OF THE RPRA PROPOSE

New Rule 168 (a).
In the event of the grievance being against the secretary of the organisation
then the organisation chair shall take control of the procedure.
Reason: To provide clarity as to how such a process should be administered
when the grievance is against the Secretary.

7/12 SOUTHERN REGION PROPOSE

New Rule
Each club (including any National or Specialist club) shall pay to the secretary
of its Local Region an annual payment to the Association of £2.00 (inclusive
of VAT) for each member of the club except any member who has paid the
annual payment through another club.

Reason: Rule essential to continue with the Insurance Policy (paid by the
RPRA centrally in 2019) which covers all RPRA clubs assets (clocks, crates
etc.) and includes Public Liability.

7/13 SOUTHERN REGION PROPOSE
New Rule
Any resolution affecting any alteration in the amount of annual subscription to
the Association or a local region passed by an annual general meeting of the
Council shall take effect on 1 November following the date on which the
annual general meeting is held.

Reason: brings Rule 37 in line with Rule 32 which allows individual members
to apply from 1 November for the following years membership.

7/14 SOUTHERN REGION PROPOSE

New Rule
Before 1 June in each year the CEO will draw up a list of rings issued to clubs
and Organisations prior to 31 March in that year. The list will include a contact
number for the club or organisation when permission has been obtained. The
list will be published in the BHW.

Reason: The ring list proved invaluable for getting stray pigeons repatriated
quickly and has been sorely missed. The contact number can be obtained by
getting the permission of the individual to print in the same way as permission
is obtained from Councillors for printing their address and telephone number.

7/15 WESTERN REGION PROPOSE

New Rule
All clocks set for a race of one day must be returned to the club headquarters
on the day that the bird was timed in. For a race of more than one day, and
where an electronic clock is used that shows clearly the date when the bird
was clocked when a print out is obtained, then that clock can be returned to
the club headquarters at an arranged time and date as may be determined by
the organisation for a strike off.

Reason: This is to make clear what already would seem to be permissible for
Continental racing.
* This allows members with electronic timing systems to remain at their loft
until the close of race for that day.
* This makes the logistics of bringing clocks to be opened easier and more
socially acceptable especially for families.
* This prevents the need for secretaries / officials to be back and forth to the
clubhouse.

7/16 WESTERN REGION PROPOSE

New Rule
Item 1 on any meeting agenda of the Association or any affiliated organisation
shall be "Declaration of Interest". Any member, group or individual member
who may gain from a decision made at a meeting must declare their interest
in any items on the items for discussion. The President or chair will have the
right to decide if there is a clear conflict of interest, and will have the right to
ask the interested party or parties to refrain from taking an active part in the
agenda item.

Reason: To protect the interests of the Association and all RPRA affiliated
organisations.