Nick
Administrator
Who got told off for posting on here!! :angelic:
Present:
Pat Abel (PA), Chris Anderson (CA), Adam Brearley (AB), Shelagh Brock (SHB), Steve Brown (SBR), David Busst (DB), Declan Connolly (DC), Darren Davies (DD), Tim Fisher (TF) (via telephone conference), Mark Hornby (MH), CJ Joiner (CJ), Jan Mokrzycki (JM), Chris O’Neill (CO), Nicki Pollard (NP), Tynan Scope (TS), Ray Stephens (RS), Jonathan Strange, chairman (JS), Jodie Turner (JT), Bruce Walker (BW), Peter Ward (PW)
Apologies for Absence:
Apologies were received from Steve Barnett, Amrik Bhabra, Jim Brown, Michael Garlick, Sandra Garlick, Dale Hayward, Kevin Heffernan, Colin Henderson, Chris McGrath, Pat Raybould and Mark Venus.
Confidentiality
JS read out the following statement regarding confidentiality:
There must be an absolute commitment by each of us that nothing said or discussed at this or any future meeting can be published until after the official release time of the minutes. Whatever our interpretation hitherto, we must insist for everybody's sake that this is strictly observed.
This is not a fresh proposal. This is from the minutes of the SCG meeting of 22 May 2014. Nobody at that meeting demurred, and it has remained the SCG's stated policy ever since.
Within hours of the last meeting, however, one member published detailed information on the internet of what Mark Venus had just said. This was without consulting me, let alone seeking the permission of our guest. I had assured Mark that he would have the opportunity to amend the minutes before anything was published.
Three weeks later, I received an entirely unapologetic e-mail from the individual responsible. He claimed he was continuing a long established practice of posting reports about meetings on Sky Blues Talk. He suggested that he had 'picked up the baton for this' from a predecessor. This predecessor had actually resigned from the SCG on 1 April 2014. That is to say seven weeks before our colleague was party to the commitment you have in front of you.
As Sandra Garlick reminds us, everyone attending a meeting should have the opportunity to see how their opinions have been stated in the official minutes and given the opportunity to amend or remove if that information is misconstrued or sensitive. The only reason attendees and guests are so open at meetings is that they know they will have an opportunity to visit the minutes. Club representatives have shared information with us on the premise that they have the opportunity to remove any commercially sensitive material. No member of this group has yet been exempted from this understanding.
This is about much more, though, than details of policy or approach. It is about trust and judgement, of respect for personal integrity. Without such things, this group is nothing.
Our friend went on to say that he had then been in contact with Mark Venus and Chris Anderson to explain the situation. 'They are satisfied that the matter is now resolved,' he told me. Perhaps I could invite the football club to comment?
TF said that what happened was completely inappropriate. Mark Venus felt very let down and hoodwinked. TF wanted it put on record that it was not OK for members to leak things and expect that the football club will just shrug their shoulders and say it’s OK. It’s simply wrong; the person in question let down everyone in the room. Mark Venus won’t be attending future meetings – his trust in the group has gone.
CA added that it can only work if the people representing the club who attend these meetings feel that what they are saying is being treated in confidence. It will be hard to re-establish trust, the football club will be more cautious. The media environment in Coventry is far from friendly towards the football club and we don’t need confidential information being leaked across this platform. True fans of Coventry City FC will do all they can to support the club.
JS asked the person in question to consider himself and his position on the group.
Chairman’s Report
JS read out the following statement regarding the SCG:
I want to say a few words about the SCG, about what it is and about what it is not. The SCG is a consultation group. It is not and never has been a protest campaign group.
It is certainly not the function of the SCG to commission support amongst its members for a campaign against the owners of the football club. And if any member wishes to propose otherwise, he may first consider it appropriate to consult me as the elected chairman.
As the elected chairman, I will then acquaint myself with the opinion of every individual in this group including our colleagues from the football club. If I am convinced that there is an overwhelming demand for a modification to our Terms of Reference, I will then put it on the agenda once it has been possible to give due notice to every member.
However, we need to ask ourselves two questions. Why should club employees continue to give up their time for us if it is to consult over ridding them of the very owners on whom they are dependent and to whom they owe a fiduciary responsibility? And is the club really reliant on the SCG for making it aware of what fans think about the owners?
I notice that there has also been an attempt to conduct a questionnaire through the group about 'just how many fans we represent'. Let me quote from the minutes of the SCG meeting of 22 April 2015:
SBR said he does not claim to represent any group of supporters and never has. He represents himself...
That hits the nail on the head. We are a representative group of individual supporters consulting on matters of mutual interest and concern to both the football club and all who follow it. We provide a link between individuals, organisations or demographic groups and the club. Every member of an organisation or group, however, does not necessarily share the same views. That is why this is primarily a Supporters' Consultative Group, not a Supporters Organisations' Consultative Group.
The minutes to each of the last six SCG meetings have been published on average within six working days. They are accessible to anyone on this planet with internet access. And anyone with internet access can also easily discover details about the purpose of the group, information about its individual members and the contact e-mail address - an e-mail address, incidentally, to which no-one has ever failed to receive a cogent response. The challenge for the SCG, therefore, is not one of inaccessibility; it is one of misperception.
The SCG does not presume to take decisions on behalf of supporters. It has no executive responsibility. What it does is to seek answers to questions for the benefit of all concerned. There is no mystery to that. Anyone is welcome to ask questions. And there are crucial questions to be asked and answered about budgets and balance sheets, car parking, where we play and everything from toilet rolls to transfers to ticketing.
‘We want SISU out!’ is a statement; it is not a basis for consultation.”
Chris O’Neill was in attendance with regards to safety. PR had forwarded some questions from Paul McKay but CO felt they were not of relevant consideration to the meeting, but he did confirm that ACL own the safety certificate for the stadium. SBR met with CO last year regarding stewarding and feels the stewarding situation is 100% better this season. He feels the stewards are now there to help, rather than to police. JS proposed thanks to Dave Morris. CO thanked SBR for his comments – it was their intention to change things for the better this year. He admitted there is still a way to go on the customer care front but is confident that this will improve even further as the season progresses.
On behalf of Pat Raybould who was not in attendance, JS read out the following statement:
“Thank you to everyone who supported Amy Louise’s ‘brave the shave’ in the family zone before the Northampton game. She has so far raised £1359 to go to Macmillan Cancer Support and her hair has been sent to the Little Princess Trust who make wigs for children. Special thanks to CCFPA for helping with the event. On the same day, the zone received a cheque from Northampton Town Trust for £500. We have thanked them and would like to say a huge thank you to the Sky Blue Trust for choosing the zone as a recipient, along with the Alzheimer’s Society, for this generation donation."
