NAME

The Association shall be called the National Passenger Transport Sports Association.

OBJECTS

The Objects of the Association shall be to govern promote, encourage and co-ordinate sport and recreation amongst member organisations throughout the United Kingdom.

MEMBERSHIP

1. Membership of the Association shall be available to United Kingdom organisations in the following categories:-

1. 1. 1. Bus and Coach Operating Companies
      2. Tram, Guided bus and Light Rail Systems
      3. Train Operating Companies
      4. Districts, Depots, Garages, Offices or Social Clubs within the above entering as separate entities subject to the approval of their appropriate parent Company organisation.

2. Corporate Membership of the Association shall be available to National Transport Groups.  Such membership shall be deemed to include all organisations within the appropriate National Transport Group who would otherwise be included in Membership Group (a) above.

3. Individual Membership shall be available to any individual who is employed within the groupings listed in 3(a) above, provided that the individual’s employing Company is not in membership of the Association.

4. Membership of the Association shall entitle organisations and individuals to participate in any National Passenger Transport Sports Competitions, providing that they have paid the Association Annual Subscription defined in paragraph 4 below, together with any further subscription or entry fee required by the appropriate National Passenger Transport Sports Competition, and subject to the criteria for eligibility as set out in paragraph 13.

5. The Association’s Management Board shall be empowered to reject any application for membership of the Association from any individual or organisation, and must report to the next Annual General Meeting giving the reason for its decision.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

The Annual Subscriptions for membership of the Association, in categories 3 (a), 3(b) and 3(c) above, shall be approved by the Annual General Meeting, to be applicable from the 1^st January of the year following the Meeting.

NON-EXECUTIVE  OFFICERS

1. Management Board may, at its discretion, recommend the appointment of a Patron to an Annual General Meeting.

2. A President, who shall normally be a serving or retired senior executive of a member organisation, shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting, and shall hold office at the discretion of Management Board.

3. A Vice-President, who shall normally be a serving or retired senior executive of a member organisation, shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting for a term of three years, and shall be eligible for re-election.

4. Life Vice-Presidents, who have been nominated for the post in recognition of meritorious service to the Association shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting, and shall hold office at the discretion of Management Board.

MANAGEMENT

1. The overall management of the Association shall be vested in a Management Board and a Sports Council, meetings of which may be combined and shall be convened as necessary at least three times per calendar year.

2. Management Board shall be the ultimate governing body of the Association, with membership comprising:

1. 1. The Association’s Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer.

1. 2. The Association’s President and Vice-President
   3. Three members nominated by the Sports Council
   4. A Webmaster

3. Sports Council shall deal with detailed matters concerning the respective Sports Competitions, taking disciplinary action when deemed necessary, and shall receive reports from Management Board.

Membership of Sports Council shall comprise:-

1. All members of  Management Board
2. One nominee, who shall normally be the Competition Secretary, from each National Passenger Transport Sports Competition not represented by virtue of 6(b) (iii) above. 

4. Members of Management Board, with the exception of the President shall serve for a period of three years, a proportion of whom shall retire annually, and would be eligible for re-election at Annual General Meeting.

5. Any person duly elected as Honorary Secretary or Honorary Treasurer shall not hold a similar office in any Sports Competition,

6. Management Board shall consult the Chairperson of the appropriate Sports Competition in the event that an officer of that competition is being considered for an Association officer position.

7. All members of Management Board and Sports Council have voting rights, with the exception of the President and Vice- President, unless either is acting as a representative of a Sports Competition.

8. Proxy voting shall be permitted on specific agenda items as approved by Management Board, and proxy forms shall be submitted in such cases to the Honorary Secretary not less than 14 (fourteen days) before the meeting.

9. Association Life Vice Presidents shall be entitled to attend meetings of Management Board or Sports Council but shall have no voting rights, unless they are acting as a representative of a Sports Competition.

10. One representative of each organisation in Corporate Membership shall be entitled to attend meetings of Management Board and Sports Council, but shall have no voting rights.

11. At all meetings of Management Board, 60% of Board members shall form a quorum, and at all meetings of Sports Council 40% of Council members shall form a quorum.

12. Management Board may, at its discretion, fill any vacancy which may occur and such appointment shall hold good until the following Annual General Meeting.

13. Management Board may, at its discretion, co-opt additional members with voting rights if deemed necessary, and such appointments shall hold good until ratified or otherwise at the following Annual General Meeting.

14. Management Board shall be empowered to arbitrate on any question of interpretation of rules or eligibility of any person, group or organisation participating in any National Passenger Transport Sports Competition.  Management Board’s decision in these cases shall be binding upon all parties.

15. Sports Council may, at its discretion, submit recommendations to the Annual General Meeting for a member to be appointed as a Life Vice-President in recognition of valued service to the Association.

16. Sports Council shall be empowered to take appropriate disciplinary action in the event of misconduct by any member.  A right of appeal exists against decisions of the Sports Council.  Such appeal shall be in writing to Management Board whose decision, after due deliberation, shall be binding on all parties.

ANNUAL  GENERAL  MEETING

1. The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be held in the month of March, following the end of the financial year on the previous 31^st December, at such time and place as is recommended by Management Board and approved by the previous Annual General Meeting.

2. The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be:-

1. 1. To receive Reports from the Association Chairperson and the Honorary Secretary
   2. To receive an audited Statement of Accounts, audited  Balance Sheet and Treasurer’s Report, all prepared by the Honorary Treasurer
   3. To elect members to those positions on Management Board made vacant under the provisions of paragraph 6 (d), 6 (k) and 6 (l).
   4. To appoint an Independent Financial Examiner.
   5. To approve honoraria payments for the Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and such other Association Officers as may be recommended by Management Board
   6. To consider any Notice of Motion submitted by Management Board.
   7. To consider any Notice of Motion from a member organisation submitted duly proposed and seconded in writing to the Honorary Secretary not less than 14 (fourteen) days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting.
   8. To approve the date and location of the following Annual General Meeting, as recommended by Management Board.

3. Voting at an Annual General Meeting shall be permitted as follows:-

1. One vote per member organisation present
2. One vote per Sports Competition present
3. One vote per Management Board member present with the exception of:-

1. The three nominees of Sports Council, and
2. President, Vice President and Life Vice Presidents, unless acting as an agreed representative of a member organisation or Sports Competition not otherwise represented.

4. The Association Chairperson or his nominated representative shall have the casting vote in the event of a deadlock.

4. Management Board shall have the authority to call for a postal ballot of member organisations if it deems it right to do so.

5. Tellers may be appointed as required by the Association Chairperson. No teller may be so appointed if he/she holds a voting card or has any personal involvement in the matter being voted upon.

6. At Annual General Meetings, ten organisations in membership and present shall form a quorum.

7. Decisions by a simple majority or by a two-thirds majority in the case of amendments to the Constitution, as provided for in paragraph 14, at Annual General Meetings shall be deemed to be decisions of the Association, shall be binding on all members, and cannot be revoked except at a succeeding Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting.

EXTRAORDINARY  GENERAL  MEETING

1. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by Management Board on its own authority, or upon receiving a requisition signed by a minimum of 10 (ten) member organisations stating the business to be transacted at the requested meeting.

2. The Honorary Secretary shall give a minimum of 14 (fourteen) days’ notice of the Extraordinary General Meeting to each member organisation, giving date, time, venue and subject matter to be discussed.

3. No other business shall be transacted at an Extraordinary General Meeting other than that specified in the Notice of the Meeting.

4. The conduct of an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be the same as that laid down in paragraph 7 for an Annual General Meeting, except that a majority of two thirds of the voting members present shall be required to carry any motion.

FINANCIAL

1. The Financial Year of the Association shall end on 31^st December each year.

2. The Honorary Treasurer shall be accountable to Management Board for the keeping of records of all monies received and paid by him/her on behalf of the Association, and shall submit such interim and final accounts and budgets as required by Management Board.

3. Prior to the appointment of any officer whose duties will include responsibility for the monies of the Association or of any Sports Competition, the appointing officer shall carry out appropriate searches and question the appointee with regard to their record and experience in financial matters.

4. All monies due to the Association shall be paid immediately to the Honorary Treasurer.

5. Payment for work executed, goods or articles supplied, and grants and donations, having been duly authorised by Management Board, shall be paid by cheque signed by the Honorary Treasurer and counter-signed by one of the three officers appointed for this purpose by Management Board.

6. Any debt due to the Association shall be deemed a debt to the Honorary Treasurer, and shall be recoverable by him/her on behalf of the Association.

SPORTS  COMPETITIONS – MANAGEMENT

1. The management of each Sports Competition shall be vested in a Management Committee comprising of:-

9.       President

2. Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Honorary Secretary and Honorary 

Treasurer

3. An appropriate number of representatives of member organisations
4. The positions of Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer may be 

combined with the approval of the Competition Management Committee.

5. All members of the Management Committee shall be elected at the Competition Annual General Meeting to serve for a period of three years, a proportion of whom shall retire annually and be eligible for re-election.

2. At all meetings of the Competition Management Committee, 10% of the membership shall form a quorum.

3. The Chairperson of each Sports Competition shall be responsible to Management Board for the proper management of that Competition in accordance with the Constitution of the Association, and the rules of any relevant National sporting body.

4. Nominations for election to a Management Committee shall be accepted at the Competition Annual General Meeting.  Retiring officers and members shall submit in writing to the Competition Honorary Secretary their intention to resign or stand for re-election at least 14 (fourteen) days prior to the Competition Annual General Meeting.

5. Any vacancy which may occur on a Management Committee may be filled at the discretion of the Management Committee, and such appointment(s) will hold good until the following Competition Annual General Meeting.

6. The Association President, Vice President, Life Vice Presidents, Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer shall be permitted to attend any meeting of a Competition Management Committee, including the Competition Annual General Meeting, but shall not be permitted to vote unless representing by agreement a member organisation not otherwise present.

SPORTS  COMPETITIONS  –  GENERAL

1. No Sports Competition shall be formed unless it has the approval of  Management Board

2. A Sports Competition shall not be permitted to enter into any form of sponsorship, either on behalf of itself or the Association, without the approval of Management Board.
3. Individual member organisations, including garages, may join together for the sole purpose of entering a particular Sports Competition providing such new grouping does not exceed a total of 500 vehicles, and all group members are in membership of the Association.

4. The Honorary Secretary of each Sports Competition shall be responsible for producing minutes of each meeting which shall reflect all matters discussed and all matters approved at that meeting.  Such minutes to be submitted to the subsequent meeting for approval.

5. The Honorary Secretary of each Sports Competition shall be responsible for submitting to the Association Honorary Secretary no later than 31^st January each year, minutes of the Competition Management Committee, minutes of the Competition Annual General Meeting, an audited copy of the Competition’s Annual Accounts, Competition Results and an Annual Report.

6. Any application for grant must be made in writing to the Association Honorary Secretary.  Such application shall include an audited copy of the previous year’s balance sheet.

7. The Competition Honorary Treasurer shall be accountable to the Competition Management Committee for the keeping of records of all monies received and paid by him/her on behalf of the Competition.

8. All cheques issued by the Competition Honorary Treasurer shall be in respect of expenditure authorised by the Competition Management Committee, and shall be counter-signed by one of two officers appointed for this purpose by the Competition Management Committee.

9. A Competition Management Committee may submit to its Annual General Meeting nominations for Life Vice Presidencies of that particular Competition in respect of any member who has in their opinion given valued service to that Sports Competition.  Such Competition Life Vice Presidents shall be entitled to attend any meeting of the respective Competition but shall not be permitted to vote.

SPORTS COMPETITIONS – ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

1. The Annual General Meeting of each Sports Competition shall be held in the month of March at the same place as the Association Annual General Meeting unless otherwise agreed by Management Board.

2. The business of the Competition Annual General Meeting shall be:-

1. To receive and approve the Minutes of the previous year’s Competition Annual General Meeting.
2. to receive Reports from the Competition Chairperson and 

Competition Honorary Secretary

3. to receive an audited Statement of Accounts and audited Balance 

Sheet.

4. to elect members to those positions on the Competition Management Committee made vacant under the provisions of paragraph 10 (a).
5. to approve honoraria payments to officers of the Management Committee if considered appropriate
6. to consider any Notice of Motion from a member organisation submitted, duly proposed and seconded, in writing to the Competition Honorary Secretary not less than 14 (fourteen) days prior to the date of the Competition Annual General Meeting.
7. to review the previous year’s events and approve the programme for the following year.

3. Voting at a Competition Annual General Meeting shall be permitted as follows:-

1. One vote per organisation in membership of the specific Competition.

2. The Competition Chairperson or his nominated representative, shall have the casting vote in the event of a deadlock.

4. Decisions by a simple majority at Competition Annual General Meetings shall be deemed to be decisions of the Sports Competition, shall be binding on all members of that Competition, and cannot be revoked except at a succeeding Competition Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting.

SPORTS COMPETITIONS – ELIGIBILITY

1. All competitors in any Sports Competition must be bona-fide employees of organisations which is in membership as listed in paragraphs 3 (a) and (b), or

2. Individuals who are bona-fide employees of passenger transport companies which are not in membership of the Association, who have joined as Individual Members in accordance with paragraph 3 (c),  or

3. Retired employees, and employees retired through ill health, who are in receipt of a pension or superannuation benefits from an organisation which is in membership, as listed in paragraphs 3 (a) and (b)  or

4. Retired and Discharged employees for medical reasons who are not in receipt of a pension or superannuation benefits from an organisation which is in membership as listed in paragraphs 3 (a) and 3 (b), provided they are in receipt of incapacity benefit or an appropriate state medical benefit, and do not take up other full-time employment,  or

5. Part-time employees whose only employment is with an organisation which is in membership as listed in paragraphs 3 (a) and 3 (b),   or

6. Seasonal employees with an organisation which is in membership as listed in paragraphs 3 (a) and 3 (b) who are eligible for their period of contract only,  or

7. Employees who work for a minimum of 16 (sixteen) hours per week for a social or recreational club being part of an organisation which is in membership as listed in paragraphs 3 (a) and 3 (b),  or

8. Spouses/partners of categories 13 (a) to 13 (g) above who are only eligible to participate in the same Sports Competition as their spouse/partner, subject to the approval of the relevant Competition Management Committee,  or

9. Spouses/partners of categories  13 (a)  to 13 (g) above who are allowed to continue to participate in the Sports Competition for which they are qualified under paragraph 13 (h) after the death of their spouse/partner provided that they have previously taken part in that Competition, and providing that the said spouse/partner does not re-marry or form a partner relationship with a person not employed in a passenger transport company.

10. Clauses 13 (a) to 13 (i) above shall at all times apply to 60% of the participants in any Sports Competition.  Individual Competitions, by resolution passed at a Competition General Meeting, may increase the level of compliance with clauses 13(a) – 13 (i) to any specified percentage between 60% and 100%.

11. Individual Competitions, by resolution passed at a Competition General Meeting, may define the participants to be included in the non-compliant percentage agreed under paragraph 13 (j) so as to apply only to specific categories including, by example but not limited to, blood relatives of eligible participants and employees of contractors working solely for Member Companies.

12. Any dispute on the eligibility of persons, groups or organisations shall be referred to the Association Management Board, whose decision shall be binding on all parties.

ALTERATION  TO  CONSTITUTION

No new rules shall be made, nor any of the rules herein shall be amended, altered or rescinded without the consent of a two-thirds majority of member organisations present at an Annual General Meeting, Extraordinary General Meeting, or by postal ballot as authorised by paragraph 7 (d)

GENERAL

1. Membership of the Association is granted on the understanding that member organisations comply with and abide by the rules of the Association and the respective Sports Competitions.

2. Any breach of these rules or any dispute arising out of these rules shall be referred to the Sports Council, which shall take appropriate action.

3. Management Board is elected to administer, run and promote the Association and is empowered to carry out any actions for the betterment of the Association.  Any such action shall undergo the process of debate and have the approval of the majority of the Board.  Any such action(s) taken shall be ratified by the following Annual General Meeting.

WINDING UP OF THE ASSOCIATION OR A SPORTS COMPETITION

1. If at any Annual General Meeting a resolution for the dissolution of the Association or a Sports Competition shall be passed by a majority of the member organisations present, an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be called not less than one month thereafter at which not less than two-thirds of the member organisations shall be present in person or by proxy received by the appropriate Honorary Secretary not less than 24 hours before the date of such an Extraordinary General Meeting.

2. In the case of a Sports Competition, should the resolution be passed by a majority of two-thirds of the member organisations present or by proxy, the Competition Management Committee shall thereupon proceed to realise the assets of the Competition.  After the discharge of all liabilities, any finance, trophies and property held by the competition shall become the property of the National Passenger Transport Sports Association.

3. In the case of the Association should the resolution be passed by a majority of two thirds of the member organisations present or by proxy, Management Board shall thereupon proceed to realise the assets of the Association.  After the discharge of all liabilities, any balance shall be equally divided between the Sports Competitions still in being.  Should no such Sports Competitions be in existence such balance shall then be donated to a charity as agreed upon by Management Board.

17. APPROVAL

This Constitution was approved by the Association Annual General Meeting 

on 17^th March 2019.

G J L

March 2019