Guest Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Hi, I am wondering what opinions everyone has about membership of the PLA. We have been looking at a change to our managment and the PLA have stopped both of our planned options (becomming a community interest company and reducing the requirement for parents on the committee) so I am wondering if anyone is running a setting that is not a member of the PLA or is not using the PLA constitution. If anyone has any thoughts on the pro's and con's of moving away from the PLA I would love to hear them. Thanks Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 For the first time ever I haven't renewed our membership.......really couldn't afford to...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panders Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I privately own our pre-school, but we haven't been members for years, can't say I've missed it very much, if at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I privately own our pre-school, but we haven't been members for years, can't say I've missed it very much, if at all. You see that is what we thought, what do the PLA do for us? Not a lot as far asI can tell. If we stop our membership then we can creat ourt own constitiution and run in the way we see fit rather than the PLA who don't seem to appreciate the problems pre school face. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynned55 Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 (edited) Firstly can I ask how did the PSLA stop you becoming a CI Co &/or reduce the need for parents on your committee? They are NOT a legal body and do NOT make the rules. We are members and have been for... well ever since I can remember but we have our own constitution and always have. Do please remember though that being a member does not mean you have to use their constitution and you certainly do not need their permission to change things. As long as you make any changes that do not conflict with your constitution (which can be changed if you want) it is entirely up to you. I dont really understand why you would think they have the powers to influence your decisions. Being a member does not mean that you cannot run as you see fit. I wonder why so many people think the PSLA are some sort of 'governing body' they are there just to support and advise, and yes, I do think they are a bit out of touch and have moved a long way from the original preschool ethos. They are very active in our area and our LA use their Dev Workers rather than employ their own as other boroughs do. We get 2 advisory visits per academic year, more if required/needed and on the end of the phone for advice. However if you have no active local branch then I can understand you asking the question.What do they do for us. Edited November 2, 2011 by lynned55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I too cannot understand how they stopped you, if your current committee want to so it then they can so long as the current constitution rules are followed, if it does cause an issue then change to a new constitution and then do it, as a member you do not have to follow their constitution, we didn't , never have done as we didn't want any assets going to them is we closed.. but were members as for us the insurance was a better deal, we did try others but it still came out as the best for us, even including the membership fees in the costs. just ensure if you change it the charity commission have approved it and they are told of the changes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I too cannot understand how they stopped you, if your current committee want to so it then they can so long as the current constitution rules are followed, if it does cause an issue then change to a new constitution and then do it, as a member you do not have to follow their constitution, we didn't , never have done as we didn't want any assets going to them is we closed.. but were members as for us the insurance was a better deal, we did try others but it still came out as the best for us, even including the membership fees in the costs. just ensure if you change it the charity commission have approved it and they are told of the changes... Lynn and inge, Many thanks for your replies, you have really answered my query. I am quite new to the world of early years, but as a pre school we have massive problems getting and keeping a parent committee as most of our children are only with us for 1 year. We have as far back as anyone can remember used the PLA constitution and under this if we change to a CIC we would have to pass all of our assets to the PLA for redistribution within the charity sector so that is a non starter, we also have to have 60% parents on our committee and we struggle to get 20% I had hoped, and you both seem to have confirmed, that if we can get together a committee going forward we can adopt a new constitution to allow us to move away from the PLA and then either continue as a charity or form the CIC we had hoped! As you both seem so knowledgeable I will ask do you think we would be able to get away with just amending the PLA constitution to suit us or would we need to start again? Many many thanks Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Hi Lisa, many pre-schools are in the same situation as regards to committee members so I just tend to wing it. Last year while I was on the phone to the charity commission, I let slip that our committee included staff, myslf as chair and one or two others. I was told in no uncertain terms I was in the wrong. The words used were... dissolve, unauthorised and payback! I amnaged to sort it all out but since then I have decided that what they dont know doesnt hurt them or our playgroup. We have never had 60% parents on the committee or even at a meeting, if I waited for that to happen nothing at all would be decided, voted on or carried out. A member of staff is still the treasurer, if I wait for a parent to take on the role I will wait another year. Of course its advisable to get i dotted and every t crossed but in the real world it isnt going to happen for the majority of us and so we plod on juggling names on the list we send to the charity commission and never telling anyone how we actually operate. I looked into becoming a CIC a while back but I need committee and parents to help with that so nothing has yet changed.# If you eve find a way out of the mess, let me know. Please x P.S. The PLA have recently issued a new constitution. I've downloaded it but not rea it yet. If I find anything in it that helps at all I'll post back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 It was a while ago now that ours was done but think it was different .. from what I remember they used a model constitution from the Charity commission site , know there are others on here without PLA one.. I know I have seen a link to some examples on here.. but cannot find them at the moment.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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