Foxes Trust Reform

Reminder that the closing date for the ballot to change the rules of the Foxes Trust is 12pm tomorrow (Friday 24th January). If you haven't voted already, please do so now!

It's great to see fans starting to find their voice and play an active part in showing the club when we feel they are falling short. With the change happening at the Foxes Trust, and the fresh involvement of those who are willing to hold the club to account, it would be a great time to see a further increase in membership. For those who might not want to actively protest but still want to show the club that there is a good number of fans that are willing to challenge it and care about the best interests of the fan base, the Trust would represent a great option for you.

Thanks to those who attended the AGM on Monday this week and showed your support for our Reform campaign, and the Resolution to change the rules of the Foxes Trust so that board members can be removed by vote when the membership has lost confidence in them. For those who were unable to attend, we made a strong case for the Resolution as a positive step towards showing the Trust is changing (in order to drive mass membership) and in becoming truly democratic and accountable. Foxes Trust board members spoke against the Resolution on the night and the objections from those not in favour seemed to be as follows: Would the change in rules lead to endless calling of votes for and against board members? The Foxes Trust board members are volunteers and the membership should be grateful It might be hard for members to know who is/isn't doing a good job and that might lead to the wrong people being removed from the board unfairly Naturally, we don't believe any of these points are strong enough to vote against the motion. Whilst the rule can be changed by vote now, should it not be working and result in an endless back and forth of voting for/against board members, it can also be changed back by another resolution voted on by the membership (members are truly in control here). Secondly, whilst we appreciate board members are volunteers giving their time for free, we don't see this as a free pass to not deliver results for the membership and wider fan base (board members joining from our campaign are happy to be subject to the new rule should it be implemented). And, finally, knowing which board members should be subject to removal should be relatively easy if the Trust are transparent in their communication of which board members are responsible for which areas and providing clear and regular updates to members on progress (or lack of progress where there is understandably so). We share the updates above in the hope that Foxes Trust current members will vote For our Resolution and bring change and accountability. All Foxes Trust members should have received an email with a link to the ballot which needs to be completed before 12pm on 24th January. If you have not received this then please refer to this link and email [email protected]. Thanks for all of your support and your vote For the resolution!

Worth mentioning, if you are a new Foxes Trust member (that has joined in recent months) please email [email protected] if you are interested in hearing about our campaign to reform the Foxes Trust. If you plan to nominate a proxy for the vote on the upcoming Resolution (because you can't attend the AGM on Monday 13th January in-person or online), please continue to use the template we have provided (to those who have reached out to us) exactly as-is. It covers all eventualities.

It's great to see that members are exercising their right to nominate a Proxy to vote as they wish and that people are doing this ahead of the 10th January deadline! It is our view that it's not up to Alan to pass comment on the wording people have used and whether they have used a template to express their wishes. We've learned over the past year of this campaign that dealing with the Trust - and associated policies and procedures - entails a lot of language and terminology that, although necessary for legalities and compliance, could be off-putting or exclusionary for the average football fan just wanting their Supporters Trust to represent them better. Breaking down some of those barriers and making it easier for members to participate/express their democratic right should not be seen as suspicious or negative. Should any other Foxes Trust members wish to nominate a Proxy to vote in favour of the Resolution, and not be sure on how to word this in their email, please reach out to us!

Thankfully, the Trust have today confirmed that they are not now going to table an amendment to change the resolution from 66%+ of the vote being required to remove a board member to 75%+. We welcome that news as it means that, if the Resolution is passed and the rules are changed, the 66%+ of the vote will be enough to remove someone that the membership has lost confidence in. We will still need members to vote on the Resolution itself (in order to see the rules changed) and this will go to an online/postal vote post-AGM.

We wanted to provide a couple of updates regarding the upcoming vote on our Resolution to the change the rules of the Foxes Trust so that a board member who has lost the confidence of the membership base can be removed (via 66% of the vote). Not only have the current Foxes Trust board advised members to vote against the rule change, they have also suggested they may table an amendment to the Resolution to increase the required vote share to 75% rather than the 66% in our original Resolution (which was determined based upon advice from the Football Supporters Association). We are trying to show them that trying to increase the barrier to change - should the rules be changed by vote - is not a good look, and isn't necessary. After all, if 66% of voters have lost confidence in a board member to continue their role, isn't that more than enough?! We hope they will see that 66% is a reasonable number and not table an amendment to the Resolution. Should they decide to do so, however, we understand this amendment will be voted on at the AGM on Monday 13th January (7:30pm at the KP) with a postal vote/online vote thereafter on the Resolution itself. It's therefore really important that current Foxes Trust members who are supportive of reform and changing the rules either a) attend the AGM (in-person or online) or b) nominate a proxy if they cannot attend. How? Current Foxes Trust members who wish to attend online need to email [email protected] before 10th January to ask for the dial-in details Current Foxes Trust members who cannot attend but wish to have the Foxes Trust Chair act as their proxy need to email [email protected] to request this and provide their voting instruction (our recommendation is to vote AGAINST any amendment to the Resolution but IN FAVOUR OF the Resolution itself as amended or not) also before 10th January. We have created an email template for those who would like to use it - please request via DM or by emailing [email protected]. We believe this rule change is an important step to keep board members accountable to the wider membership, show the wider fan base that the Trust is open to change when those at the top are not doing enough and help the board to operate with greater agility and effectiveness by removing those doing little or not representing the fan base on key issues well enough. If you are a current Foxes Trust member, please support our rule change Resolution in the coming weeks!

This is only true if people stand by the sidelines watching and criticising though. The Trust, by its nature, is a democratic organisation. This means it's only as effective as its member base and its board that is elected by that member base. We believe if enough people join, and shape it into the organisation they want it to be, it can be better and do more.

As a campaign group, this is our view and why we believe the rule change makes sense and were disappointed by the recommendation to vote against it.

Apologies, our original post should have reflected that we're not 100% certain that there won't be a vote at the AGM and have asked the Trust for clarification. In the notice for the AGM, it says as follows: The Board will notify members that, under Rule 56, all of the membership should be balloted on this Motion and its Resolution, and a postal / online vote will be organised post the AGM and therefore the authority of the meeting will extend to the conclusion of that ballot. This may mean that there is a vote at the AGM in-person and then a postal/online vote that follows on from the AGM. We've asked the Trust to clarify so that all members are completely clear on when and how (online/postal/in-person) they need to vote. We'll also provide more details on the Proxy process and potential role of the Chair in due course as well.

This is what was provided in the notice of the AGM: There is already adequate provision in the existing Society Rules for the removal of Directors from the Board. There are also adequate disciplinary policies to determine if a Director is in breach of the ‘Board Membership and Conduct Policy’. The Board considers that such a policy opens up the opportunity for a disgruntled member to take a personal grievance to the level of a Special General Meeting in order to remove a Director they disapprove of, who may not be in breach of any Society Rules or Policies. All Directors are volunteers and are elected (and/or ratified) by the membership for a three-year term, after which they must retire from office and then decide to opt to re-stand. The Board determines that such short terms of office do not require further amendment to the Society Rules. Advice received from the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), indicates that such a clause was not included in the blanket standard Rules, approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and that Rule 63 in the Dons Trust Society Rules represents an outlier that presents corporate governance difficulties. The Board understands that are no plans or reasoning for the FSA to include such a clause in updates currently being drafted for FCA approval. Of course, this is just the recommendation given by the existing board on this resolution to potentially allow for the removal of members of the existing board should the membership see fit to do so...

Just to comment, those from our campaign that have been elected to the board of the Trust are only able to start work after being ratified at the AGM on Monday 13th January. Change has, and will, come at the Trust, unfortunately it's just taking a little longer than we'd all have hoped!

You may have seen recently that the Foxes Trust welcomed new board members who will commence their roles following the AGM on Monday 13th January - see the announcement here. This is positive news for the Foxes Trust Reform campaign but there remains an important vote still to come... We have tabled a resolution to amend the rules of the Trust so that board members can be removed from their position should members of the Trust vote to do so (currently board members can only be removed at the end of their three-year term, via resignation or as part of a disciplinary process if they have broken the rules of the Trust). As a democratic organisation, we believe it is important for members to have the ability to remove those on the board that they no longer have confidence in, in order to promote accountability and keep standards high. For example, were a board member to be hampering progress on a fan-led issue (e.g. safe standing) then members would be able to remove them rather than wait for their term to end (which could be up to three years). Put simply, we believe board members of the Trust should be accountable to the wider members. Sadly, the existing Trust board have recommended that members reject our proposal. In order for the rules to be changed, at least two-thirds of those voting would need to vote in favour of the change. The Trust have indicated that there will be a postal or online vote for members following the AGM so please be ready to vote 'Yes' to the motion if you believe this to be a sensible change!

Per the article below in @The Fosse Way, LCFC fans now have a democratic opportunity to change the Foxes Trust at the upcoming Early AGM on 13th January 2025. We’ll be fielding at least three candidates from our Foxes Trust Reform campaign. This is your chance to join, secure your vote and support the candidates that you believe can deliver the kind of Supporters Trust that will represent you as you would like. We’d also encourage anyone else passionate about transforming the Trust to step forward for further involvement. Our DMs are open if you’d like to speak with us about our campaign and/or the AGM https://www.thefosseway.net/viewpoint/leicester-city-foxes-trust-early-agm-reform

We’re at a fork in road now… There’s an AGM with the opportunity to elect people onto the board of the Trust who think like you do. There’s been a change at the top of the leadership of the Trust for the first time in 20+ years with pro-change people put in control. You (not you personally - everyone who thinks the way you’ve articulated in your post) can support that change by joining and affecting things. Or you can sit and say “the Trust can’t achieve anything” and not affect any change whatsoever. Leicester City fans are being presented with a real choice here: give the Trust a chance to be what you want it to be, or status quo. Let’s see what they go for…