Section I. Objectives
| 1. | The Positive Action Group shall be a not for profit Association open to all individuals who meet the qualifications for membership as detailed in Section III. | |
| 2. | The objectives of the Positive Action Group shall be: | |
| (a) | To promote awareness and understanding of politics and citizenship | |
| (b) | To encourage members of the public to participate actively in politics by taking part in discussions, making their views known, voting, standing for office and holding public office. | |
| (c) | To encourage an increase in the percentage turnout of the electorate, by raising awareness of the importance to the electorate of exercising their democratic right to vote - a consequence of which will be that they can help to shape and secure the future of the Isle of Man. | |
| (d) | To bring to the attention of Tynwald Members, the Government of the Isle of Man, or any other appropriate bodies, issues or matters of public interest raised by members of P A G; and which may include submissions in response to public consultation exercises. | |
| (e) | To raise funds for the purposes of furthering the aims of the Association. | |
Section II. Officers
| 1. | An Executive Committee will be elected. This shall comprise of a Chairman, Secretary and a Treasurer. Should a vacancy be created the Committee may fill it by co-opting another person on to the Committee for the remaining period of the term of office. The period of office for a Committee Member will be from the date of appointment at the Annual General Meeting and shall run until the next Annual General Meeting. The Executive Committee shall meet at least once in each quarter of the financial year to transact such business as may be necessary. The presence of two members of the Executive Committee will constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting business at the meeting. |
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| 2. | A General Management Committee will be elected. ‘The General Management Committee’ shall comprise of up to fifteen eligible members included those three already elected to the Executive Committee. The function of the General Management Committee shall be to formulate and give effect to the policies of the Association. The General Management Committee will have power vested in it to make and enforce the rules of the Association. The period of office of a member of the committee shall terminate: |
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| (a) | If he/she ceases to be a member of The Positive Action Group; | ||||
| (b) | If he/she is absent from three consecutive meetings of the Committee without the leave of the Committee; | ||||
| (c) | If his/her period of office expires; | ||||
| (d) | If called upon to resign by a majority of members present at an Extraordinary General Meeting. | ||||
| 3. | The Treasurer will maintain a record of all financial transactions in a ledger or electronic accounting system maintained for that purpose together with any supporting records and documentation relevant to such transactions. At the end of each year he/she will prepare accounts showing the income and expenditure of the Association during the financial year and a Balance Sheet showing the assets and liabilities of the Association at the financial year end. The financial year end will be the 5th of April each year. | ||||
| 4. | The Treasurer will be responsible for ensuring any monies accepted on behalf of the Association must meet the criteria set out under the rules of the Association and comply with current legislation. | ||||
| 5. | The Association shall open and maintain a bank account or accounts in the name of the Association with such bank as the Executive Committee shall from time to time select. Two members of the executive (or other such persons as nominated and approved by the Executive) shall sign all cheques authorising the disbursement of the Association’s funds. | ||||
| 6. | The Secretary will maintain a record in the form of Minutes, of all business transacted at the meetings of the Executive Committee and, at the meeting following, those Minutes will be agreed by the members present and signed by the Chairman. | ||||
| 7. | An auditor will be appointed each year at the Annual General Meeting and at least once a year he/she will examine the Association’s accounts and supporting records and documentation to determine their accuracy. The Auditor shall prepare an Auditor’s Report, which will be presented with accounts and balance sheet, at the Annual General Meeting of the Association. | ||||
| 8. | Any property, real or personal, belonging to the Association will be vested in three Trustees. The Trustees will be appointed by the Executive Committee and revocation of the appointments will also be exercised by the Executive Committee. | ||||
| 9. | An Annual General Meeting shall be held as soon as is practicable after the end of the financial year, at which the following business will be transacted: | ||||
| (a) | To receive the Chairman’s Report, which will outline the work of the Association during the previous twelve months. | ||||
| (b) | To receive the Treasurer’s Report and approve the Balance Sheet and Accounts for the last financial year. | ||||
| (c) | For the Election of the Executive Committee and the General Management Committee. | ||||
| (d) | Appointment of an Auditor. | ||||
| (e) | The Voting on and passing of any Resolutions submitted. | ||||
| (f) | To conduct Any Other Business. | ||||
| Members of the public shall be entitled to attend the Annual General Meeting and Extraordinary General Meetings but voting rights shall be restricted to those Members of the Association who are fully paid up Members as at the 1st day of January in the same year as the Annual General Meeting is held. A public notice advising of the date and time of the meeting shall be placed in the local press. |
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| 10. | Additional Committees and sub-committees may be set up for the purposes of furthering the aims of the Association. | ||||
| 11. | The Positive Action Group may, upon decision of its Executive Committee, affiliate itself with other organisations with compatible aims. | ||||
Section III. Membership and Dues
| 1. | There shall be four classes of membership: Full, Social, Associate and Junior (Student). |
| 2. | Full membership shall be open to those who pay an annual subscription to the Association either by weekly, monthly or annual payment in advance, and shall entitle members to attend meetings but will not entitle those members to have voting rights except at the Annual General Meeting and at Extraordinary General Meetings. Application for full membership shall be made to the Secretary and shall be subject to final approval of the Executive Committee. Subscription shall be at a fee to be set from time to time by the Executive |
| 3. | Social membership shall be open to those who support the aims and objectives of the Association but who do not wish to take an active part in the meetings and conducting of the business of the Association and shall restrict themselves to supporting the social and fund-raising activities of the Association. Subscription shall be paid by way of an Annual membership paid to the Association either by weekly, monthly or annual payment in advance at a fee to be set from time to time by the Executive. Application for social membership shall be made to the Secretary and shall be subject to final approval of the Executive Committee. |
| 4. | Associate membership shall be open to those who support the aims and objectives of the Association and wish to contribute financially to the Association without taking an active art in the conducting of the business of the Association. Subscription shall be paid by way of a donation made to the Association, the amount of such donation to be at the behest of the donor but shall not exceed the maximum allowed under the rules of the Association or current legislation. Those persons wishing to donate money on an anonymous basis can do so providing the donation is within the rules relating to maximum amount allowed under current legislation. The anonymous donations will be recorded in the accounts with the name of the donor withheld and due regard paid to the Data Protection Act. |
| 5. | Junior/Student membership shall be open to those who support the aims and objectives of the Association but have not yet either attained the age of 21 years, or who are in full-time education. There is a fixed fee of £5.00 per year for Junior/Student Membership. Application for Junior/Student membership shall be made to the Secretary and shall be subject to final approval of the Executive Committee. |
| 6. | All members shall have the same privileges of membership so long as their dues are not in arrears, but only full members shall be eligible for office in the Association. |
| 7. | Annual dues for the various classes of membership shall be set by the Executive Committee by a simple majority. |
| 8. | Members whose dues are six months or more in arrears may be dropped from the membership at the discretion of the Secretary. Reinstatement to membership shall be contingent upon payment of past dues. |
| 9. | In certain circumstances the payment of subscriptions may be waived subject to the approval of the Executive Committee. |
| 10. | Declaration of Interest – If a member becomes aware of any issue that could be perceived to be a conflict of interest and contrary to the interests of the Association under its written Constitution and Rules, then that member should declare such interest. |
| 11. | Conduct of Members – members will be expected to behave in a manner such as not to bring disrepute upon the group or its members. The Executive shall issue printed guidelines in a rule booklet which will be circulated to all members. Any member in breach of the rules shall have his/her membership terminated by the Executive. |
Section IV. Elections and Meetings
| 1. | Elections and other business of the Association or of the Executive Committee may be conducted by attendance at a meeting or by regular mail or by electronic mail, at the discretion of the Executive Committee. |
| 2. | The Executive Committee shall be empowered to call business meetings of itself, or of the Association. These meetings may be held via some electronic medium rather than in person. At the discretion of those members of the Executive Committee who are present, associate and student members may be permitted to participate in business meetings of the Association, but voting is limited to full members. |
| 3. | In his absence, the Vice Chairman or person to act on behalf of the Chairman shall act as Chairman. If neither is present, the members present shall appoint a Chairman for the meeting. The Chairman shall have a casting vote. |
| 4. | Extraordinary General Meetings - The Secretary shall convene an Extraordinary General Meeting at the request of the Chairman or upon receipt of a requisition signed by not less than seven members, stating the purpose for which such meeting is desired and fourteen days clear notice of such meeting shall be given to all members. Twenty percent of members shall form a quorum at such meetings and in the event of a quorum not being present, the same procedure for adjournment as per Clause 5 below shall apply. |
| 5. | If a quorum is not present at any Meeting, Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting within 15 minutes after the time fixed for its commencement, the meeting shall stand adjourned to a date to be decided by those present. At such adjourned meeting the members present shall form a quorum. |
Section V. Data Protection
| 1. | The Association shall be registered under the Data Protection Act and will meet all its obligations under the current legislation. |
Section VI. Amendments to theConstitution
| 1. | Amendments to this document may be proposed by the General Management Committee and shall appear on the election ballot with an indication that this is an amendment proposed by the Full Committee. Amendments may also be proposed by a full member. Any amendment proposed by a full member must be accompanied by the signatures of ten members and must be filed with the Secretary. Any amendment proposed by a member shall be circulated to the General Management Committee prior to it's appearance on the ballot in order to ascertain whether they wish to make a recommendation concerning its adoption to the membership. |
| 2. | Proposed Amendments shall be adopted if approved by two-thirds of the full members who vote on them at the election. |
Section VII. Dissolution of the Association
| 1. | Any proposal to wind up the Association will be considered at an Extraordinary General Meeting. Any resolution to Wind Up the Association will include a direction as to the disposal of the Associations assets as at Section VII (2). |
| 2. | Upon the dissolution of the Association, the Executive Committee shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all of the liabilities of the Association, dispose of all of the assets of the Association exclusively for the purposes of the Association in such manner or to such organisation or organisations organised and operated exclusively for charitable or educational purposes as shall be deemed appropriate by the Executive Committee. |
This Constitution was approved at a meeting held on the 27th April 2009 in Douglas in the Isle of Man.
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