Standing Orders of the Horserace Betting Levy Board

STANDING ORDERS OF THE HORSERACE BETTING LEVY BOARD, A BODY CORPORATE CONSTITUTED BY THE BETTING, GAMING AND LOTTERIES ACT 1963

Introduction

1. Section 24(8) of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 Act states that the Levy Board may regulate their own procedure and make standing orders governing the conduct of their business.

Notice of Meeting

2. The dates and times of Meetings for the following year shall be fixed at a Meeting in the last quarter of the preceding year. Meetings of the Board shall be convened by the Chief Executive on the instructions of the Chair or on the instructions of any four members. It shall not be necessary to give notice of a meeting to any member for the time being absent from the United Kingdom.

Meetings of the Board

3. The quorum necessary for the transaction of the business of the members may be so fixed by the members, and unless so fixed shall be four.

4. In the absence of the Chair, the chair of any Meeting shall be one of the other members appointed by the Secretary of State.

5. Questions arising at any Meeting shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and, in the case of any equality of votes, the chair for the Meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

6. A meeting of the Board may consist of a conference between members some or all of whom are in different places provided that each member who participates in the meeting is able:

1. to hear each of the other participating members addressing the meeting; and
2. if they so wish, address each of the other participating members simultaneously,

whether directly, by conference telephone or by any other form of communication equipment (whether in use when this Standing Order is adopted or developed subsequently) or by a combination of such methods. A quorum shall be deemed to be present if those conditions are satisfied in respect of at least the number of members required to form a quorum and references in these Standing Orders to members present at a meeting shall be deemed to include references to members participating as mentioned above. A meeting held in this way shall be deemed to take place at the place where the largest group of members is assembled or, if no such group is readily identifiable, at the place from where the Chair of the meeting participates at the start of the meeting.

7. Any member appointed by the Secretary of State, absent from a Meeting, may not nominate an alternate but may depute another member to vote by proxy on their behalf.

8. In the event that at any time there are less than three members appointed by the Secretary of State then, for the purposes of determining questions arising at any Meeting, the Chair, in addition to their own vote, is deemed to hold the vote of the unappointed member or members, and they may cast this vote or votes accordingly.

9. The Jockey Club and the Betting and Gaming Council may appoint an alternate to attend a Meeting in the absence of an appointed or ex-officio member as applicable and any such alternate may vote on any question arising at the meeting and shall be counted in the quorum present at the Meeting.

10. A member shall not vote in respect of any contract arrangement or transaction in which they, or a company or body of which they are a director or hold office, has a financial interest, and if they do so their vote shall not be counted, nor shall they be counted in the quorum present at the Meeting. Either of these prohibitions may at any time be suspended or relaxed, either generally or in respect of any particular contract, arrangement or transaction, by the chair of the Meeting.

11.The members may from time to time, as appropriate, consult other persons or bodies not members of the Board, and may also appoint from among the members, the Chief Executive and other executive staff of the Board and advisers to such committees as they may deem necessary or expedient. Such committees shall meet from time to time as required and report their proceedings to the members. The business of any such committee shall be conducted in accordance with the direction of the members, and their decisions or recommendations shall require the approval of the Board.

Minutes

12. The Board shall cause proper Minutes to be made of the proceedings of all Board meetings and committee meetings as appropriate, and a copy of all Minutes of the Board shall be circulated to each member of the Board.

The Seal

13. The Board may execute a deed either by affixing the Seal of the Board, which shall be affixed in the presence of a member of the Board and shall be countersigned by the Chief Executive of the Board or by a second member or by some other person appointed by the members for that purpose; or by signature (including by electronic signature) on behalf of the Board by two authorised signatories and for these purposes authorised signatory shall mean a Government Appointed Member of the Board, the Chief Executive of the Board, or any other person duly authorised by the Board to execute deeds on its behalf. A record shall be kept of all occasions when the Seal is used.