1 General
1.1 Status as a Specialist Body may only be conferred by the BMFA Council and may be rescinded by Council should it be felt that the Specialist Body is no longer acting in a fair, democratic or representative manner.
1.2 A proposal to Council to recommend or rescind Specialist Body status may be made by any Technical Committee, Area Committee or any current Director of the Society.
1.3 A Specialist Body may surrender its status as a Specialist Body by notification, in writing, to the BMFA Chief Executive Officer. A notice period of six months is required after which the Specialist Body ceases to be such. This period of notice is effective from the date of receipt of the notification by the Chief Executive Officer who will notify the appropriate Technical Committee on receipt of any such notification. The Specialist Body is expected to fulfil all its obligations as usual during the period of notice.
1.4 Applications for recognition as a Specialist Body, together with the prospective Specialist Body's declared Constitution that clearly sets out its aims and objectives, should be sent to the Chief Executive Officer at the BMFA’s Leicester office in sufficient time to meet Council agenda deadlines. Other relevant information that should also be provided are initial membership numbers, fees (if applicable), competition details and Committee details.
1.5 Council shall decide on which Technical Committee the Specialist Body shall hold a seat.
1.6 The Specialist Body should diligently maintain a close liaison with its Technical Committee* and the BMFA Council.
1.7 Any Specialist Body may be called upon to organise, on behalf of the BMFA, its particular competition or event at the National Championships.
1.8 The Specialist Body may be called upon to hold Open team trials or team selection competitions and may recommend teams to the appropriate Technical Committee for participation in World/European Championships. In exceptional circumstances Council may ratify a team selected from performances other than team trials or team selection events.
*Note: If a Technical Committee is suspended or dissolved then any relevant Specialist Bodies shall continue to interact with the BMFA as outlined in Annex A to this Appendix.
2 The Specialist Body may also:
2.1 Recommend to the appropriate Technical Committee, after an appropriate democratic procedure, one BMFA member to act as British Team Manager for its discipline if applicable, although the Technical Committee is not necessarily obliged to act on this recommendation.
2.2 Recommend to the appropriate Technical Committee any changes to BMFA/FAI rules relevant to its discipline.
2.3 Submit names to the appropriate Technical Committee for the FAI Judges & Jury and the Technical Experts lists, from BMFA members within its discipline.
2.4 Send a representative to attend the appropriate Technical Committee meeting. Such a representative shall have the right to vote at those Technical Committee meetings.
2.5 The Technical Committee shall fund that representative’s travelling expenses in the same way as it does for elected or co-opted members of the Technical Committees.
3 Specialist Body Requirements
Specialist Bodies of the BMFA are required to fulfil the following commitments:
3.1 A Specialist Body shall comprise as a minimum, a reasonable proportion of the active participants in that discipline.
3.2 Every UK flying or organising member of the Specialist Body shall be a BMFA Member.
3.3 A list of all members of the Specialist Body and its sub-organisations shall be forwarded to the BMFA Membership Secretary by 31st March each year. This list should highlight which of the people on it are non-flying or non-organising members of the said Specialist Body, and must include BMFA numbers in all other cases.
3.4 A written report or minutes of any meetings of the Committee or any Sub-Committee of the Specialist Body must be forwarded to the BMFA Chief Executive Officer within a reasonable period of said meeting.
3.5 Each January, the BMFA office issues a blank Specialist Body Return to all the Specialist Bodies. This must be completed with the details of the elected officers of the Specialist Body along with the other details requested on the form. The Minutes of the last AGM must accompany the completed Annual Return when it is returned to the office no later than the stated deadline.
3.6 The Specialist Body shall be responsible for organising and running events within its discipline, for and on behalf of the BMFA. These events shall be open to any BMFA member and must be advertised as such.
3.7 The Specialist Body shall input details of the dates, venues and contact details for any events or competitions it or its sub-organisations intend to hold during the coming year directly into the BMFA Contest & Events Calendar on the website in accordance with the time schedule in the General Rules.
3.8 The Specialist Body shall upload the results of its BMFA competitions to the appropriate Results pages of the BMFA website in line with the rules in the General Rule Book.
3.9 The Specialist Body should at all times operate in accordance with its declared constitution.
4 The BMFA’s Obligations
The BMFA shall:
4.1 Extend the normal BMFA insurance to cover the Committees and competition organisers of the Specialist Bodies.
4.2 Maintain its affiliation to the RAeC, in order to allow continued representation within the FAI.
4.3 Support teams properly selected & recommended by the relevant Specialist Bodies and ratified by Full Council.
4.4 Make the BMFA Contest & Events Calendar available on the BMFA website for direct updating by Specialist Bodies.
4.5
(a) Include in its rule books, competition rules as supplied by the Specialist Body provided that such rules or amendments have been officially submitted through the appropriate Technical Committee and approved by that Technical Committee in time to meet the printing deadlines.
(b) Publish these rule books, and make them available at a nominal cost or free as BMFA website downloads.
Note: For those Specialist Bodies for whom a Technical Committee is suspended or dissolved, then the responsible officer shall be the BMFA Technical Secretary. (Ref: Council Handbook, Appendix L, Annex A, Clause 1 b).)
4.6 Distribute, at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer, to any persons requesting it, such information on the Specialist Body as has been provided by it for distribution.
4.7 Give the Specialist Body sufficient opportunity to comment either via the appropriate Technical Committee or directly, as the situation dictates, on technical matters and queries within its discipline at whatever level is deemed necessary.
4.8 Refer general enquiries coming into the office on topics relating to the discipline of a Specialist Body to the Secretary of that Specialist Body for comment or answers as deemed necessary by the Chief Executive Officer.
5 Recommendations
The following points are recommendations from the BMFA Council to the Specialist Body:
5.1 The Specialist Body should have at least three officers elected by its membership at an Annual General Meeting. These should be Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. Any of these officers may have a dual role as Competition/Event Secretary.
5.2 Elections to the Committee of the Specialist Body may be bi-annual.
5.3 A General Meeting should be held annually, or in accordance with the Specialist Body's Constitution, and other Committee Meetings as necessary throughout the year. Minutes should be taken at these meetings. (See items 3.4 & 3.5.)
5.4 The Specialist Body’s Treasurer should make available to the members of the Specialist Body copies of the accounts if membership fees are charged.
5.5 The Specialist Body should forward copies of any newsletters and interim reports on its activities to the Delegate of the appropriate Technical Committee to ensure adequate representation at Council level in between Technical Committee meetings.
(Note: Appendix L Extract from Council Handbook March 2021)
