Full details have been revealed of the radical changes that will be put forward at this month’s make-or-break Welsh Rugby Union extraordinary general meeting (EGM) with all the proposals to be bundled together amid a single vote by the member clubs.
The plan on the table is for a major revamp of the governance of the union, with an independent chair, an increased number of independent board members and an aspiration that at least five of the 12 directors will be women. There has been speculation that sponsors will walk away if the governance changes fail to receive the required 75 per cent support from the member clubs.
The EGM will be held at the Princess Royal Theatre, in Port Talbot on Sunday, March 26, with the WRU having now provided written notice of the special resolution..
The 282 voting member clubs and affiliated/associated organisations will be asked to consider a single proposal put forward by the union’s board of directors concerning governance amendments. The resolution, containing a number of different amendments, requires a 75 per cent majority, in a single vote, to be passed.
Chairman Ieuan Evans and interim CEO Nigel Walker have attended district meetings around Wales in recent weeks to explain to clubs the position of the board in calling for changes to modernise the governance structure of the WRU.
If approved, the proposals will:
- Increase the number of independent representatives (INEDs), who are appointed rather than elected, from three to six:
- Reduce the number of elected national or district members on the board from eight to four, with one of those positions still automatically occupied by the Community Game Board chair.
So the full composition of the new WRU Board would be:
- CEO and independent chair
- Four independent non-exec directors (INEDs)
- Chair of the Professional Rugby Board (also an INED on appointment) and an elected or appointed or selected representative for the women’s game
- Four national and district council members including chair of the CGB
All changes would be made under the aspiration that at least five of the 12 directors would be women.
Each member receives two invitations to attend the EGM, but there is now only one vote per member following a proposal approved at the WRU’s 2022 AGM.
In a letter sent to all clubs, the WRU explained: “Members will be asked to consider and approve a new set of Articles of Association for the WRU, which contain all of the amendments required to reflect the proposed governance changes. A special resolution is specified by legislation as requiring a majority of not less than 75% of the votes cast by those members who are present and voting at a meeting. Members unable to attend can vote by proxy form, which indicates how that member wishes to vote.
“There is only the one resolution included in the EGM notice which will be proposed for consideration at the EGM. There will be no other business undertaken and no other resolution can be placed on the agenda for the EGM, given that the notice of an EGM is required to set out all of the business that is to be undertaken at the EGM.”
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