Hazelhurst CSA Rules Comparison

Hazelhurst CSA > Rules > Comparison

The first version of this table is on the CSA Rules Comparison Archive page, below is a wiki version of the latest table which Alison sent to the list on 22nd January 2009.

The following table is divided into the following sections:

• Membership
• Management of democracy
• Profits
• The wider community and Cooperative sector
• Amendments to the Rules
• Dissolution of the Cooperative
• General observations

Membership		Cooperatives UK	Somerset Rules
Who can be members?		Rule 5: The Board may at its discretion admit to membership any person or corporate body or the nominee of any unincorporated organisation who supports the objects of the Society and who has paid or agreed to pay the appropriate annual subscription (if any) for the time being in force. Rule 6: The Board may refuse any application for membership at its absolute discretion.	Rule 1.4: The co-operative has the aim of building membership within its stakeholder groups, and ensuring that its membership fully reflects the diversity of those groups and of the wider community. Rule 1.6 (a): The co-operative is open to applications for membership in the appropriate class without discrimination, subject to the willingness of the applicant to take on the responsibilities of membership that have been agreed by the committee, completion of any application procedure that may have been agreed by the committee, which may include a reasonable probationary period the right of the committee to refuse membership where it believes there is good reason to do so.
	Investors?
	(Paid) growers?
	Volunteers?
	Food buyers/customers
	Organisers/Board
	Local community
How do members join?		Rule 6: upon acceptance and payment of the minimum amount of share holding required as determined by the Board from time to time, and the annual subscription fee (if any) the Society shall issue to her/him/it share certificates as appropriate and shall enter her/his/its name in the register of members... Applications for membership shall be in such form as the Board may from time to time direct.
What powers do they have?			Rule 1.5 (b): User members, who are the main beneficiaries of the co-operatives services and have only limited access to profits, play the principal role in the direction of the co-operative. Non-user members are subject to limits on their powers.
What relative powers do each membership class have?			Rule 1.5 (f): The user membership classes are as follows: Food producers supplying or intending to supply the co-operative 1 Persons buying produce or intending to buy produce from the co-operative 2 Rule 1.5 (g): The non-user membership classes are as follows: Investors 3 Rule 2.7 (d): If there are fewer than three members in any class of user membership, then the voting strength, expressed as a percentage of the voting strength of user members, of each class will be the proportion of user members in that class. Otherwise it will be fixed as follows: class number % voting strength (totalling 100%) 1 50% 2 50% Non-user members shall have no voting rights in general meetings.
What controls are there for membership?
What grounds are there for expulsion and/or removal?
What rights are there for appeal?
Management of democracy		Cooperatives UK	Somerset Rules
How are general meetings organized?		Rule 14: A Special General Meeting shall be convened either upon an order of the Board or at the request of three members of the Society or ten per cent of the membership, whichever is the greater.	Rule 2.6 (b) (iii): General meetings will be convened by the committee... at the request of 20 per cent of the membership (rounded up), 30 per cent of the membership in any one class (rounded up), or twenty members 2.7 (a): All members have the right to propose resolutions.
Who has voting rights?			Rule 2.7 (d): Non-user members shall have no voting rights in general meetings.
How is voting organized in terms of e.g. proxy voting, etc.?
What allowance is there for consensus decision-making?			Rule 2.3: The business of the general meeting and committee is governed by such standing orders as may be adopted by a general meeting; these will remain in force until they are amended or repealed by a general meeting. Such standing orders may not contradict these rules but may allow for the taking of a vote (other than a vote on procedure) to be deferred to allow for the development of consensus.
How is the General Committee constituted?
	Who?
	How many?
	Co-option allowed?
	Restrictions on membership?
	Dealing with conflict of interest
	Decision making
What general powers does the General Committee have?
What controls are there on the powers of the General Committee?
What other support is available to the general meeting and the Committee in case of dispute?
How are Standing Orders organized?
Profits		Cooperatives UK	Somerset Rules
Can dividends be paid out?		No	Yes
Can interest be paid out?		Yes	Yes
How might/must any surplus be distributed otherwise?			Rule 3.3 (a): no less than 50% of profits will be transferred to a general reserve for the continuation and development of the co-operative, and for making making payments for social or charitable purposes
The wider community and Cooperative sector		Cooperatives UK	Somerset Rules
Do the rules allow for social accounting?			Using the Somerset Rules CSA would result in a requirement for the Hazelhurst CSA to produce an annual account of it's social and environmental impact, in addition to it's financial accounts, which would be shared with users, investors and the community as a whole. The Somerset Rules CSA provide for the production of annual social accounts in rule 7.2 and for a social accounting panel in rule 7.3.
How does the organisation work with the wider cooperative movement?			The Somerset Rules CSA contain co-operation requirements regarding allowing for the fair consideration of goods and services offered by other co-operatives when making business decisions (rules 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 and 6.6) and through the stipulation that one member of the Co-op should be responsible for "relations with the wider co-operative movement" (rule 6.5).
Do the rules provide for the basic principles of the Cooperative movement?
How do the Rules position the organisation in respect of e.g. sustainability, environmental concerns, etc.?
Amendments to the Rules		Cooperatives UK	Somerset Rules
How are amendments to the rules facilitated?
Dissolution of the Cooperative		Cooperatives UK	Somerset Rules
How should this be managed?
How should assets be distributed?
General observations		Cooperatives UK	Somerset Rules
When were the rules established as a legal structure?		2008	2009
How many organisations have adopted the rules (estimated)?
How acceptable are the rules to potential investors?
Estimated cost at set-up and per annum?
Names and track record of key advisors to the rules
Simplicity and ease of use
Are the rules written in plain English, using up-to-date language where possible?