Minutes of the AGM held at The Langport Arms Hotel
Langport Somerset
Friday 03rd February 2006
Thirteen members were present.
R01 Bob
R03 Matt
R04 Terry
R07 John
R12 Mark (unavoidably called away)
R20 Tim
R28 Paul
R34 Pete
R35 John
R1R37 John
R47 Jim
R48 Julian
R49 Tony
1) Apologies were received from
R22 Alan
R23 Baz
R25 Charles
R36 Tom
R39 Dave
R41 Ross
R43 Nick
R46 Rich
2) The minutes of the 2005 AGM, having being previously E-mailed, were accepted. Proposed by the Chair seconded by R20 Tim There were no matters arising from the minutes.
3) Reports were received from,
The Chairman (below)
Secretary. (below)
The secretary invited discussion of the report and answered various questions arising from his activities over the last 12 months, including the position regarding Grant and Charity applications.
Treasurer. There were no questions appertaining to the report <>p Matt the Mendip POC Matt outlined various possible events which we would hope to have a presence at including, Sodbury (old sod), and Party in the Paddock
There was a general agreement that where possible we should raise our profile by attending shows around the various counties, if the cost could be kept to an acceptable level.
4) There being 5 members standing for committee and no members objecting; the committee was elected en- bloc. The Committee therefore consists of
| R04 Terry | Chairman | ||
| R01 Bob | Secretary | ||
| R34 Pete | Treasurer | ||
| R35 John | |||
| R03 Matt |
5) AOB.
A general discussion on the need to promote skills using peer-to-peer training followed. Our H&S Advisor (R35 John) confirmed that as a voluntary organisation without paid staff we did not fall within the remit of the HSE. John also confirmed that at no time does the HSE impose a particular standard upon any organisation; the duty is simply to ensure that members are considered competent in the skills which are required.
However as with any organisation there is a duty of care to our members and the public. We would therefore ask that all members take any available opportunity to enhance their skills. Julian has kindly offered the use of his facilities; Matt and Julian will discuss this offer at greater length.
It was decided that as a matter of some urgency the Committee will shortly publish a skills matrix, (Matt and Bob to action), it is hoped that members will take the opportunity to review their skills and those of colleagues with an aim to arranging a mutual exchange of skills and abilities i.e. peer-to-peer training. This will also be an opportunity for team building.
It was the consensus of the membership present that members should be expected to attend a minimum of 2 events per year, i.e. training sessions / callouts /off �road days / exercise etc. This will be discussed in greater depth at the next committee meeting.
It was suggested and agreed that in future years the AGM will be one day later than at present and will be held in the morning with the intention that the afternoon will be used as a social event / training event. Therefore the next AGM will be Saturday 03/02/07 at the premises of Julian R48.
It was agreed that the secretary should investigate the possibility of registering a PO box address.
The secretary briefly explained the SMS call out system and the Gold (Strategic), Silver (Tactical) and Bronze (Operational) command structure utilised by Cat1 responders and most voluntary organisations. Due to the nature of our organisation it is unlikely that we will ever need to have a representative at Gold command. However we can expect to have Silver and Bronze command levels at most incidents that we attend.
There being no further business the meeting was formally declared closed at 21.40.
Members then took the opportunity for informal discussion and the purchase of clothing and vehicle logos.
This year we have seen the group go from strength to strength with membership rising to 48 and with the formation of Devon 4x4 Response, Dorset 4x4 Response and Wiltshire 4x4 Response.
The response that we have had from the various emergency planning departments is very encouraging and it is certain that in the event of a serious incident, or emergency that we will be called upon. We have now several members who have successfully completed their amateur radio license and the committee would like to congratulate them for their achievement. I am sure that in the event of a callout this facility will prove invaluable. As we all know training is a tricky and thorny issue and one that can be disused further in aob. I would like to take the opportunity to than Bob for all the hard work he has put in during the year, as it is certain that without his commitment we would not be in the position we are today. I look forward to hearing his report and also about the training course that he attended in York. All in all I feel that 2005 has been a successful year and 2006 looks like it could be even better.
The last year has seen many changes mostly for the better.
Since last year we have seen the membership rise steadily until it now stands at 48. Forthcoming national and local publicity will hopefully see these numbers rise to well over 50. With luck some of these new members will be in the Minehead area where we currently lack members.
We have seen the formation of three additional county teams in Devon, Dorset and Wiltshire, hence the committee decision to rebrand as Wessex 4x4 Response Association. With contacts nurtured between ourselves and the County EPO/CCUs, which I will come on to in a moment.
We have been involved in Restex 2005, a 3 day standby due to flooding and of course the famous Garlic paste incident at Wells. I would like to thank everyone who made themselves available
During the summer three of our number gained radio licenses. Eleven of our members received First Aid training for which we should thank Martin Graham of First Response and Screwfix Direct. We had stands at two shows, the Somerset 4x4 Show at Churchstanton and Yeovil Festival (which used to be the Festival of Transport).
The winter weather seemed to focus minds; we have had several contacts from various Emergency and support organisations. As a result of this we have come to a formal agreement with Somerset CCU that they will be our parent organisation as suggested in the Civil Contingencies Act (that all voluntary agencies should have a recognised Cat one partner) therefore all call-outs from statutory and voluntary agencies in the area covered by Somerset CCU will in future come via the CCU Duty Officer contactable via Fire Brigade HQ. There are several advantages to this arrangement. Firstly we have in writing confirmation that the County will provide liability insurance whenever the CCU calls us. Secondly whenever the CCU calls us our members are able to claim "reasonable expenses". During the year we have also been in discussion with the HSE who confirm that as a voluntary organisation with NO paid members we are exempt from HSE legislation. However it is good practise to maintain a record of assessment showing that the members have a standard of ability which the committee considers appropriate for the role.
Matt has attended a meeting of the Avon Area voluntary agencies group it is hoped that similar formal arrangements will be put in place there.
Likewise similar arrangements are being made in Wiltshire, I recently attended a meeting in Devizes on behalf of Alan, which has resulted in an invitation for Alan, the Wiltshire point of contact to attend a meeting in Trowbridge with various Wiltshire agencies.
Devon and Dorset should soon see similar arrangements as Tony and Nick the points of contact become further involved with their local EPOs.
At the committee meeting in November several important decisions were made, the first of which as outlined above saw the creation of Devon and Dorset 4x4 Response followed by an approach from Alan Caulfield in Wiltshire who was in the process of creating a similar group which has now formed as Wiltshire 4x4 Response and associated with us.
We also decided that we should approach Awards for All asking for a training and equipment grant. This has been applied for. If the money is granted it will be ring fenced for First Aid training and Amateur Radio training and equipment, at this time 8 members have a radio licence or are awaiting the exam to obtain one I am also aware of at least five other members who are keen to obtain a licence.
(Secretary's note; since the AGM this has increasd to twelve)
We have also been offered training by Somerset Raynet in Taunton who are prepared to Fast-track the course and exam. The likelihood is that most people will be able to do the course one day and the exam either the next day or the week after. Why are we looking for amateur radio licences you may ask, the simple answer is so that we can have longer range communications in the event of mobile phone failure or system overload. Raynet provides Emergency Communications for various Cat1 responders. including all the blue light services and the CCU plus of course various voluntary agencies such as the Red Cross.
It was also felt appropriate to apply for Registered Charity status; several potential donors have said that they would prefer to donate to a registered charity. The application was submitted in December and we await a response.
January this year has seen the secretary (myself) attend an introduction to civil contingencies planning course at the Civil Contingencies College York (formerly this was the Civil Defence College).
On the national front we have fostered good relations with our colleagues in COTAG and 4x4 Response (Norfolk), and also seen the formation of similar groups in various areas such as NEDSAR in the North East and 4x4 Emergency Support Network in Yorkshire and Lancashire; although there is no formal National Network there is now the nucleus of one and we are progressing towards common standards.
Talk of standards brings me on to training, although there is no obligation to have any particular certificate, as has been confirmed by the HSE and County legal department, we do have a duty of care to ensure that all members are competent in the tasks that are expected of them. Peer to peer cascade training is perfectly acceptable as long as we have an audit trail.
I would therefore ask once again that those with training qualifications or recognised certificates put as much effort as possible into passing those skills onto their colleagues. I would like by the end of the summer to be able to say that all members are familiar with safe winching practise, basic off road driving and have been assessed as a competent driver by either a qualified instructor or IAM observer. There is a possibility of training/observed drive by an ex-police traffic officer.
I would also hope that by the end of the year everyone will have some form of First Aid qualification.