Motion proposed to keep committee reps even if their rugby club is relegated

A DESIRE for continuity and heightening Scotland's influence in world rugby's corridors of power have been put forward as the main reasons for motions at next month's agm that will seek to extend the stays of individuals after their elected periods are up.

With league reconstruction a key issue up for debate next month, the other significant change being proposed falls in the area of governance and suggests a return to former principles. The new governance structure introduced after a bitter battle within Murrayfield in 2005 was designed to lessen the control club volunteers had over the running of what had become a very expensive professional game.

Two new bodies, the Scottish Rugby Council, that retained various representatives elected by clubs, schools, women's rugby and referees, and the professional executive body, the Scottish Rugby Board, of executive and non-executive directors and council representatives, was introduced and each has contributed representatives to the various International Rugby Board committees, the Six Nations Committee, European Rugby Cup board, the Celtic League board and FIRA that oversees junior competitions.

However, the council reps are subject to frequent change in line with the new regulations that state that if the Premier One representative's club is relegated, for example, he must vacate his position on the council. That happened recently with Ian Barnes of relegated Edinburgh Accies standing down and Peter Wright, the Glasgow Hawks' director of rugby, being elected to replace him at the forthcoming agm. The SRU's standing working party now believes that lacks continuity and has proposed a motion to allow council members to remain for up to six years – two three-year terms – irrespective of whether their club remained in the division they represent or not, unless a vote is taken by clubs to oust him or her.

In a follow-up motion, the working party propose that representatives who have lost their place on the council but have held a seat on one of the international bodies should also remain on that body as a Scottish representative. They would then become ex-officio members of the Scottish Rugby Council with no voting rights, but continue to travel to international meetings and conferences, and take the honorarium due for that.

The reason for this motion is explained as: "It is important that our representatives have status within our own union (eg: through being a member of our Council or Board) and are able to achieve a degree of continuity and longevity in post in order to consistently contribute and exert maximum influence."