Rules & Constitution

Objects

  • The objects of the Society shall be to provide recreation and social activities for its members.
  • To promote the benefits of the sport of angling.
  • To conserve and protect the environment.

1. Eligibility for Membership

Membership of the Society is open to anyone who agrees with the rules and ethos of the society.

2. Temporary Members

Members are permitted to nominate their children as a temporary member, provided he or she is receiving full time education. If accepted, the child will be subject to the rules of the Society and must be accompanied by the member whilst fishing Society water. Subscription is payable by the temporary member as determined at the preceding A.G.M. Any child under 12 years will not be subject to a fee.

3. Guests

Members are entitled to guest tickets throughout the fishing season, subject to giving the Secretary reasonable prior notice. The member must accompany the guest whilst fishing Society waters and be responsible for their conduct. A fee is payable to the Society as determined at the preceding A.G.M. which must be paid before any fishing takes place.

4. Suspension

The Management Committee may suspend the use of the Society’s waters by temporary members or guests if they consider it necessary to conserve fish stocks. Any such decision must be referred to the membership at an AGM or EGM for endorsement.

5. Subscriptions

Member’s subscriptions become payable in advance on 1st March each year. If such subscription remains unpaid on 31st.March membership will cease. A new application may be made but will be treated as a first application.

Subscriptions will be determined annually at the A.G.M. in the following categories but will include an additional joining fee of £150 by each new member in the first year of joining only. If a member subsequently leaves the club, they would be eligible for a joining fee on re-joining

  1. Member
  2. Llan Farm only (Only eligible to those Llan Farm members as of 2013)
  3. Temporary Members
  4. Junior members. (Defined as being in full time education up to and including the age of 18 years.) There will be no subscription fee for junior members but when on club waters they must be accompanied by a responsible adult. (Person over 18 years).
  • That fee’s for full membership stays at £175 for the coming season and that Llan Farm only member’s pay a fee of £90.
  • Presentation of the Wyastone Leys Cup for the most salmon caught by a single angler on that beat.

6. Life Members

On a recommendation from the Committee a member of the Society may be elected a Life Member at the Annual General Meeting and henceforth enjoy the privileges of membership without payment.

7. Administrative and Financial Year

The administrative and financial year of the Society shall commence on the first day of January and end on the last day of December in the same year. The Annual General Meeting shall be held in January/February.

8. Conduct of Members

The Committee shall have power to expel any member whom they consider has committed any gross breach of the rules of the Society or acted in a manner likely to bring the Society into disrepute or in any manner contrary to the interests of the Society or its members.

Prior to expulsion the member may be suspended from membership of the Society until such time a decision has been made.

The Secretary shall give the person concerned at least 14 days’ notice in writing, to his last given address, of the alleged offence(s) to be considered.

The member shall be entitled to attend before the Committee and to present evidence and cross-examine any other person giving evidence.

The Committee may not expel any member unless there are at least six committee members present and at least two thirds of those present must have voted in favour of expulsion.

In the event of expulsion, the Secretary shall at once give the member notice in writing of the decision and of their right of appeal to the following A.G.M. against the decision.

In the event of such an appeal the member will remain suspended from membership.

A majority of two thirds of voting members present will be needed to sustain the expulsion; otherwise the appellant must be re-instated.

Any member expelled or ceasing to be a member for any reason shall forfeit all rights to or claims on the Club or its properties or funds that he may have had as a member.

9. Officers

The officers of the Society, who shall be elected annually, shall be:

  1. Chairman
  2. Vice-chairman
  3. Secretary
  4. Assistant Secretary
  5. Treasurer
  6. Data Protection Management Officer
  7. Conservation Officer

11. Quorums

The numbers of voting members present to form a quorum of a Society meeting shall be 10 and for a Committee Meeting 4.

12. Management Committee

The Management shall consist of the following:

Chairman, Vice-chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and not more than 10 nor less than 6 other members.

A retiring Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer shall be an Ex Officio member of the Committee for the following year.

Elections shall take place at the A.G.M. All nominees should have indicated their willingness to undertake their responsibilities. Nominees shall be proposed, seconded and elected by show of hands unless a majority present demand a secret ballot.

Vacancies on the Committee may be filled by the Committee, but any such members co-opted shall retire at the following A.G.M but will be eligible for election. The Committee may also co-opt persons for limited special purposes as considered necessary.

13. Management Committee Responsibilities

  1. To exercise prudent control over the finances of the Society to
    ensure solvency. To operate a bank account with the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer as signatories with any two signatures for a transaction.
  2. To carry on the general management and day to day business of the Society, to call meetings as required, including Special General meetings within 28 days of receiving a requisition signed by 12 or more members.
  3. To appoint at least one competent bailiff for each water and provide written duties together with the names and addresses of members.
  4. To take out adequate insurance to cover the Society’s activities.
  5. To give a copy of the fishing rules (appendix 1) to each member on acceptance and also a copy of the Society’s Safety Guidelines (appendix 2).
  6. The Secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Society, keep minutes of all proceedings, and keep records of all members.
  7. The Treasurer shall keep the accounts of the Society and present an audited statement of accounts and balance sheet to the A.G.M.
  8. The Committee may make recommendations on expenses and honoraria for the Officers to the A.G.M., whose decision shall be final.
  9. The executive committee will have the discretion to award fishing privileges on society waters for services to the Society.

14. Bailiffs Responsibilities

  1. It will be a requirement of any member who is nominated by the committee to become a “Bailiff”, to report to the secretary of developments, usage and issues with the beat that they are responsible for on a regular basis. (Regular basis is at least 4 times during the fishing season).
  2. At the end of each season they will be required to submit a report on the beat for the Secretary, at least two weeks before the AGM. They will then be required to deliver that report to the AGM.
  3. Each bailiff is required to visit and patrol their beats as often as they can and check those that are fishing are members of the society and that the members are adhering to the rules of the Society.
  4. Any issues identified by members to the bailiff must be communicated to the secretary ASAP and in any case within 24 hours.
  5. Each bailiff will be required to pay the ‘Maintenance levy’ each season but would be granted membership in payment for their services to the club as bailiffs.
  6. There is no requirement for any bailiffs to get physically involved with any persons causing problems or fishing illegally on our waters or put themselves at risk.
  7. Where practicable they should record as much evidence as possible in order to identify these persons and inform both the police and Natural Resources Wales Enforcement Officers immediately it is possible to do so.
  8. If any bailiff fails to carry out his duties, then the committee will have the right to cancel their appointment and invite another member to take the post. If such a decision is made, then the retired bailiff will be entitled to still be a paying member of the Society.

15. Annual General Meeting

The Secretary shall give at least 21 days written notice of the A.G.M., stating date, time and place of meeting and the agenda.

The business shall include:

  1. Reports from the Officers including audited balance sheet and statement of accounts.
  2. Election of Officers and Committee.
  3. Appointment of bailiffs.
  4. Appointment of Auditors.
  5. Determination of subscriptions.
  6. Determination of bag limits.
  7. Any resolutions concerning the Rules.

Notice of Motions

Any member wishing to move any resolution affecting the Rules of the Society shall give notice thereof in writing to the Secretary not less than 21days before the A.G.M.

Voting

Each member present at a meeting shall have one vote on any issue. In the case of equality of votes the Chairman for the time being of the meeting shall have an additional casting vote.

16. Trustees

A minimum of two Trustees shall be appointed, such appointment for life or until resignation. The Trustees are responsible to the Lessor for the proper management of the Society and compliance with the terms of the Leases and to this end shall give direction to the Management Committee as necessary.

Abergavenny Town Water

  • First contact for Abergavenny Town Water for the Monmouthshire head ranger and the Monmouthshire County Council representative. If agreed this maybe done by the Trustees.
  • Advise the Abergavenny Town Water bailiffs/ clubs representatives when bookings are made via WUF passport bookings.

17. Society Funds

The funds may only be used for the purposes of the Society.

No member shall, except for professional services at the request of the Management Committee, receive any profit or emoluments from the funds or transactions of the Society.

18. Dissolution

The Gwent Angling Society may be dissolved by Resolution passed at any Annual or Special General Meeting, provided that:

  1. At least 28 day’s notice in writing of the proposal to dissolve the Society has been given to every member of the Society by the Secretary and,
  2. At least three-fourths of the members present and voting, vote in favour of the proposal.
  3. Any funds from the sale of any asset belonging to the club is donated to a suitable angling charity for the benefit of game angling that is based in the UK.

Appendix 1

Fishing Rules

1. Fishing will be:

By artificial fly only and spinning for salmon within Environmental Agency restrictions at Llan Farm, Ty Mawr, Pen-Y-Worllod and Bakers beats on the River Usk and Wyastones Leys beat on the River Wye. Fly Fishing only on the River Sirhowy and Afon Llynfi and River Monnow.

  1. That any spinner for salmon shall be fitted with a single barbless hook only.
  2. That all hooks for both trout and salmon be barbless.

2. All lead weights are banned.

3. Members, and their guests (if appropriate), may only fish with one rod at a time.

4. Coaching/Instruction by anyone other than a qualified registered coach nominated by the club is forbidden.

5. The limit of fish that may be killed and taken from Gwent Angling Society waters which allow fish to be harvested (this includes a) Usk at Chainbridge (Garry Evans), b) Usk at Dan y Warren, c) Usk at Llan Farm, d) Usk at Pen y Worlod, e) Usk at Ty Mawr and Maes y Berllan, f) Wye at Boughrood, and g) Wye at Wyastone Leys, and excludes a) Afon Llynfi, b) Sirhowy, c) Monnow at Penishapllwyd, and d) Usk at Abergavenny Town Water) is:

  • Brown Trout – Season’s limit of five (5) fish per year per member, with only a single (1) fish killed per day; this is to maintain and manage fish stocks on our beats. This ruling is to be reviewed at each AGM.
  • Salmon – As per NRW byelaws. Fly fishing only for salmon from 1st September on the River Wye.
  • Sea Trout – As per NRW byelaws.

6. Trout or Sea Trout under 9″/23cms and Salmon under 18″/30cms or under 3lbs in weight must be returned.

All should be aware of the differences between the species of trout, sea trout and salmon.

7. Members and guests must comply with the Rules and Byelaws of the Environment Agency and the Society. Each person on the water must carry their membership card, or guest ticket together with the appropriate E.A. licence, at all times when fishing. Production must be made to the Society appointed bailiff or any member of the Society on request. Any refusal or failure to do so may be construed as a breach of Section 8 of the constitution.

8. All persons fishing the Society’s waters must keep a record of all fish caught and forward their returns to the Catch Returns Officer by 31st October each season.

  • That each member reports to the secretary within 24 hours the catching of a salmon on any of the beats managed by the Society, so that accurate records can be maintained for the owners of those beats.

9. The Committee have the right to expel from the Society any person who may, in their opinion, have committed any gross breach of the rules or who may have acted in a manner likely to bring the Society into disrepute or in a manner contrary to the interests of the Society or its members.

10. Member subscriptions are due on the 1st March each year. Any member who fails to have paid their subscriptions by 31st March will have to re-apply for membership.

11. Members must respect property, crops hedges and fences and pay attention to the opening and closing of gates.

12. Strict precautions must be taken to prevent pollution. Anyone causing damage to banks, bushes or trees or leaving litter or waste tackle faces expulsion.

13. No radio or similar appliance shall be operated on the fisheries to the annoyance of others.

14. Members are required to pull 50 Himalayan Balsam plants per visit to any of our beats.

15. The taking or disturbance of birds or their eggs or nests is prohibited.

17. Vehicles must be parked so as not to obstruct roads or gateways. At Ty Mawr there is parking outside the gymnasium if the fishery is full.

Visit your website at www.gwentanglingsociety.co.uk. Contributions are welcomed.

Appendix 2

Wyastone Leys Boat Rules

1. Only members who have completed the boat familiarisation course can be in control of the boat and engine.

2. No more than three persons in the boat at any one time with only two permitted to fish.

3. All occupants on the boat must wear a floatation device/Life belt.

4. The boat is only to be used on the beat to the end of Johns hole. This will allow those that are bank fishing the freedom to fish without disturbance.

5. The boat may be beached below John’s Hole to allow the occupants to fish from the bank, but only if no other anglers are fishing below that point.

6. It is the responsibility of each member who uses the boat to ensure that the fuel tank is left full at the end of the days fishing.

7. The member using the boat and engine is responsible for ensuring that the engine is secured after use in the container. They must also ensure that the boat is clean and secured to the mooring chain by the padlock.

8. Any damage to the boat or engine must be reported immediately to the secretary.

9. The boat must be booked prior to its use on the Society website.

10. The boat shall not be launched or used if the river is of a height deemed to be dangerous. A marker will be set at the launching area.

It is the wish that all members have enjoyment in the use of the boat and the fishing from it. You are asked to ensure that maintain consideration to other users of the waterway, and that you do not interfere with members fishing from the bank.

Appendix 3

GDPR Policy and Documentation

“Data Protection Legislation” or “Legislation”

Gwent Angling Society Data Protection Policy

means the Data Protection Act 1998, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (SI 2426/2003 as amended), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), any laws in the UK enacting the GDPR or preserving its effect in whole or part following the departure of the UK from the European Union and all applicable laws and regulations, including any replacement UK or EU data protection legislation relating to the Processing of Personal Data, together with, where applicable, the guidance and codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Data Protection Legislation is concerned with the protection of human rights in relation to personal data. The aim of the Legislation is to ensure that personal data is used fairly and lawfully and that where necessary the privacy of individuals is respected. During the course of the activities of Gwent Angling Society (“the society”), the society will collect, store and process personal data about our members, people who attend our services and activities, employees, suppliers and other third parties and we recognize that the correct and lawful treatment of this data will help maintain confidence in the society. This policy sets out the basis on which we will process any personal data we collect from data subjects, or that is provided to us by data subjects or other sources.

The Data Protection Compliance Manager is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Legislation and with this policy. The post is held by Gareth Lewis.

Any questions about the operation of this policy or any concerns that the policy has not been followed should be referred in the first instance to the Data Protection Compliance Manager.

Processing Personal Data

All personal data should be processed in accordance with the Legislation and this policy. Any breach of this policy may result in disciplinary action.

Processing includes obtaining, holding, maintaining, storing, erasing, blocking and destroying data.

Personal data is data relating to a living individual. It includes employee data. It will not include data relating to a company or organisation, although any data relating to individuals within companies or organizations may be covered. Personal data can be factual (for example a name, address or date of birth) or it can be an opinion about that person, their actions and behaviour.

Examples of personal data are employee details, including employment records, names and addresses and other information relating to individuals, including supplier details, any third-party data and any recorded information including any recorded telephone conversations, emails or CCTV images.

Employees and others (including volunteers and trustees) who process data on behalf of the society (referred to in this policy as ‘Employees’) should assume that whatever they do with personal data will be considered to constitute processing.

Employees should only process data:

  • If they have consent to do so; or
  • If it is necessary to fulfill a contractual obligation or as part of the employer/employee relationship; for example, processing the payroll; or
  • the processing is necessary for legitimate interests pursued by Gwent Angling Society, unless these are overridden by the interests, rights and freedoms of the data subject.

If none of these conditions are satisfied, individuals should contact the Data Protection Compliance Manager before processing personal data.

Compliance with the Legislation

Employees who process data on our behalf have a responsibility for processing personal data in accordance with the Legislation. This includes the data protection principles in the Legislation. These state that personal data must:

be obtained and used fairly, lawfully and transparently, be obtained for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and used only for those purposes, be adequate, relevant and limited to the minimum necessary for those purposes, be accurate and kept up to date (every reasonable endeavour should be used to personal data that is not accurate is corrected or erased without delay), be processed in a manner that ensures its security (see Information Security policy at Appendix 1), not be kept for any longer than required for those purposes (see Retention Policy at Appendix 2).

We will only share personal data with other organisations or people when we have a legal basis to do so and if we have informed the data subject about the possibility of the data being shared (in a privacy notice) unless there is a legal exemption from doing so. We will keep records of any information shared with a third party including a record of any exemption which has been applied.

Employees should follow the Data Breach Procedure (at Appendix 3) if they think they have accidentally breached any provision of this Data Protection Policy.

Sensitive Data

We will strive to ensure that sensitive data is accurately identified on collection so that proper safeguards can be put in place. Sensitive data means data consisting of information relating to an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health, and genetic information Sexual life.

Criminal Offences

Sensitive data may be processed in the course of our legitimate activities, but may not be passed to any third party without the express consent of the data subject.

Monitoring the Use of Personal Data

We are committed to ensuring that this data protection policy is put into practice and that appropriate working practices are being followed. To this end the following steps will be taken:

Any Employees who deal with personal data are expected to be aware of data protection issues and to work towards continuous improvement of the proper processing of personal data; Employees who handle personal data on a regular basis or who process sensitive or other confidential personal data will be more closely monitored;

All Employees must consider whether the personal data they hold is being processed in accordance with this policy. Particular regard should be had to ensure inaccurate, excessive or out of date data is disposed of in accordance with this policy;

Employees must follow the Breaches Procedure (at Appendix 3) should they become aware of any breach of this policy; Employees will keep clear records of our processing activities and of the decisions we make concerning personal data (including reasons for the decisions) to show how we comply with the Legislation;

Spot checks may be carried out;

An annual report on the level of compliance with or variance from good data protection practices will be produced by the Data Protection Manager;

Data breaches will be recorded and investigated to see what improvements can be made to prevent recurrences;

We will only appoint data processors on the basis of a written contract that will require the processor to comply with all relevant legal requirements. We will continue to monitor the data processing, and compliance with the contract, throughout the duration of the contract.

Handling Personal Data and Data Security

This will be managed in accordance with our Information Security Policy (see Appendix 1).

The Rights of Individuals

The Legislation gives individuals certain rights to know what data is held about them and what it is used for. If personal data is collected directly from an individual, we will inform them in writing of their rights by providing them with a ‘Privacy Notice’ at the time the personal data is collected or as soon as possible afterwards.

In principle everyone has the right to see copies of all personal data held about them. There is also a right to have any inaccuracies in data corrected or erased. Data subjects may also have a right of portability in respect of their personal data, and a right to be forgotten. Data subjects also have the right to prevent the processing of their data for direct marketing purposes.

Any request for access to data under the Legislation should be made to the Data Protection Officer in writing. In accordance with the Legislation we will ensure that written requests for access to personal data are complied with within 30 days of receipt of a valid request (where permitted under the Legislation, we may take a further 30 days to respond but we will inform the individual of why this is necessary).

When a written data subject access request is received the data subject will be given a description of a) the personal data, b) the purposes for which it is being processed, c) those people and organizations to whom the data may be disclosed, d) be provided with a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

Changes to this Policy

We reserve the right to change this policy at any time, including as needed to comply with changes in law. Where appropriate we will notify data subjects of those changes by mail or email.

To be reviewed in 12 months time.

Appendix 1 – Information Security Policy

Gwent Angling Society Appendix 1 – Information Security Policy

Information security involves preserving confidentiality, preventing unauthorised access and disclosure, maintaining the integrity of information, safeguarding accuracy and ensuring access to information when required by authorised users.

In addition to complying with this policy, all users must comply with the Data Protection Legislation and the Data Protection Policy.

‘Society Data’ means any personal data processed by or on behalf of Gwent Angling Society.

Information security is the responsibility of every member of staff, trustee, office holder, church member and volunteer using Society Data on but not limited to the Society information systems. This policy is the responsibility of the Data Protection Officer who will undertake supervision of the policy.

Our IT systems may only be used for authorised purposes. We will monitor the use of our systems from time to time. Any person using the IT systems for unauthorised purposes may be subject to disciplinary and/or legal proceedings.

We will take appropriate technical and organisational steps to guard against unauthorised or unlawful processing. In particular:

  • All data will be stored in a secure location and precautions will be taken to avoid data being accidentally disclosed.
  • Manual records relating to church members or staff will be kept secure in locked cabinets. Access to such records will be restricted.
  • Access to systems on which information is stored must be password protected with strong passwords and these should be changed at once if there is a risk they have been compromised. Passwords must not be disclosed to others. We will ensure that staff and members who handle personal data are adequately trained and monitored to ensure data is being kept secure.
  • We will ensure that only those who need access will have access to data.
  • We will take particular care of sensitive data and security measures will reflect the importance of keeping sensitive data secure (definition of sensitive data is set out above in the Data Protection Policy), e.g. password protection for documents and encryption.
  • Where personal data needs to be deleted or destroyed adequate measures will be taken to ensure data is properly and securely disposed of. This will include destruction of files and back up files and physical destruction of manual files. Particular care should be taken over the destruction of manual sensitive data (written records) including shredding or disposing via specialist contractors (who will be treated as data processors -see below).
  • We will ensure that any data processor engaged to process data on our behalf (e.g. for payroll) will act under a written contract and will give appropriate undertakings as to the security of data.

Appropriate software security measures will be implemented and kept up to date. Safely using encrypted devices or services.

  • We will ensure that if information has to be transported or transferred, this is done.
  • Where personal devices are used to store or process personal data, they must be subject to appropriate security.

All breaches of this policy must be reported to the Data Protection Officer.

Appendix 2 – Records Retention Policy

Storage of Data and Records Statement

  • All data and records will be stored in accordance with the security requirements of the Data Protection Legislation and in the most convenient and appropriate location having regard to the period of retention required and the frequency with which access will be made to the record.
  • Data and records which are active should be stored in the most appropriate place for their purpose commensurate with security requirements.
  • Data and records which are no longer active, due to their age or subject, should be stored in the most appropriate place for their purpose or destroyed.
  • The degree of security required for file storage will reflect the sensitivity and confidential nature of any material recorded.
  • Any data file or record which contains personal data of any form can be considered as confidential in nature.
  • Data and records should not be kept for longer than is necessary. This principle finds statutory form in the Data Protection Legislation, which requires that personal data processed for any purpose “shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose”. All staff, trustees, volunteers and members of the Society are required to have regard to the Guidelines for Retention of Personal Data attached hereto.
  • Any data that is to be disposed must be safely disposed of for example by shredding. Any group which does not have access to a shredder should pass material to the Data Protection Officer who will undertake secure shredding.
  • Special care must be given to disposing of data stored in electronic media. Guidance will be given by the Society Leadership team to any group which has stored personal data relating to its members on for example personal computers which are to be disposed of.

Guidelines for Retention of Personal Data

(This is not an exhaustive list)

If you have any queries regarding retaining or disposing of data, please contact the Data Protection Officer.

Types of Data Suggested Retention Period

  • Personnel files including training records and notes of disciplinary and grievance hearings.
    • 6 years from the end of employment
  • Application forms/interview notes
    • Maximum of one year from the date of the interviews for those not subsequently employed. If employed, retain in personnel file.
  • Information relating to children
    • Check for accuracy once a year
    • Record that child was a member of the group – permanent
    • Secure destruction of personal data other than name and fact of membership – three years after ceasing to be a member
  • Society member information
    • Check for accuracy once a year
    • Record that adult was a member – permanent
    • Secure destruction of personal data, other than name and fact of membership – three years after ceasing to be a member
  • Society group member information
    • Check for accuracy once a year
    • Record that adult was a member of the group – permanent
    • Secure destruction of personal data other than name and fact of membership – three years after ceasing to be a member
  • Income Tax and NI returns, including correspondence with the tax office
    • At least 6 years after the end of the financial year to which the records relate
  • Statutory Maternity Pay records and calculations
    • As Above (Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations 1986)
  • Statutory Sick Pay records and calculations
    • As Above
    • Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982
  • Wages and salary records
    • 6 years from the tax year in which generated
  • Accident books, and records and reports of accidents
    • (for Adults) 3 years after the date of the last entry
    • (for children) three years after the child attains 18 years (RIDDOR 1985)
  • Health records
    • 6 months from date of leaving employment
    • (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations)
  • Health records where the reason for termination of employment is connected with health, including stress-related illness
    • 3 years from the date of leaving employment
    • (Limitation period for personal injury) claims)
  • Student records, including academic achievements, and conduct
    • At least 6 years from the date the student leaves in case of litigation for negligence.

Appendix 3 – Data Breach Policy A

Appendix 4 – Complaints Process – H2

Amended and updated AGM 19th January 2018