Jeremy Yung McDougall Trust (The Arthur McDougall Fund ): Background documents re Trust strategic plan tCC.doc

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1 Rachel Goacher From: Sent: 19 March :25 To: Subject: Attachments: Jeremy Yung McDougall Trust (The Arthur McDougall Fund ): Background documents re Trust strategic plan tCC.doc Dear Jeremy By way of background to discussions at the meeting next Monday, 23 March, I attach in an MSWord file a brief explanatory cover note together with the Trust's June 2008 strategic planning document. This was received from the INTERNET and scanned by the Government Secure Intranet antivirus service supplied by Cable&Wireless in partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number 2007/11/0032.) In case of problems, please call your organisation's IT Helpdesk. Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes. 13/09/2011

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3 McDougall Trust Strategic Vision and Operational Plans [document at 20 June 2008] 1. Current Position of the Trust 1.1 Funding The Trust has an endowment Producing an income of about 16,000 per year and receives annual support from alt of around 65,000. Royalties of 2,500 per annum are received from the puplication of Representation (see 2 below) 1.2 Staffing The Trust is supported by one full-time member of staff on secondment from, currently part-time while undertaking an MA). The role is largely administrative ana providing information on history and the Library. 1.3 Premises The Trust rents a room in a building owned and occupied by AIM The room contains the Lakeman Library, a meeting space and the office accommodation of the single member of staff. 1.4 The Trust is supervised by a board of 10 trustees. 2. Current Activities of the Trust 2.1 The Trust publishes a peer-reviewed academic journal Representation. The Editorial function and all publishing and distribution are out-sourced, so little work is undertaken by the Trust itself other than management oversight. 2.2 The Lakeman Library is maintained and is open to use by staff and the public. 2.3 The Trust makes small grants to researchers undertaking work in the Trust's fields of interest. 2.4 The Trust receives funds from 1St from which it provides grants for charitable projects undertaken by NI 3. SWOT analysis of the Trust At a special meeting of the Trustees on 8 May 2008, a SWOT analysis was undertaken as part of a process of reviewing the Trust's role and future development. The lists below are in no particular order. 3.1 Strengths: Existing endowment Experienced and knowledgeable trustees Representation Library - unique collection in its field Accessible Location in London Links with Breadth of remit anj international perspective

4 McDougall Trust Meeting with Charity Commission representatives, Monday, 23 March 2009 Background document The following document is attached by way of background to discussions at the meeting next Monday, 23 March: 'Strategic Vision and Operational Plans ' [document at 20 June 2008] This document was produced following a trustee board 'away-day' and agreed by the Trustee Board on 20 June It includes a description of the Trust's strategic vision, together with a two-stage development plan and an operational plan for the first stage, Since then, progress has been monitored by the Board against this document. March 2009

5 3.2 Weaknesses Lack of funds Poor facilities - office, library, access Library - no online catalogue or access Low profile No research strategy or experience Lack of current capacity for development Lack of clear goals and operational plan Burden of immediate problems No Treasurer 3.3 Opportunities To become the UK's first political representation centre: archive, information, research, education, policy information (lectures, seminars, etc.) funding; other external funding Networking/partnerships with other organisations Online support for all the above 3.4 Threats Vulnerability of funding Charity tax law situation Relationship with a111 Growing public disillusion with political systems 4.Strategic Vision To become the UK's first political representation centre: archive, information, research, education, policy information (lectures, seminars, etc.). 5. How to get there - the development plan ' A two-stage process is required. 5.1 Stage One To build credibility with partners such as / and target networks such as the media, politicians, others in the field, and to develop its own organisational capacity and experience, the Trust will do the following: Agree Vision and change Trust's name to "Representation Trust" Initiate a lecture/seminar/round-table series on current topics of interest Publish position papers in Representation and seek other ways to use the journal Provide on-line access to the library catalogue Review the user requirements - Ma and external - for an information centre, including the Lakeman library, and implement these. Improve office and meeting facilities Upgrade website Appoint a Treasurer Secure funding for Stage One activities Develop the vision and plan for Stage Two below Develop ideas for a future Research and Information Centre with Oaf and others

6 5.2 Stage Two To develop the vision of a representation centre incorporating the activities started in Stage One and adding research, education and information functions. 6. Operational Plan The plan for the next year is to carry out Stage One above. The Trust will: Establish time-tables for each activity Identify trustee volunteers for each activity Budget each activity Establish joint branding for some activities with partners Create an overall budget Ensure funding is in place Monitor the implementation and expenditures Evaluate the success of each activity, with suitable metrics where appropriate Follow 'McD Agreement to build budget for Stage Two It is envisaged that Stage One will require a significant involvement of trustees to carry out the tasks involved. Where possible, outsourcing and outside expertise will also be used. However, as the programme develops, staffing and management will be reviewed and changed as necessary to deliver the programme. Stage Two will require appropriate expertise (internal and/or external) to achieve the vision set out here. 20 June 2008

7 Rachel Goacher From: Sent: 19 March :51 To: Subject: Jeremy Yung McDougall Trust (The Arthur McDougall Fund ): Background documents re Representation Attachments: McCCRepndocsincCvNtCC.doc Dear Jeremy By way of background to discussions at the meeting next Monday, 23 March, I attach in an MSWord file a nin of short documents relating to the Trust's quarterly journal, Representation. This was received from the INTERNET and scanned by the Government Secure Intranet antivirus service supplied by Cable&Wireless in partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number 2007/11/0032.) In case of problems, please call your organisation's IT Helpdesk. Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes. 13/09/2011

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9 McDougall Trust Meeting with Charity Commission representatives, Monday, 23 March 2009 Representation, the Trust's Quarterly Journal - some background documents The following documents are attached by way of background to discussions at the meeting next Monday, 23 March: 'Roles, Responsibilities and Procedures for Representation' - approved by Trustee Board 31 January 2008; 'A background note prepared by IIMME, the lead-trustee for the journal, concerning comments in letter dated 6 February 2009 from Jeremy Yung, Charity Commission'; 'A note prepared by Trust chair since October 2008, concerning comment in letter dated 6 February 2009 from Jeremy Yung, Charity Commission'. 18 March 2009

10 McDougall Trust Roles, Responsibilities and Procedures for Representation (Version approved at Trustee Board meeting 31 January 2008) Obiectives continuing development of the journal. - consistent with the Trust's aims. periodic review and report to the Trust. Continuing development (editors) peer review for articles. agreed aims and scope, ultimately at discretion of the Trust. free to decide what to publish consistent with above. comply with the contractual requirements mutually agreed between the Publisher and the Trust. financial support. editorial contract based on above. Liaison between Trust and Editor Trust to nominate a member of the Trustee Board to serve as an ex officio member of the Editorial Board. This Trustee Board member also to act as liaison with the Editor on all matters concerning the journal. This Trustee Board member will present the journal's annual report to the Trustees. Periodic review annual meeting of stakeholders: editors, editorial board (if practical), Trust, publisher. - reviews submission/reject rate; categorisation of published articles (by topic, region, etc.), editorial policy. reviews editorial process (number of articles processed, effectiveness of refereeing, etc.). reviews subscriptions, electronic accesses, SSCI impact, ranking. reviews publisher's contribution: timely publication, support to authors and editors, marketing, subscription growth, conferences, etc. Minutes of this meeting (or a summary) to serve as annual report to Trustees. Appointment of Editor The current Editor may apply for a second and further terms. If the Trust is satisfied with the Editor's performance, it can agree to this further term without seeking other applicants. When a new Editor is required, the Trust will follow the procedure set out below: December prior to final year of Editor's term: establish selection committee January-May: advertising of position and search May 15: deadline for applications By June 15: Trustees agree on appointment of new Editor By July 15: execute contract with new Editor October 1: new Editor officially commences duties. When a joint application is made by two individuals, the Trust may appoint joint Editors. The Editor shall serve for a term of three years commencing on or around 1 October so that he/she will appear as Editor of the first issue of the following year's volume.

11 Representation, the Trust's Quarterly Journal A background note prepared by /Ma the lead-trustee for the journal, concerning comments in letter dated 6 February 2009 from Jeremy Yung, Charity Commission Representation is established as a serious academic journal with full editorial independence. The scope of the journal enables it to publish learned contributions on issues of relevance to the subject of 'political representation' in the widest sense. This remit quite properly includes articles on the subject of electoral systems, including STV, but it runs far wider as will be quickly apparent from study of the contents pages. Moreover, articles on electoral systems are by no means all pro-stv the journal (as opposed to the most certainly does not have an official policy of favouring or opposing any particular kind of electoral system. To be clear about this, it may well include from time to time articles which argue for STV, or the implications of which are pro-stv, but such papers will have to be based on convincing academic analysis. Equally, however, academic articles whose implications are NOT pro-stv are also published. The journal has been edited by teams of academics for over 10 years now, including The latter two are or were McDougall Trustees during the period of their editorships, but at all times adopted a policy of strict academic independence, and never felt remotely constrained to publish opinion pieces proselytising for STV. Moreover, two major changes that further distanced the day-to-day operation of the journal from the direct control of the Trust have been implemented in recent years. First, in 2006, the production, publication, marketing and distribution of the journal passed from the Trust to the reputable academic publisher Second, in 2007 the editorial control of Representation passed into the hands of and neither of whom have any connections with the or Trust. Representation has, since the time of its re-launch in the 1990s, operated a system of double-blind academic peer-review. That is, submissions are sent to independent experts in the field for an evaluation of their academic strengths and weaknesses. The identities of the authors are not revealed to the independent reviewers and the identities of the reviewers are not revealed to the authors. The reviewers' evaluations are highly influential with the editors when it comes to deciding whether to accept or reject submissions, or request revisions of the authors. Representation has never sought to make public policy recommendations. This does not mean that it has never published an article which might have implications for public policy, but the journal policy is not to proselytise for any kind of public policy changes; it is simply a matter of readers drawing policy implications, if they wish to do so. February 2009

12 The Editorial Board The Editor shall recommend members of the editorial board and submit these to the Trust for appointment. Members of the editorial board shall be selected because of their knowledge of election studies/systems, representation theory, methodology and practice, expertise in research and publication. The editorial board will also reflect a diversity of institutions and functional experience and the demographic and geographic breadth of the profession. - The Trustee Board member nominated to liaise with the Editor shall be an ex officio member of the editorial board. The editorial board shall meet if it is practical and economic to bring together its members at least annually to review the journal and its performance. Disputes procedure In the event of a dispute between the Editor and the Trust, this will first be discussed by the Editor and the Trustee Board liaison member. If it is not resolved at this stage, the Chairman of the Trustee Board will seek to resolve the dispute with the Editor. If it is not resolved at this stage, the Editor may approach in writing or in person the Trustee Board to seek to resolve the dispute. The Trustee Board's decision is final. Publication arrangements - Present contract with ammi runs until 31 December Notice of termination required one year prior to expiration, that is 31 December Trustee Board to discuss renewal/termination at its meetings closest to July and October January 2008

13 Representation, the Trust's Quarterly Journal A note prepared by Trust chair since October 2008, concerning comment in letter dated 6 February 2009 from Jeremy Yung, Charity Commission In Section 5 of his letter dated 6 February 2009, Jeremy Yung stated that "In the copies of Representations (sic) available to me approximately a third of the articles are STV related." the trustee who met Mr Yung in December, has supplied me with a list of the six issues taken by him. These include volume 43:3 (September 2007), in which two articles taking a first look at the introduction of STV into Scottish local government elections comprised 23% of the page length; and volume 44:4 (November 2008), which was a special issue (so effectively 100%) on the consequences of this change. A simple calculation shows that approximately one fifth of the content of these issues related to this one topic. On Mr Yung's calculation, only one eighth of the total content of these issues was otherwise related to STV., As the most significant change in British electoral arrangements during the first decade of the 21st century, it is hardly surprising that the editors had decided to pay particular attention to this question. The special issue of November 2008 happened to be the first issue after I took over as chair. I knew nothing of its content until it was already published. I have established that the initiative for this special issue came from an academic specialist in Scottish elections at the University of Lancaster who is a member of the editorial board of Representation. The Trust board had no part in this decision, and indeed no knowledge of its having been taken. However, having myself been a leading specialist in British (including Scottish) local elections in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, I am personally delighted that appropriate coverage and analysis of the change in electoral system for Scottish local elections has been published. It is a service to academic research. To provide a more comprehensive and objective picture of articles appearing in Representation, I have personally examined all issues published during This analysis shows:- Year/Vol % of pages devoted to articles/reviews about... Specific elections with STV STV as a system Non-STV related 2003/V39 5% (Rep of Ireland) nil 95% 2004/V40 4% (Northern Ireland) nil 96% 2005/V41 nil 8% (2 articles) 92% 2006/V42 4% (Scottish preview) nil, 96% 2007/V43 6% (Scottish locals) nil 94% Although I had no responsibility on behalf of the Trust during this period, I am fully satisfied that there is nothing in this pattern which is in any way inappropriate for a charitable trust, an educational body or a research institute concerned with objective study of elections and electoral systems.

14 March 2009

15 .11. gr. var..0, vs.0, From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Jeremy Yung 06 April :12 Janet Lucas The Arthur McDougall Fund Dear As discussed over the telephone, I will be on leave from 8 April to 28 April Should you wish to contact the Charity Commission during this time, please contact Janet Lucas at xxxxx.xxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx or at Yours sincerely, Jeremy Yung Senior Case Officer Charity Commission Direct PO Box 1227 Liverpool L69 3UG direct line: Charity Commission Direct: fax: xxxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx Consider the environment. Please don't print this unless you really need to.

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