I have received this question from Peter in the UK.
Does the management committee of a sporting club have to LEGALLY provide a copy of the committee meeting minutes to members of the club
It depends on the legislation and/or your constitution but generally the minutes of a management committee do not have to be made available to the members at large.
The reason is that the matters which the committee discuss are sometimes sensitive or confidential in relation to staff or members.
I know it sounds unreasonable but if the committee minutes were made generally available, then in my experience, a lot of the discussion and decisions then get held privately and not in the committee itself and that serves no-one and creates suspicion.
Some organisations allow members to attend committee meetings as observers and only ask them to leave when there are confidential items.
In general terms, the more open and transparent committees are, the less conflict tends to arise.
Please Note: The author accepts no responsibility for anything which occurs directly or indirectly as a result of using any of the suggestions or procedures detailed in this blog. This is not, and should not be taken as legal advice.The author is not a lawyer. All suggestions and procedures are provided in good faith as general guidelines only and should be used in conjunction with appropriate advice relevant legislation, constitutions, rules, laws, by-laws, and with reasonable judgement. If you are in any doubt, seek appropriate advice.
