The Scottish Rugby Council have announced that their governance Task Force has been disbanded. This follows last weeks public announcement that Scottish Rugby Board would not engage with the group until after the AGM and Ian Barr was President.
Having been announced on 2nd March by President Bradbury, the Task Force was the Councils response to Clubs rejecting the Board led "Independent Corporate Governance and Business Review", headed by Sir Bill Gammell. However, it has been a short and turbulent life for the Task Force.
The Offside Line revealed on 11th April that 38 Clubs had submitted a letter to President Bradbury, asking for the Task Force to be disbanded as they saw it as unrealistic, in this time of Covid-19, to carry out the appropriate consultation across the rugby community and to meet the timescales required to submit proposals to the AGM currently scheduled for August.
On 14th April, President Bradbury, whilst acknowledging some members had issues, that the group would be pressing ahead:
The Task Force are considering and addressing the feedback from the Clubs which have been voiced to Council Members and is committed to keeping the interests of the Clubs at the centre of discussions. The Task Force appreciates that this process may take some time but all members are willing to dedicate the necessary hours to ensure that any recommendations made have been carefully considered, discussed and are fully informed.
And then on 20th April, President Bradbury noted that whilst the group were still pressing ahead, their work would carry on past the date for submitting proposals for the AGM:
As the group’s discussions have progressed, the themes that the Task Force are considering have become clearer. The work is continuing at a steady and thorough pace. The Task Force are some distance away from providing any recommendations and is aware that clubs are concerned that the Task Force will present motions to the AGM. The pace of the current work is such that the work of the Task Force will continue past 31 May 2020, the deadline for AGM motions.
Despite the widespread opposition from member Clubs, what has really sunk the Task Force was the announcement from the Board on 23rd April that they
"will not be seeking to engage with the Task Force until after the AGM in August and Ian Barr is President".
It's widely acknowledged that a review of governance is required, with several difficult issues seemingly been swept under the carpet with little in the way of oversight, from the Keith Russell unfair dismissal, to Agenda 3, Super 6 and the near £1m pay award to Mark Dodson last financial year, and added to this list must now surely be the Boards public proclomation that they would not work with the Council in their review of governance.
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