Review Group Report

1  Group members and terms of reference

The Review Group was appointed by Mr David Graham, President of Surrey Archaeological Society. The Group was Mr A Bott (Chairman), Mr A Hall, Miss A Monk, Mr R Savage, Mr P Youngs and Mr D Calow (Secretary).

The terms of reference were to review the organisation and functioning of the Society including:

1 Structure and function of Council

  • A. Is the present membership level and composition appropriate?
  • B. Are the meetings held at appropriate intervals?
  • C. Should an executive group be established?

 

2 Committee structures

  • A. Is the current committee structure meeting the Society's aims?
  • B. Should the Archaeological Research, Community Archaeology, Grants and Surrey Archaeology Research Forum (SARF) be amalgamated to form a new Research Committee with representation from other committees and groups?
  • C. Is the Local History Committee adequately integrated within the Society?
  • D. Is the Events Committee properly co-ordinated with groups of the Society who are increasingly setting up their own lecture programmes?
  • E. Is the Finance Committee properly structured to deal with both internal budgeting and investment policy?
  • F. Does the Society need a publicity and membership committee?

 

3 Staffing and job descriptions

  • A. Should the membership function be expanded to include part or all of the Secretary's administrative work e.g. Council Minutes and arrangements for meetings, preparation of Annual Report etc?
  • B. Subject to A, is the current level of staffing appropriate?

 

4 Closer co-operation between the Society and Surrey History Centre

  • A. Should overlapping functions be merged, eg archive storage? This would free space at Castle Arch.
  • B. Should datasets e.g. the library database be linked?
  • C. Should we share facilities, jointly promote events etc?

 

2  Process

 

2.1 The Review Group was asked to report to the President before March 31st 2008. It met on 18 October, 14 November and 14 December 2007 and 22 January, 26 February and 11 April 2008. Minutes of meetings were circulated to Mr D Graham and Mr A Sargent.

2.2 Members of the Review Group met representatives of Surrey History Centre on 17 December 2007 and 25 February 2008 and representatives of Guildford Institute on 18 January, 29 January, 1 February and 29 February 2008.

2.3 Committee chairmen, honorary officers and staff were interviewed in December 2007 and January 2008. There was an explanatory item in Bulletin 405 written by the President which invited Society members to comment.

2.4 Copies of the ‘Future Direction of the Society' dated 18th September 2003, and the Five year rolling strategy and Risk Analysis approved by Council on 19th October 2007 were read by group members.

 

3  Results from interviews

3.1 The interviews with committee chairmen suggested people value the Society but are concerned about internal communication, accommodation and falling membership. One person felt strongly that research is not sufficiently integrated into the Society.

3.2 There is also concern about some lack of transparency in decision making.  The committees and groups work well but there is no suitable structure for the President, Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian and others to discuss Society concerns such as research, education, outreach, accommodation and membership. The Finance sub-committee has tried to provide this but meets infrequently and is not well understood by Society members.

3.3 There is a substantial body of opinion which feels Council is too large and unwieldy to promote frank discussion and that it can be over-burdened with detail so that important policies are developed informally and without proper debate. Council is not seen as a forum in which to air new approaches or criticise present procedures.

 

4  The challenge

4.1 The Society has an excellent reputation and other county societies often remark on the volume of activity that is achieved. However, rising costs, falling membership and unsatisfactory accommodation have been concerns for some time. The Charities Act 2006, guidelines for Good Governance and other government initiatives may well have created new challenges and opportunities. The Society has taken the leading role in developing the Surrey Archaeological Research Framework and needs to implement these ideas.

4.2 The Society needs a structure which will support the strength and flexibility of existing committees and groups and help it maintain its position as a leading Archaeological and Historical Society in Surrey and SE England.

 

5  A new approach

5.1 The Review Group recommend that the Society should create a Management Committee. This would report to Council and be chaired by the President and would comprise the Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, and the chair of the Research, Education and Outreach teams. There would also be up to two advisors.

5.2 The Management Committee would meet 4-6 times a year and the minutes would be published. It would take decisions on matters if within both the five year rolling strategy and the approved annual budget and make recommendations to Council on other matters. A small sub-committee chaired by the Treasurer would manage short term investment decisions within a strategy approved by Council.

5.3 The Secretary, Treasurer and Librarian would be ex-officio members of the Management Committee. The other people on the Management Committee would be Elected Members of Council appointed to their positions by Council on the recommendation of the President.

5.4 There are various ways that the interests of the Society could be sub-divided to be represented on the Management Committee. The review group recommend a division based on Research, Education and Outreach which are considered to be the three main directions for future development. This requires a chairman for each and a structure so that they can communicate with their team.

5.5 For Research this can be done by dissolving the existing Archaeological Research Committee and forming a new Research Committee comprising one person from each committee and group working within the Surrey Archaeological Research Framework. The chairman of this committee would be on the Management Committee. The new Research Committee would manage SARF, organise the technical research conferences and manage grants within a specific annual budget allocated to the committee by Council.

5.6 The chairmen of the Education and Outreach teams will need to consider their remit and recommend how this should be managed in the future. They might, for example, suggest a committee as for Research or a less formal Forum.  Education would have close links with the Library and Publications Committees and Outreach with the Events Committee and the network of Local Secretaries.

5.7 The Finance Committee and the Finance sub-committee should be dissolved and a new Audit Committee created to concentrate on audit and control. This committee should have five members including the chairman. Each should be a member of the Society. Two would be Elected Members of Council nominated by the Council, three would not be Council members and all would be elected to this committee at the AGM and re-elected each year. The non-members of Council should not serve on the Audit Committee more than four years. The chairman should be one of the three non-members of Council and should be chosen by the Audit Committee members.

5.8 The Audit Committee will normally meet twice a year and report directly to Council. It should review the annual budget, annual accounts, auditors' reports, insurance, investment performance and risk assessment but it can review any matters of concern and must provide a mechanism to investigate ‘whistleblower' issues.

5.9 Council can therefore concentrate on the strategic direction of the Society.

 

6  Recommendations

The Review Group make four recommendations:

1 Internal communications should be improved by encouraging use of the new interactive website and the colour version of the Bulletin. The President and Secretary should ensure that between them they attend all committee and group meetings to understand what is happening and talk about the Society.

2 The Secretary should summarise four alternatives for accommodation so that Council can decide the direction to take.

3 The Society should:

  • a. Create a Management Committee with a small sub-committee chaired by the Treasurer for short term investment decisions
  • b. Create a new Research Committee with one key representative from each Group and Committee working within the Surrey Archaeological Research Framework. The Chairman should be a member of the Management Committee
  • c. Establish Education and Outreach members of the Management Committee with an initial remit to recommend how to work with their teams to improve the Society's role in Education and Outreach
  • d. Dissolve the Finance Committee and the Finance sub-committee and create a new Audit Committee responsible for audit and control
  • e. Dissolve the Archaeological Research Committee
  • f. Dissolve the Grants and Special Projects Committee and place the responsibilities with the Management Committee leaving an annual budget for grants with the Research Committee to be approved by Council

4 The Memorandum and Articles of Association should be reviewed in the light of the Charities Act 2006 and Council should consider a progressive reduction in size from approximately 50 in 2008 to 24 by 2012. As a first stage the number of Council members can be reduced without an amendment to the Articles if some Vice-Presidents become honorary Vice-Presidents, if the four existing Editors could be represented on Council by one Editor and if the number of co-opted members is reduced. The number of Council meetings should stay at four each year.

 

The possible change to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation can be considered when further details are available although this may not be before 2010.

 

The Review Group make no recommendations regarding staff or other committees and groups and suggest it would be better for the Management Committee to do this.

 

 

Alan Bott (Chairman)

Alan Hall

Audrey Monk

Richard Savage

Peter Youngs

David Calow (Secretary)

 

April 2008