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+<?xml version='1.0'?>
+<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="../../lib/xml/doc.xsl" ?>
+<!DOCTYPE doc SYSTEM "../../lib/xml/doc.dtd" >
+<doc>
+ <head>
+  <title>Draft agreement regarding Esme Frith's passport</title>
+  <author>Alison Burnley</author>
+  <author>Henry S. Thompson</author>
+  <date>18 Dec 2010</date>
+ </head>
+ <body>
+  <div>
+   <title>Background</title>
+   <p>Ola Uduku and Alan Frith contacted SE Scotland Area Meeting Elders with a
+request that Elders hold their daughter Esme's passport, and manage its use by
+one or the other parent.</p>
+   <p>After some discussion, Elders agreed to try to find a basis on which this
+could be arranged, and asked Alison Burnley and Henry S. Thompson to meet with
+Alan and Ola and draw up a mutually agreeable set of guidelines which would
+enable such a scheme to go ahead.  We have met with them, and the proposed
+guidelines below are the result of the discussions we have held so far.</p>
+   <p>This version is based on Henry's notes, and is meant as a starting point,
+not a set-in-stone take-it-or-leave-it proposal.</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+   <title>Management of Esme Frith's passport</title>
+   <p>The passport will normally be stored in the safe in the Meeting House
+Managers' office at 7 Victoria Terrace.</p>
+   <p>The process of releasing the passport will be managed by three Elders,
+drawn from Southeast Scotland Area Meeting (SESAM) Elders.</p>
+   <p>The identity of the Elders so designated will necessarily change from time to
+time, so normally contact should be via email, to
+<code>ppelders@equaker.org.uk</code>&mdash;if telephone contact is required,
+the Clerk of SESAM Elders will always know who the currently designated Elders are.</p>
+   <p>Meeting House staff will release the passport only on instructions from one of
+the designated Elders: they will <emph>not</emph> be involved in the process leading up
+to an agreed release.</p>
+   <p>Exactly how the designated Elders manage their decisions regarding the
+passport is up to them&mdash;one possibility is that there is an agreed 'duty
+roster', with the first entry on the roster being expected to handle
+straightforward requests independently.  The others would step in if, for
+instance, any incoming email went unanswered for more than three days.</p>
+   <p>The normal process for arranging release of the
+passport is given below,
+and should be initiated in good time:  at least several weeks before the
+intended date of release if at all possible.</p>
+   <div>
+    <title>Normal process</title>
+    <list type="enum">
+     <item>Ola
+and Alan each send email to the designated Elders giving
+      <list type="enum">
+       <item>the date on which the passport
+is required</item>
+       <item>the destination(s) and duration of the trip</item>
+       <item>the expected date at
+which the passport will be returned</item>
+       <item>the parent taking Esme on the trip</item>
+      </list>
+     </item>
+     <item>Once the designated Elders have both emails, after possibly confirming the details by
+telephone with one or both parent, they will notify both the Meeting House
+managers (using <code>office@equaker.org.uk</code>) and both Alan and Ola that
+the passport is cleared for release for the requested period.</item>
+     <item>The parent in question arranges a convenient time with the Meeting
+House Managers for collecting the passport</item>
+     <item>The parent in question returns the passport, again at a mutually
+convenient time arranged with the Meeting House Managers</item>
+    </list>
+   </div>
+   <div>
+    <title>Emergency process</title>
+   <p>If it is not possible to follow the normal process for some reason, for
+example because a family emergency arises for one parent and the other parent
+cannot be reached, one parent may apply on their own to the designated Elders, who will used
+their discretion to decide what to do.  In no case should Ola or Alan approach
+Meeting House staff without first involving the designated Elders.</p>
+   </div>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+   <title>Winding up this agreement</title>
+   <p>If Alan and Ola both request a termination of this agreement, Elders will
+arrange for the passport to be delivered forthwith, in whatever way Ola and
+Alan have requested.</p>
+   <p>If SESAM Elders determine at any time that the process is not working, or
+is at risk of exposing them to legal proceedings, and if their concerns cannot
+be addressed by Alan and Ola to their satisfaction, Elders may terminate this
+agreement unilaterally and hand the passport back to Ola or Alan.</p>
+   <p>If only one of the parents requests a termination of this agreement,
+Elders will attempt to negotiate an agreed resolution with both parents, but
+failing this will arrange for the release of the passport, as they have no
+legal right to withhold it from either of Esme's legal guardians.</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+   <title>Form of the agreement</title>
+   <p>Once all parties involved (Alan, Ola and Elders) are satisfied with a
+form of the above words, Sections 2 &amp; 3 above will be set out on their own
+for signature by Ola, Alan and the then Clerk of SESAM, at which time the
+agreement will come into operation and Alison Burnley will hand the passport
+over to the Meeting House managers.  We recommend that a copy of the agreement
+be kept in the safe with the passport.</p>
+  </div>
+ </body>
+</doc>