i) To define, publish and monitor the standard of the Gordon Setter by which the breed shall be judged.

ii) To define, publish and monitor the election of judges for the breed.

iii) To define, publish and monitor the responsible breeding and welfare of Gordon Setters as prescribed in the breed's Code of Ethics and to formulate a Complaints Procedure.

iv) To deal with any matters concerning the breed that may be directed to it by either the constituent societies or The Kennel Club.

2. CONSTITUTION

a) The Council membership shall be open to all Kennel Club registered Gordon Setter Breed Societies on application to the Council in writing, signed by all officers of the society and including evidence of the approval of its membership at their most recent AGM.

i) The application shall be approved at the first possible meeting following receipt of application.

ii) Membership shall not commence until the initial levy has been paid.

b) The Council shall not join any federation of Societies or Clubs nor shall company or organisation affiliations be allowed.

c) The Council acknowledge The Kennel Club as the supreme authority and as the final court of appeal in all matters of dispute.

3. REPRESENTATION

a) The management of the Council, its assets and property, shall be vested in an Executive Committee, hereinafter referred to as the Committee.

b) The Committee shall be formed from no more than three representatives from each constituent Breed Society's Committee.

c) The names of the representatives shall be notified to the Council Secretary annually.

d) A Council Committee member must be a fully paid-up member of his/her Society and have been a member for a continuous period of at least 10 years.

e) From each constituent Society one of the three representatives shall be an Officer of that Society.

4. OFFICERS

a) The Committee shall annually elect, from within its membership, a Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and, if it is deemed necessary, a Vice Chairperson. The role of Treasurer may be subsumed to any other Officer of the Council at the discretion of the Committee.

b) These Officers, shall have no powers, given or implied, other than those specifically granted by this Constitution.

c) No Secretary of a constituent Society shall be eligible to be Secretary of the Council.

d) No constituent Society shall have a representative elected as an Officer of the Council whilst any other representative of that Society is serving as any other Officer of the Council. This shall not apply where all other eligible representatives decline to accept nomination for an Officer post.

e) No Chairperson, or Vice Chairperson shall serve longer than three years in the post.

f) Only the Chairperson or Secretary, with the authority of the Committee, shall be empowered to give official reports or statements on Council matters to the canine press and media in general, or to any other external body.

5. FINANCE

a) The financial year for the Council shall be from 1st January to 31st December for each year.

b) The funding of the Council shall be by means of an initial levy on the constituent Societies, set annually at the Council's Annual General Meeting. The reimbursement of any annual expenditure shall be due on 1st January each year.

c) The levy and reimbursement shall be of equal size for each constituent Society, regardless of the size of its membership.

d) The funding of the Council is strictly limited to the minimum required to enable the Council to properly meet its objectives as prescribed in section 1.

e) If a constituent Society has failed to pay its contribution to the levy by 31st January, that Society's membership of the Council shall be deemed to have ended.

f) The Committee shall arrange a banking account to be opened in the name of the Council.

i) All revenues shall be paid into and all withdrawals shall be made from this account.

ii) Every and each withdrawal shall require the signature of the Treasurer and the signature of one other Officer of the Council.

iii) Each signatory shall be from a different constituent Society.

g) The annual accounts shall be presented to the constituent Societies at the Council's Annual General Meeting.

i) These accounts shall be certified annually, before the AGM, by one qualified accountant or by two unqualified individuals with accounting experience.

ii) Their appointment shall be ratified annually at the Council's Annual General Meeting.

6. MEETINGS

a) Meetings of the Council shall be held as often as necessary and at least twice a year.

b) Meetings shall be convened by the Secretary on request of a simple majority of the Committee.

c) Eight weeks notice shall be given to all Council Officers and Committee members. Items for the agenda should be submitted six weeks in advance of the meeting. The agenda shall be notified to the Committee four weeks before the meeting.

d) A quorum for the meeting shall be 70%.

e) Meetings will be open to 3 representatives of each constituent Society only. Should a nominated representative be unable to attend, the constituent Society may send a representative, who must comply with the rules on eligibility.

f) In the event of a member not being present at two consecutive meetings, the Council will contact the Society and request that they redress the lack of representation.

g) All Officers and Committee members shall have equal voting rights other than for the Chairperson, or acting Chairperson, who shall also have a casting vote.

h) Annual General Meetings

i) The Annual General Meeting of the Council shall be held on a date and at a place nominated by the Committee no later than 30th May in each year but after the AGMs of all the constituent Societies.

ii) The Secretary shall notify the constituent Societies' Secretaries of the date of the Annual General Meeting by direct notification no later than three calendar months prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting. The Secretary shall at the same time notify constituent Societies that proposals for the Annual General Meeting shall be sent to the Secretary in writing no later than two calendar months before the date of the Annual General Meeting. Only Committee members of constituent Societies may put forward proposals for the agenda.

iii) Attendance at the Council's Annual General Meeting is open to all members of fully paid-up constituent Societies. Voting rights will be confined to constituent Society's breed representatives present at the meeting. "As the Members of a Breed Council are the Breed Societies, only the nominated Representatives are entitled to vote at any meeting, including the AGM", as per Kennel Club guidance.

iv) The Secretary shall issue to the constituent Societies the agenda of the Annual General Meeting no later than one calendar month prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting.

v) The Societies shall receive with the agenda of the Annual General Meeting, all necessary papers, appertaining to the items on the agenda, including the statement of accounts for the previous year. The minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting will be appended to the notice of the Annual General Meeting if they have not been previously published elsewhere.

vi) No business shall be transacted at an Annual General Meeting unless notice thereof appears on the agenda, with the exception of routine matters or those which in the opinion of the Chairperson are urgent.

vii) If not in attendance at the Annual General Meeting no constituent Society representative or Society member will be allowed to present their opinions in writing.

viii) Special General Meetings

a) A Special General Meeting may be called at any time by either the Committee or upon a written request to the Secretary, signed by all Officers and Committee of any of the constituent Societies.

7. COUNCIL RULES

a) Alterations to the Rules shall only be made at Annual General Meetings or at Special General Meetings called for that purpose, and must be approved by 70% or more of those members so present.

b) Any alterations to the Rules agreed at an Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting shall be advised to The Kennel Club by the Secretary forthwith and shall come into force on receipt of Kennel Club approval.

c) New rules or amendments introduced specifically to meet Kennel Club requirements shall be adopted immediately and be included in the Constitution with effect from the Annual General Meeting.

d) Any proposals for alterations to the Rules shall be sent in writing to the Secretary no later than two calendar months before the date of the Annual General Meeting to enable circulation to the constituent Societies with the Annual General Meeting agenda.

e) Any such proposals can emanate from the Committee or be put forward by the constituent Societies Committees providing those Societies have the proposed alterations duly signed by the Officers of the said Society.

f) Proposals cannot come direct to the Council from individual members of the constituent Societies but must be submitted through the Society's Committee for their consideration in the first instance. The proposal then being submitted by the Society concerned under normal procedures.

8. ANNUAL RETURNS & MAINTENANCE OF COUNCIL TITLE

a) The Officers of the Council acknowledge that during the month of January each year, if required, the Maintenance of Title fee shall be forwarded to The Kennel Club by the Secretary for continuance of registration.

b) The Officers of the Council acknowledge that by 31st July each year, returns, as stipulated in Kennel Club Regulations for the Registration and Maintenance of Title of Societies and Breed Councils and the Affiliation of Agricultural Societies and Municipal Authorities, will be forwarded to The Kennel Club.

c) The Officers of the Council acknowledge their duty to inform The Kennel Club of any change of Secretary of the Council which may occur during the course of the year.

9. BREED STANDARD

a) The Council will be responsible for the publication, maintaining and monitoring of the Gordon Setter breed standard and will liaise with the constituent Societies and The Kennel Club on all matters to do with the standard.

b) Any alterations to the Breed Standard should be subject to consultation with the constituent Societies, who will consult their membership and present evidence of their approval, by vote at a General Annual Meeting or a postal ballot, before any recommendations are made to The Kennel Club.

c) The constituent Societies shall be expected to support the breed standard as prescribed by The Kennel Club.

10. JUDGING LISTS

a) The Council shall be responsible for maintaining a List of approved judges for the breed which shall be revised annually and shall be published annually all in accordance with The Kennel Club's current requirements and regulations.

b) Criteria must be defined by the full Committee.

c) There shall be a Judges Sub-Committee, complying with Kennel Club requirements. This Sub-Committee shall only meet as part of a full Council Committee meeting.

d) Applications for the Judging Lists must be submitted to the Secretary of the Council for consideration by the full Committee, and approval by the Judges Sub-Committee.

e) The procedure for candidates to apply for the Judges List and the criteria by which the judges are approved will be published by the Council and made available to the constituent Societies and all other interested parties. Membership of a constituent Society must not be a prerequisite for inclusion in the List.

f) The Judges List shall be compiled in sections as specified by The Kennel Club.

g) The Council is purely responsible for the installation, maintenance and monitoring of the breed Judges List on behalf of the constituent Societies and the breed. The Council is not involved in the selection processes and criteria of the constituent Societies for the election of judges from the official List for each of the Society's own shows.

11. FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

a) The Council shall not employ any full or part-time paid employees. The Council shall reimburse its Committee members with any approved expenses incurred whilst administering the Council's business. This excludes all such expenses as travelling and subsistence.

12. RESTRICTIONS ON COUNCIL MEMBERS

a) No member of the Committee shall incur any liability, financial or otherwise, in the name of the Council. Such liabilities can only be incurred by the Secretary with the authority of the Committee.

b) No Committee member shall make use of the title of the Gordon Setter Breed Council either for purposes of private or trade advertisement other than to acknowledge an official award, or for use in personal letters to the Canine Press and Media in general; or for gain of any sort.

c) No Committee member shall give information to or gain publicity from the Canine Press and Media in general on matters or details concerning the management or organisation of the Council or on proceedings at meetings which are private to the Council.

d) No person whilst an undischarged bankrupt may serve on the Council.

13. CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP

a) When a constituent Society's membership is terminated:

i) All membership rights will cease immediately.

ii) All interest in the property and assets of the Council shall cease immediately.

iii) All representation on the Committee ceases immediately and the Council Officers from that Society will be deemed to have resigned immediately.

b) Any Society whose membership has ceased can only re-apply after consultation with its membership at their next possible Annual General Meeting.

c) The Council can only be wound up, or cease, at a properly constituted Council meeting, on the vote of a majority of the representatives.

i) No representative may vote for suspension or cessation, without the full authority of their Breed Society, given by majority vote of their members.

d) If the Council is wound up or ceases to be a Registered Council, the persons named as Officers and Council members of the Council in the last return furnished to The Kennel Club, shall be responsible for the proper winding up and for the disposal of all Council property and assets to the satisfaction of The Kennel Club. A final statement of audited accounts with a record of the disposed property and assets shall be forwarded to The Kennel Club within six months of the date of cessation.

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