REC Board Meeting: 6th December 2018

By Professor Trevor Cooling: Chair of REC

The Board met at the REC offices from noon to 5pm on 6th December 2018

Apologies were received from Sandra Teacher. Kathryn Wright was welcomed to her first meeting.

The initial formalities were to note potential conflicts of interest, to alert members to the issue of potential conflict of loyalties, to receive, correct and then accept the minutes of the 16th October meeting and to review matters arising. The Chair reported on his meeting with Stephen Evans of the National Secular Society and the decision to defer consideration of the NSS membership application until the March Board meeting.

Main Items:

  1. Commission on RE

The Board received a report from the Education Committee given by Kathryn Wright and from the Chair on the Horizons Seminar concerning potential future funding. The report from our PR and political consultants was discussed. The letter from the Secretary of State, received just before the meeting, was tabled. Potential responses were discussed. The Board agreed to set up a CoRE Implementation Group to take matters forward and authorised the CEO to work on developing a strategic plan and taking action as necessary.

  1. REC Membership Criteria

The Board agreed to accept the proposed revised membership form tabled by the Governance committee. This was followed by an extended group discussion on the nature of the REC as requested by the Governance Committee. This will be used by the Committee in their work on reviewing the membership criteria.

Other Business:

  • The Chair gave a brief oral report. This was followed by the CEO giving his report, where he drew particular attention to the REQM Review. The financial implications of this were noted.
  • The Treasurer gave his report on the current financial situation. He proposed a new format for reporting which was accepted by the Board.
  • The Company Secretary reminded members that everyone had to complete a Charity Commission Declaration. She then led a training activity on trustee responsibilities.
  • The Chair led a short activity to generate a range of views on the meaning of the word worldview.
  • Finally members were asked for any matters arising from the minutes of Board committees. In the course of this item Deborah Weston and Satnam Singh Poonian were elected as the Board representatives on the Governance Committee.

—

Professor Trevor Cooling

Chair of the REC

06.12.2018