I am going to propose asking some relevant and sensible questions about the upcoming proposed changes to Civilian Committees that were leaked on here a few weeks back.
Please only post questions you would like to be answered, and do so in a way which is constructive and not just used as a chance to voice your unhappiness.
We’ll moderate this strictly, and anything that is not a question, and not constructive will be removed.
Edited to add that we will collate them and send them to someone in the know for them to formulate responses.
Will each Wing become a proper charity, and if so, who will make up the trustees?
If yes to the above, how will these charities be ‘managed’? As they are a charity of their own, what governance will HQAC have over them?
What will happen to the current squadron level CWC trustees?
What will happen to squadrons who are them selves already registered as a proper charity?/How can they be forced to hand over assets?
Has any thought been given to how grants will work now, given a lot of grants require access to the accounts, or for the annual turnover to be less then £X?
Who will now decide how money can/can’t be spent per squadron? (Note: Currently, an OC or staff member goes to their CWC and asks, they then approve or not. Will OCs now have to go to the wing CWC to get approval to spend money? Can they say no?)
I will add more later I’m sure, but those are my current burning questions I think
What will be the mechanism for regular / repeat payments such as for phone, broadband or insurance? And will the Wing committee now be the body contracting for those services?
If a Sqn is already or becomes a charity. Will they be removed from this exercise?
Much more detail on the mechanism to put money in and remove money from Sqn account.
How will sqns deposit cash?
How will sqns get cash out, when cash is needed?
What will be the end to end process from need generstion to item arriving at sqn and purchaer being reimbursed?
Many grant providers require seperate bank account and individual to the charity documentation. How will we comply with grant application processes. How will we demonstrate in an easy for externals to understand fashion that this money is going to the unit not a central pot.
Taking our braodband as an example.
How will we pay for this going forward. Will all options be available such as BACs, direct debit, card as are now. Each Sqns requirements are different of course.
What limits to withdrawls will be on the account? What if i need to buy a £17k minibus or £6k flight sim etc etc.
Where are the members for the wing civ coms going to be found? Many wing committees are woefully understaffed.
How is a volunteer civ com person at wing going to manage all this workload.
Can it be considered that a possibility might be:
Move all civ coms to independant charity. Thus avoiding the end of excepted charity status.
Hqac provides universal accounting software, even at cost to sqns. We are all using the same stuff then.
Hqac hire accountabts to provide assurance.
The measures above, would maintain sqn status quo, yet provide greater assurance.
Intentions for current civ com members? Many civ coms support many sqn events.
Can it be written into the formation of wing charities etc very clearly and by lawyers that the money remains sqns for their sole use. Ditto a sqns stuff.
This.
They will need to if they control the money and account.
Payments often require 2FA now etc etc.
Again… how is a volunteer civ com going to do all this?
If I’m doing a bag pack this weekend and collect £2k in cash, a member of our committee attends the event, seals up with buckets, then takes this for cashing into the bank… how will this work with the new changes?
Blunt Q.
How is x20 to 40 units worth of accounting going to be centralised and run by one person, when some sqns cant find 1 person to run 1 unit?
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Also.
What right will a sqn have and via what mechanism to challenge if the wing civ com misapproproate, lose or misaccount for some of our money.
Will be have access to the same view of the account as they have so we can keep track of our money?
And when a Squadron is closed down what happens to the Squadrons assets such as minibuses, or radios etc. Are those assets sold to the Wing Civ Com at the retail rate and if so what happens to those monies as they are for the benefit of the Squadrons cadets.
What is the process for canteen? Will stock have to be purchased via Wing? Will Wing provide a payment card reader for Cadets to purchase snacks contactless or will there be some sort of cash system?
Will there be a centrally organised stock system? And Squadrons which are geographically distant from Wing HQs what do they do, In Merseyside Wing the most distant Squadron is in Northwich a good 1.5 hour journey, one way?
