The meeting was opened at 12.30pm by the Chairman. Present were: Jim Chick(JC), John Hill(JHL), Chris Corker(CC), Terry Large(TL), Pete Eldrett(PE), Bob Edwards(BE), Grant Dudley(GD), Brian Morris(BM), Nick Kester(NK), Derek Stotton(DS), Steve Halsall(SH), Mike Nicholls(MN), John Hounslow(JH), Andrew Knowles-Brown(AKB) and Mike Clowes(MC).
Apologies were received from: Nick Fox, Melinda Terleske, Laila Green, Gary Biddiss, Karl Leadley, Alison Littlewood and Dean White.
The Minutes of the last meeting were passed and signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising: SH reported that with reference to the lost hybrid discussion, the BFC had set up a sub-committee headed by Matt Gage to examine the matter. He will keep the Board informed.
Treasurers Report: MC firstly gave details of the HB accounts. At present there is £12,205.43p in the current account and £37,492.76p in the deposit account. In the CFF accounts there is £5281.29p in the current account and £16,000.14p in the deposit. The Irish Hawking Club had contacted after problems with computers, apologised for the loss of contact and paid their subs to date. There had been no news from the Shropshire HC and they were no longer affiliated.
Animal Health: JH updated the HB on the latest position regarding the review of schedule 4 of the WCA 1981 and the adjournment debate requested by Matthew Salter MP on 23rd Jan 2008. He stated that following the decision by the Minister to retain Bird Registration there were now two questions outstanding:
1) Which species should be included on the reduced schedule, and
2) how registration administrative procedures could be simplified to reduce the burden on keepers?
Defra was currently in contact with devolved administrations to agree which species should be included GB-wide. He advised the HB to respond when a list is prepared and released.
CITES fees: The consultation exercise on CITES fees will commence on Monday 4th February. There will basically be only one option in the consultation document which is full fee recovery.
Chief Wildlife Inspector: Nick Williams has been seconded to a different job within Animal Health. JH will be hoping to fill the post in the near future.
Ports of Entry consultation: The consultation exercise has thrown up difficulties which are currently being considered by Dominic Whitmee (Defra) although there is no proposal to hold a new consultation exercise people can still communicate with DW by e-mail if they have specific concerns. DW is looking into considerable liberality for exports.
Irish Art 10 Certificates: JH requested the Hawk Board and clubs to spread the word that anybody holding hand written Article 10 certificates issued by the Ireland should exchange them for UK certificates. There will be no charge.
JH finished by saying that the Cites website is closing and transferring to AH. He asked for anyone interested in volunteering to check it out to contact him. TL asked if AH would be attending the Falconry Fair and JH confirmed that they would be there but not at the CLA Game Fair.
Education: MN informed the meeting that 171 awards have now been issued, there are 80 registered Admin Centres and that the 171 awards went through 23 centres. There are 101 assessors although not all are assessing at the moment and 6 External Verifiers. Lantra are tightening up on the criteria for people to become assessors e.g. Is a person a full member of a recognized club?
TL asked about charges. MN replied that for assessing and a certificate £25 would go to Lantra. The assessor would receive £50-£100. Centres on average charge £500 for a 5 day course and some throw in the assessment free if the student pays the £25 to Lantra. Club assessors charge very little if arranged by the clubs. In practice a lot of the External Verifier work is being done by post.
JC mentioned an offer made by Living Heritage (a commercial enterprise) who are attending 13 shows in various parts of the country. They have offered the HB a free 30' x 20' tent at any of their shows with free electricity and if necessary a plasma screen. He thought it would be very useful for the Award scheme but we need to find people to attend the shows for the HB and Lantra. This was discussed and it was agreed that MC will e-mail all club reps to give details of the shows and ask for volunteers.
CFF Update: TL reported that the new donation forms are now complete with Doreen Page’s details. JHL will have the trade list completed by the end of February. NK will have a newsletter ready for the FF and if there is more news to circulate he will prepare another one for the CLA Game Fair.
Falconry Festival Update: JC confirmed that the Englefield estate was happy with the way in which the event had been organised and will be happy to host it again in 2009. The organisers would like it to be held at the same time of year (2 weeks before the CLA Game Fair).
CA Update: James Legge joined the meeting to present the update. He alerted the meeting to a Private Members Bill which could have an affect on falconers as it refers to animals not deemed dangerous but which commit some act whereby the owner becomes liable in law. The purpose of the Bill is to clarify the wording which will assist with Insurance cover and enable everyone to understand where they stand should the unforeseen happen.
He then moved on to Open General Licences which are now the responsibility of Natural England.
In November 2007 Natural England published a stakeholder consultation proposing changes to the licences with effect from January 2008. The Alliance responded in the strongest possible terms to this hasty consultation of less than three weeks arguing that these proposed changes far from being uncontroversial were in fact significant changes and should be subject to a proper and full consultation. As a result there will be full consultation later this year with licences re-issued in their current form for 2008. (The HB has also responded to this along similar lines and will be very active in lobbying government on the subject.)
HB Elections: At the last meeting SH proposed that, as there were 2 vacancies for specialists after the last election, the elections should be held for 2 members each year instead of the present system.
This was discussed in detail and finally a vote was held on the proposal “To move towards the amendment of the Constitution to elect two specialists each year.” The vote was 8 for and 1 abstained. Further discussion at the next meeting.
Whilst on the subject of specialists JC, on behalf of Nick Fox, proposed that Jemima Parry-Jones be co-opted on to the HB to deal specifically with the forthcoming Performing Animals Act. Agreed.
Falconry for Schools: NK had received correspondence from falconer working in Wiltshire offering to go into schools in an attempt to familiarise young people with falconry and birds of prey. This initiative, which is to be supported by the Countryside Alliance, could be beneficial for the future and counter-act anti teachings already present in schools. JC will visit the lady but the meeting was generally in favour.
