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The NCA Wishes All Fanciers a Happy New Year!
The Management Committee of the National Council
for Aviculture wishes all fanciers a very happy New Year for 2025!
As the last few winter shows near their
conclusion and, for many, thoughts turn to the year ahead and the
preparations for the breeding season, secretaries of all clubs will
be thinking already of renewing their Public Liability Insurance
cover which is essential for future shows, meetings and other
club activities. There is no need to panic, however, because your
2024 PLI cover runs until 16th February 2025. Before that
date be sure to download the PLI application form from the NCA
website (www.nca.uk.net
) and follow the instructions to ensure your club is covered for the
next twelve months. As always we remind you that our PLI policy does
not cover for Sales Days or Auctions for which organisers must seek
their own insurance provider.
At the 2024 Annual General Meeting it was
was agreed to offer affiliated members in 2025 one package
consisting of affiliation, PLI cover plus four rosettes + pp at a
combined cost of £100 to be reviewed annually. This decision was
made to restore membership fees to a realistic level reflecting the
true cost of services provided. Members will remember that following
the pandemic the NCA provided free PLI cover to
our regular affiliated clubs in 2022 at a cost of around £5K. In
2023 and 2024, when clubs were still recovering from the challenges
of the pandemic and in many cases falling membership numbers, we
maintained a substantial subsidy again charging only £60 when PLI
alone was around £73 per club. The cost of PLI this year will likely
rise again in common with most forms of insurance but the figure of
£100 should accommodate this and provide funding for the Council’s
other continuing activities such as supporting the English, Scottish
and Welsh national exhibitions, the Sustainable Users’ Network
(which works with DEFRA in consideration of CITES legislation which
affects the keeping and trading of all animals including birds), our
Awards Schemes and, of course, the supply of four rosettes to all
affiliated clubs.
It is timely also to draw your attention to the
legislation regarding Bird Keeper Registration which, as
reliably and often reported in this publication, has changed with
the arrival of the new Government. If you wish to bring or take away
birds from a ‘Bird Gathering’ , which includes all bird shows ,
sales days and auctions, you must be registered with APHA. The
application process is not difficult and is free but the time it
takes to get your registration number is not rapid, so be warned,
apply as soon as possible either online or by telephone. See the
Government website (www.gov.uk
) for full information. If you have problems with internet access,
ask at your local CBS….there’s likely to be someone who can help. If
not….try your local library or your grandchildren, whichever
applies! For the sake of you and your birds the NCA urges you to
comply with the law.
Organisers of Bird Gatherings (i.e. your show
secretary) are required by law to ensure that those bringing or
taking birds from a gathering are registered. No government
instructions yet on how this is to be done but it is likely to
require exhibitors to put their registration number in a box on show
entry forms and on sales records. These presumably to be kept for
some weeks after the show/sale so that, in the event of an outbreak
of avian ‘flu associated with the show, exhibitors can be contacted.
It emphasizes the main point of registration: i.e. that registered
bird keepers can be kept informed (usually by text or email) of any
outbreaks of bird disease anywhere in the UK and can take the
appropriate action to protect their own birds and reduce risk to
others. In the interests of human and avian health the NCA urges you
to comply with this legislation.
Thus, with two New Year resolutions - to get
registered and insured - you can all look forward to a happy,
healthy and lawful bird-keeping year. Good luck!
Barry Mills
Chairman |
