gaz wrote:Perhaps not.
Memorandum and Articles of Association.
"9. True accounts shall be kept of the sums of money received and expended by the Club, and the matter in respect of which such receipt and expenditure takes place, and of the property, credits, and liabilities of the Club; and, subject to any reasonable restrictions as to the time and manner of inspecting the same that may be imposed in accordance with the regulations of the Club for the time being, shall be open to the inspection of the members."
gaz wrote:... the meeting will have access to all CTC financial records including statutory, management and project accounts."
It may well be the case that National Office's accounting team are only available on 25th February to give their detailed explanation and disucss the figures with you. I don't see how they could refuse to allow savethectc an opportunity to inspect the raw figures at a different time just because National Office has no-one available to discuss or explain them.
That's a good point, Gaz, but the trouble is this - the 'raw' figures have themselves to be interrogated, and tested against experience.
There are two facets to this.
The first is that the CTC accounts must be reconciled with external sources, and the sums within the accounts clearly explained. I leave that to Colin and John
The second is that the CTC budget out turn must be tested against reality. What precisely does the Clubs expenditure of £113,744 for 'Central Overheads' represent? What precisely does the expenditure of £231,140 for Staff Costs represent? What benefits do those sums confer upon the members? And are we sure that the expenditure reaches the members in the form that the budgets suggest, or in any form at all? And, in that respect, the key knowledge is held by members, and, in particular, the secretaries of member groups. Incidentally the expenditure shown for Local Groups and Volunteer Support in the Club budget is £18,318.
Nobody pretends that when you hand over your £36 that you get precisely £36 worth of benefits back, and nobody's suggesting that getting your money's worth is desirable - the CTC spends money on things that offer only intangible benefits, particularly in its campaigning work. But....an understanding of what order of value comes back to the members is vital.
