Re: [Fsfe-uk] Re: Resignation from AFFS committee

[Kevin Donnelly]

On Monday 06 Jun 2005 07:56, Chris Croughton wrote:
> Oh boy, you left that one wide open!  Leaving aside a lot of things in
> the Real World(tm) which weren't done at meetings and weren't minuted,
> I've been on several committees now wher a lot of the decisions are
> taken outside meetings, by phone calls (not conference calls, which
> could be classed as a 'meeting' of sorts, but individual calls to
> several of the committee members) and not minuted (indeed, one committee
> I was on we kept no minutes at all, we kept our own lists of things we
> had to do and that was all).  I can assure you that theings did indeed
> 'happen'.

??? This can certainly occur on committees which are answerable to no-one but 
themselves.  I don't think you are suggesting that it should happen on a 
committee which represents the membership of a formally-constituted body.  Or 
maybe you are, in which case I think a good few oversight bodies (eg the 
Charity Commission) would like to know about this innovative doctrine.  
Decisions certainly get taken in the margins of meetings, but if there is any 
suggestion that these decisions need to be publicly presented to a "higher" 
authority, they must be formally put on the agenda of a later meeting and 
minuted.  I don't think government business, for instance, would function 
awfully well if Cabinet Committees decided to do away with the tiresome 
business of minutes (and I have worked in this area in a previous life).  The 
"slant" to be put on minutes is a different issue, but no-one (other than 
yourself?) would suggest there shouldn't be minutes in the first place.

-- 

Pob hwyl / Best wishes

Kevin Donnelly

www.kyfieithu.co.uk - Meddalwedd Rhydd yn Gymraeg
www.cymrux.org.uk - Linux Cymraeg ar un CD!