SRU President Ian Barr has urged all clubs in Scotland to provide feedback on the most recent proposals for a new governance structure for the organisation, regardless of whether those views are positive, negative or indifferent.
A second consultation paper on the proposals which have been drawn up by the Scottish Rugby Council’s Standing Committee on Governance [SCOG] was issued to clubs on 10th December, with the initial deadline for feedback being today.
However, Barr has promised that clubs which have been slow in getting their thoughts together over the Christmas period will not be excluded from the conversation so long as they reply by the end of next week.
The central thrust of the proposals is that the existing SRU Trust (set up in 1911 to hold the shares of the organisation on behalf of the clubs) and the SRU Council (elected by clubs to represent their views and oversee the work of the paid executives) be dissolved, with a new parent company to be set up as the ultimate authority in the Scottish game. The Board of this company will be directly elected by member clubs.
Below this level, SRUL will continue to run the business, with a Performance Game Board and a Club Game Board looking after those two branches of the game.
It is a complicated issue and Barr recognises that there is a sense of ‘governance fatigue’ after years of squabbling, but he has urged club members to seize this opportunity to reach a settled conclusion which will allow everyone to turn their attention instead towards growing the game.
“We need the feedback because what we don’t want is a low number of clubs responding and SCOG pushing on, spending time and resource to create a structure which folk can’t buy into,” he said.
“We have had a couple of challenges, with the escalation in Covid during the last month and a couple of IT issues with the SCOG email in-box, so what we’re saying is that as long as you get your feedback in by the end of next week then we will consider everything that comes to us.
“I know a lot of club committees are meeting this week for the first time since the consultation document went out, and they are not too late,” he stressed “We want to collate as much feedback as possible to come up with our final proposal, and at that point we plan to meet with as many clubs as we can through forums and roadshows, to make sure we are absolutely in-line with what clubs want.
“We’re looking at an SGM by May at the latest, and to be transitioning in at the AGM in August 2022.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here