Minutes from previous BCG Annual General Meetings

• 2019 AGM, Sussex University, 12 June 2019.
• 2018 AGM, Castle Green Hotel, Kendal, 15th October 2018.

British Carbon Group Constitution

1. NAME

The Group shall be known as ‘The British Carbon Group’

2. DEFINITIONS

In these Rules:
The Group means The British Carbon Group, sponsored jointly by The Royal Society of Chemistry (The RSC), The Institute of Physics (The IOP) and the Society of Chemical Industry (The SCI). These three organisations are The Sponsoring Bodies.
Members means persons holding any grade of membership of one or more of The Sponsoring Bodies.
Members of the Group is the general term to describe all Group membership under Rule 5 of the Constitution and is not limited by the previous definition of a Member.
Subscriber means a Member of the Group who is either ineligible or unable (for whatever reason) to obtain membership of a Sponsoring Body but who, by virtue of their interests or 4.areas of work, desires to participate in the affairs of the Group. In particular, Members of European Professional Bodies, or British Professional Institutions outside the areas of Chemistry and Physics, are covered within this category:

3. SCOPE

The Group may concern itself in any matter relating to the Science and Technology of Graphite and Carbon materials and with any cognate subjects.

4. OBJECTIVES

The Objectives of the Group shall be:

1. To stimulate interest in the subjects within the scope of the Group;
2. To hold meetings of members either independently or jointly with other bodies for the reading and discussion of papers, for the delivery of lectures and for the discussion generally of subjects coming within the scope of the Group. Such meetings may be organised through any one of The Sponsoring Bodies or directly by the Group;
3. To encourage co operation between organisations with similar interests, both nationally and internationally. Such organisations may be affiliated to The Group without fee;
4. Generally to advance the science and technology of the subjects within the scope of The Group.

5. MEMBERSHIP

1. Membership of the Group is open to Corporate and Non Corporate Members of any of The Sponsoring Bodies, who may be enrolled as Members of the Group upon written application to a Sponsoring Body subject to such fees as may from time to time be imposed by the Group Committee with the agreement of the Administering Body (Rule 7);
2. Membership of the Group is open to Subscribers subject to such fees as may from time to time be imposed.by the Committee with the Agreement of the Administering Body;
3. Under exceptional circumstances and as determined by the Committee,. Honorary Membership of the Group may be conferred.

6. CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP

Any person ‘who ceases to belong to one of the classes of membership given in Rule 5 shall, ipso facto, cease to be a Member of the Group.

7. ADMINISTRATION

Each Sponsoring Body shall be responsible for the enrolment of Members of the Group who are its Corporate or Non Corporate Members. The RSC and The IOP shall also be responsible for the collection from their respective Members of the fees as described in Rule 5. The Honorary Treasurer shall be responsible for the collection of fees from Members of The SCI and from Subscribing Members.

Administration of the Group shall be under the standard arrangements of the Sponsoring Body which provides the largest number of Members of the Group and shall be known as The Administering Body except that, once The Administering Body has first been agreed, this shall not subsequently be changed unless voted by a majority of Members of the Group following a Motion placed before an Extraordinary General Meeting.

The Administering Body or, with its approval, the Group itself, shall maintain a Current Bank Account into which all fees for Membership of the Group shall be transferred and to which the Honorary Treasurer has access for appropriate disbursements within limits proscribed by the Council of the Administering Body.

Likewise there shall be maintained a Group Deposit ‘Accrual’ Account into which current account monies exceeding a specified amount are transferred annually and which may be used upon recommendation of the Group Committee for the support of activities in the field of carbon within guidelines proscribed by the Council of The Administering Body.

8. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

An Annual General Meeting of the Group shall be held in each calendar year. The Agenda for any Annual General Meeting shall be sent to all Members of the Group at least fourteen days before the meeting.

9. EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETINGS

An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Group shall be called by The Honorary Secretary of the Group on receipt of instructions from The Committee or of a written request signed by not less than ten Members of the Group, and shall take place within eight weeks of the receipt of such instructions or request if these so specify. The Agenda for any Extraordinary General Meeting shall be sent to all Members of the Group at least four weeks before the meeting and shall not contain the item “Any Other Business”.

10. QUORUM FOR GENERAL MEETINGS

Ten Members of the Group present in person shall constitute a quorum at an Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting.

11. OFFICERS

The Officers of the Group shall be a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, an Honorary Secretary and an Honorary Treasurer. Only Members of the Group who are also Members as defined by Rule 2 shall be eligible to be Officers of the Group.

12. REPRESENTATIVES

Each Sponsoring Body shall be invited to appoint one Corporate Member to represent the interests of their Sponsoring Body in the affairs of the Group. Such Representatives, who must be Members of the Group, should be nominated annually by each Sponsoring Body not,less than 28 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting and their nominations confirmed in writing to the Honorary Secretary. The names of Representatives shall be reported to Members of the Group at the Annual General Meeting.

13. COMMITTEE

The affairs of the Group shall be managed by a Committee comprising the Officers of the Group and the Representatives of the Sponsoring Bodies together with not more than six ordinary members of Committee and such additional members as may be co opted from time to time under Rule 15. Only Members of the Group shall be eligible for membership of the Committee, and a minimum of two thirds of the Committee (including co opted members) must be Members as defined in Rule 2.

14. PERIOD OF OFFICE FOR OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS

The Chairman and Vice Chairman shall retire annually and the Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer shall retire after two years service. They shall be eligible for reelection to the same office for a similar period provided that they do not hold the same office for more than four years consecutively (in the case of Chairman and Vice Chairman) or six years consecutively (in the case of Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer). Ordinary members of the committee shall retire after three years service and shall not be eligible for re election as ordinary members until one year has elapsed. For the purpose of this rule ‘a year’ shall be the interval between successive Annual General Meetings.

15. CO OPTION TO THE COMMITTEE

1. The Committee shall have the power to fill casual vacancies and to co opt committee members from the group membership up to a maximum of one third of the total membership of the committee. Members of The Grgup co opted under this Rule will have the same committee rights as elected committee members.
2. Co option may include persons from other Group Committees of The Sponsoring Bodies and other scientific bodies for the purpose of programme co ordination.

16. QUORUM FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS

At a committee meeting, one Honorary Officer and three other Members of the Committee present in person shall constitute a quorum.

17. NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE

Vacancies for Officers and Ordinary Members of the Committee shall be filled by election at the Annual General Meeting of the Group. Nominations, which shall be proposed by not less than two Members of the Group and shall be accompanied by the written consent of the nominee, shall be sent to reach the Honorary Secretary of the Group not less than seven days before the Annual General Meeting. The Group Committee may collectively make nominations through the Honorary Secretary up to the time of the election at the Annual General Meeting. The Chairman may accept or reject a late nomination at the Annual General Meeting from any two Members of the Group accompanied by the presence and verbal consent of the nominee at the Annual General Meeting.
Officers and Committee shall hold office from the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting at which they are elected.

18. PROFESSIONAL STATUS AND COMMUNICATION WITH OUTSIDE BODIES

The Group shall not discuss any matter of professional conduct or status with an outside body without the authority of The Sponsoring Body best suited to determine the matter in hand.

19. CHANGES IN THE RULES AND ADOPTION OF RULES

1. These Rules have received the approval of the Councils of The Sponsoring Bodies. Any amendments to these Rules shall not operate unless and until they have been adopted by a General Meeting of the Group and have received the approval of the Council of the Administering Body after consultation with the other Sponsoring Bodies. Motions to amend these Rules at an Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting shall be in order only if the nature of the proposed amendments is stated explicitly on the Agenda paper. Such amendments or additions shall be approved for submission to the Council of the Administering Body only if supported by a majority vote of those Members present and voting at the Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting.
2. The Group shall be subject in all things to the Charters of Incorporation of The RSC, The IOP and The SCI.
3. Where the Rules are silent, the decision of the Committee shall stand.

(as accepted on 6/5/93)

These details are available as a Word document