UK Border Agency

Over the last few months officials of the UKBA have been visiting clubs that currently hold licences to employ overseas people, checking that their procedures are acceptable.

Clubs that do hold licences will be aware that they are graded either A or B, with the vast majority A. It has now been reported that some clubs, following a visit have had their grading reduced from A to B and been presented with an action plan to overcome their peceived shortcomings.

We have now heard of one such club, which having been presented with an action plan, have now been presented with a demand for a considerable sum of money to carry out that action plan.

It would be most useful therefore to hear of the experiences encountered when such initial visits have been undertaken, as clearly we must do what we can to address this issue.

The stories of clubs would be helpful in compiling a full report.

Meeting Postponement

In only the second time since Conference was founded in 1962, it was necessary to postpone yesterdays meeting at Moseley due to the extreme weather we are currently experiencing.

I received a number of emails during the course of the week, particularly from those regular attenders in the east of the country, expressing grave reservations regarding the viability of travelling the the prevailing conditions. At lunch time Thursday the decision was therefore taken to postpone the meeting, and with the benefit of email, all delegates should have received details of the decision within minutes.

Hopefully we will reconvene early in the New Year, and of course a message will be issued to all in due course.

Community Amateur Sports Clubs, and Just Giving

There are around 1100 cricket clubs up and down the country that have applied for and got Community Amateur Sports Club status with the Inland Revenue. However very few appear to be reaping the full benefits that the status confers. Effectively a club achieves charitable status and as such can claim 80% mandatory rate relief and gift aid on donations.

Its the latter issue that appears to be missed by most clubs, so in partnership with the CCPR, Sport England, and ECB, the charity website Just Giving has agreed to waive its set up charges to cricket clubs. If your club receives any donations, they can be boosted by 28% gift aid, without any real difficulty.

Simply set up a Just giving site and encourage your donors to use it. Setting up the site could not be any easier, for more information log on to www.cascinfo.co.uk, then go to www.justgiving.com.

September Meeting - Cuckney CC

The September meeting of Conference was held at Cuckney CC on Saturday 25th September. The minutes of the meeting can be accessed on the "Members Only" page. A range of issues were discussed, and two new members, the Staffordshire Club Cricket Championship, and the Yorkshire & Derbyshire CL were elected.

The next meeting will be held at Moseley Cricket Club, Streetsbrook Road, Solihull on Saturday 4th December.

Autumn 2010 - Legal Update

The latest Legal Update provided by Malcolm Buck covers a number of issues of concern to clubs, ranging from Boundaries, Employment, to Health & Safety. Its an essential read, and can be accessed in the Members Only" page.

Conference team to play the Club Cricket Conference

The Conference team to play the Club Cricket Conference in the annual challenge match is as follows:
James Duffy (Captain) (Cheshire County CL)
Dan Berry (Cheshire County CL)
Jonny Kettle (Cheshire County CL)
Dan Halkon (Chehsire County CL)
Calum Rowe (Chehsire County CL)
Sam Messih (Derbyshire & Cheshire CL)
James Cole (Wkt) (Liverpool & District Cricket Competition
Guy Emmett (Cheshire County CL)
Danny Cranmer (Cheshire County CL)
Sam Sweeney (Lancashire County CL)
James Dixon (Liverpool & District Cricket Competition

Team Manager: John Richards

The match is to be played at Audley on Wednesday 25th August, starting at 11.00am. It will be of 50 overs per innings.

Budget Impact for Clubs

The increase in VAT from January next year will obviously have a dramatic effect on the cost of purchases for clubs in 2011, but what received less significant coverage was the increase in the Insurance Premium Tax of 1%. The consequence of this will obviously be another burden on the running costs of clubs.
Potential good news however was the proposal to increase the proportion of Lottery Funding available to Sport.

Cedric Rhoades Cup

The 2010 Cedric Rhoades Cup competition has now reached the semi-final stage with North Somerset CL playing the Worcestershire County CL, and the Derbyshire County CL playing either the Bassetlaw & Dist CL or the Derbyshire and Cheshire CL. Both semi-finals are scheduled for Sunday 15th August, with the final on the 5th September.

September Quarterly Meeting

The next Quarterly meeting of Conference will be held at CUCKNEY CRICKET CLUB, Nottinghamshire on Saturday 25th September, starting at 2.00pm. The agenda for the meeting will be posted shortly in the Members Only page.

Presidents Trophy Final

The final of the 2010 Presidents Trophy competition will be between the current holders North Staffs and South Cheshire League and the Nottinghamshire Premier League, and will take place at Audley Cricket Club on Sunday 15th August.

Surface Water Drainage Charges

Another positive step towards a more equitable resolution to the problem before Parliament was dissolved. The necessary legislation to provide flexibility was passed before the dissolution.

PRS/PPL

The revised approach to the PRS/PPL did not survive the dissolution, so no changes at present. This could be good news, but clubs still need to fight their corner with the PRS who continue to make excessive demands for licences.

Alcohol licensing conditions

The Home Office has published the mandatory conditions for the sale of alcohol. These apply to all clubs with a Club Premises Certificate in England and Wales. Failure to comply with these conditions would at the very least lead to a review of the premises but could result in a £20,000 fine, and/or imprisonment for up to 6 months.

From 6 April 2010 these conditions:
* Ban irresponsible promotions
*Ban dispensing of alcohol directly into a customers mouth
*Ensure that customers have access to free tap water

From 1 October 2010 these conditions will:
*Require an age verification policy to prevent underage sales
*Ensure that customers can choose small measures of alcoholic drink (half pint for beer and cider, 125ml for wine or 25 or 35cl for spirits.

Clubs with premises certificates need to understand what is banned under an irresponsible promotion. Promotions such as "half price drinks when England score" would be banned.
Clubs also need to develop age verification policies which require those appearing to be under 18 to produce ID cards with their photograph, date of birth and holographic mark. This would include a passport, photocard drivers licence, national ID card or any schem approved by the Proof of Age Standards Scheme.

Latest Legal Update

Malcolm Buck presented his latest Legal Update at the recent meeting in Middleton. It concentrates on a variety of legal issues that have arisen during the course of the last year, and is essential reading for all club and league administrators.

It has now been posted on the Legal Update page, which is now accessible to members only.

Guidance on Young Players in Senior Cricket

Recently published guidance by ECB on young players participating in senior cricket was discussed at length during the recent League Cricket Conference meeting. The situation has serious legal consequences for clubs, and a summary from a legal standpoint has been added to our Members Only page.

Listed Events

The consultation closed on 19th March, and a decision is expected shortly. ECB mounted a strong campaign to ensure the status quo was maintained, as a transfer of TV rights back to terrestial TV would have a serious and significant impact on continued investment in the grassroots game.

At the recent League Cricket Conference meeting at Middleton, Paul Bedford (ECB) thanked clubs for their support during the consultation.

Community Amateur Sports Clubs

Whilst Cricket Clubs make up a large proportion of those clubs registered with HM Customs & Revenue, the concept still meets some resistence. At a recent presentation at Lord's the value of CASC status was highlighted, and JustGiving the largest online fundraising community in the world announced it was now able to offer the same tools to CASC clubs that it provides to the biggest charities in the UK.

JustGiving have dropped their subscription fees - worth £180 per year - for all CASC's. For further information contact www.justgiving.com/sportsclubs

"Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have estimated that only 10% of CASCs are utilising their ability to claim Gift Aid, meaning that grassroots clubs are missing out on vital funds that they are fully entitiled to claim. JustGiving makes claiming this money easy"

Surface Water Charges

You will be aware that the Government plans to legislate to enable water companies to introduce reduced tariffs for surface water drainage from community buildings. Whilst waiting for the arrival of this legislation United Utilities will extend its current moratorium on site area charging until April 2011.

Its to be hoped that the legislation is introduced irrespective of the outcome fo the forthcoming General Election.

Code of Conduct for Alcohol Retailers

On the 19th January the Government announced that it had finalised its mandatory code of conduct for alcohol retailers. The code therefore will effect clubs with bars, although we would expect most clubs to be compliant. However, clubs that do not have formal age-checking procedures in place will need to introduce them.

Details of the full code are included in our Legal Update page.

Legal Decision on Liability

In the recent case of Uren v Ministry of Defence (1st Defendant) and Corporate Leisure (2nd Defendant) the High Court ruled in favour of the defendants. In his judgement Mr Justice Field said “enjoyable competitive activities are an important and beneficial part of the life of the very many people who are fit enough to participate in them. In my judgement neither Corporate Leisure nor the Ministry of Defence was obliged to neuter the game of much of its enjoyable challenge by prohibiting head first entry.” The plaintiff was paralysed when he dived head first into 18 inches of water during a “It’s a Knockout” style event. A full assessment of this decision is contained in our Legal Update page.

Tax Liability on Overseas Players

A change of policy by HMRC was recently highlighted by the Sunday Times. It involves the taxation of players international endorsements. In future they will be taxed not on the number of days a player is in the UK as a ratio of the year, but on the number of competitions (games) that a person participates in, in this country as a ratio of all games played in a year.

INDEPENDENT SAFEGUARDING AUTHORITY

The scheme will now commence on 1st November 2010 when new people seeking to work or provide voluntary services with young persons will have to be registered with the ISA Vetting and Barring Scheme before they can start.

Managed Migration - ECB Consultation

Managed Migration - ECB Consultation

We are now entering the second year of the new Managed Migration system with clubs seeking to bring in overseas players under Tier 5 of the system.

To receive a "Certificate of Sponsorship" a player must meet certain criteria. First Class experience - played at least 5 first class matches in the 24 months prior to the applicaton, being one. A coaching qulaification of at least UKCC Level 2 being a second.

Whilst these criteria are generally accepted ECB will welcome comment from clubs on the criteria prior to a review for the 2011 season. Comments or views should be expressed to Emma Davis at ECB prior to 31st May 2010. Emma's contact email is emma.davis@ecb.co.uk

LATEST NEWS

Breaking News

The long awaited report of the Intellectual Property Office into the activities of the PRS and PPL

The government have finally published their conclusions from the discussion exercise on the activities of the PRS and the PPL. The outcome on the face of it, does not look good for clubs with a recommendation that the exemptions currently enjoyed could disappear. A full analysis of the report is needed to assess the implications, and this analysis will follow shortly.

Independent Safeguarding Authority - DELAY IN ITS IMPLEMENTATION

Clubs may well be aware that the scale of the operation planned to create the new database - a project that will create a database containing upwards of 11.5 million people involved in work with children or vulnerable adults, is massive. Its not surprising therefore in view of the size of the project that the proposed start date of October 2009 has been put back to July 2010.

Further information is gradually emerging, and it will be disseminated as and when it become available.

Community Amateur Sports Club (Support) Bill receives favourable hearing.

Lord Addington's Bill to remove unnecessary regulatory costs and burdens from sports clubs received its second reading on 8 th May, and following a positive discussion was referred to Committee stage were amendments may be tabled. The Government view is that issues addressed in the Bill such as utilities costs need to be addressed on behalf of the broader voluntary sector, rather than for sport alone.

CMS Select Committee criticises sports club licensing fees

In its recently published report into the Licensing Act 2003 the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has made clear it view that the current licensing fees paid by sports clubs are excessive: "We are concerned that sporting and not-for-profit clubs should face the same fees as the commercial sector. Sporting clubs play an important role in ensuring community access to affordable physical activity. We recommend that they should be placed in a fee band based on 20% of their rateable value".

The Government is due to respond to the Committee's report, and if it accepts the Committee's recommendation will grant clubs a welcome reprieve from the onslaught of regulatory cost and burden they currently face. �

League Cricket Conference