CASC sub-committee report Community Amateur Sports Clubs
Fundamental principles The Club s CASC status must not be jeopardised The Whole Club ethos must not be undermined There should be no direct financial payment to individual players
"To identify a business model for BSRFC that will allow it to sustain 1 st XV playing to at least Level 4 standard and which is acceptable to the majority of those members present at the Club's AGM in 2015.
Ordinary CASC Benefits The provision of sporting facilities The reasonable provision & maintenance of club owned sports equipment The provision of suitably qualified coaches Provision or reimbursement of the costs of coaching courses Provision of insurance cover Provision of medical treatment The provision, or reimbursement of reasonable travel expenses incurred by players & officials travelling to AWAY matches The reasonable provision of post-match refreshments for players and match officials The sale or supply of food or drink as a social benefit which arises incidentally from the sporting purposes of the club
2013 Finance Act Changes (July 2014) Clubs allowed to pay a maximum of 10,000 a year to squad members for expenses etc (i.e. not ordinary CASC benefits) with no limit on the number of players paid. Ordinary benefit regarding away travel extended to games where the time spent travelling in each direction is 2 hours or more Clubs can pay appropriate and reasonable subsistence costs Clubs can reimburse reasonable overnight expenses
Trading income limits are well below what we currently achieve especially if (as we think necessary) all or some sponsorship is included. CASC Clubs are not meant to be mainly social or commercial and under the new rules there will be a limit on income from trading and property of 100,000 a year for a CASC Participation rule - at least 50% of CASC members must be playing the sport. All such participating members must play at least 12 separate times a year, which averages just once a month CASC s can only pay away travel expenses The new CASC limit of 10k on payments to players is barely enough to cover legitimate, i.e. away travelling and subsistence expenses for players CASC guidelines will require us to monitor the 50% participation
In Summary: The burdens on our volunteers who are already stretched in terms of record keeping would be intolerable The proposed CASC restrictions on permissible and impermissible expenditure would mean that we could not continue to sustain a 1 st XV campaign at our level, let alone the next level above
What choice is open to us? None! We simply have to change The changes we are proposing are entirely logical...
On dissolution of a CASC all its net assets must be applied to approved sporting and charitable purposes (Clause 27 of our existing Rules) and which the Trustees consider and propose to be appropriate and reasonable Therefore any new structure for the Club has to be a charity The choice of charitable entity is either a Charitable Incorporated Organisation or a.. Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee ( CCLG )
A Charitable Club can have non-playing members if they fall into one of the following categories: Volunteers and helpers who assist with running the club; Supporters who help the club raise funds and provide a pool from which the volunteers are drawn; Parents of junior members; People who still wish to be associated with the club but for reasons of age or ill health are no longer able to play
So what is the trading subsidiary going to do? It will not hold any assets of the Club these will be transferred from the CAASC to the CCLG It will operate, under licence from the CCLG, all the trading income activities of the Club It will not collect subs or charitable donations these must go to the CCLG, i.e. the Club, as at present It must make a profit: the Club cannot subsidise the subsidiary and any profit made will be paid to the Club It will operate under the strict supervision of the CCLG Board
It s Important to Remember The proposition is not before this SGM and you are NOT being asked to make a decision here and now The process we are undertaking is a rigorous one and the administration involved is considerable The changes we are proposing may be difficult for some members but they represent the only logical step that we can take as a CASC
It s Also Important to Remember The ONLY motivation for effecting change is to ensure that the Club preserves the benefits it currently derives from having CASC status whilst maintaining its One Club ethos and supporting the ambitions of its most talented pool of players to compete at the highest level they are capable of playing and which also enhances the reputation of the Club in the community Doing nothing is not an option as it will restrict our spending to increasingly rigid CASC / HMRC limits and record keeping requirements. This will also have a detrimental impact on what we can do to support our 1st XV
The Resolutions Sought Are:
Approval to continue the work necessary in order to allow the Club to convert from a CASC to a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee (CCLG) Approval to establish with immediate effect a CCLG to be approved by the Charity Commissioners and a separate trading company which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of that CCLG once the CCLG is established To appoint 6 Directors for the CCLG namely Mr Perry Oliver, Mr Len Lindop, Mr Richard Norden, Mr Peter Scarlett, Mr Colin Tilley and Mr Charles Dunsford To appoint the first 2 Directors for the CCLG s trading subsidiary namely Mr Perry Oliver and Mr Len Lindop To agree to a delay in submitting accounts for the existing Club for the financial year ending May 2015 until the date when the CASC is dissolved and all its assets are transferred to the CCLG
Any questions or comments?