CAMRA Stockport & South Manchester GBG Procedure

For the purpose of providing clarity to the process the following is an outline and not detail. For example the minimum qualifying criteria may be varied in light of the submitted scores or we may vary the number of areas or the take depending on scores.

NOTE: As part of CAMRA’s Handpump Hijack Campaign (https://camra.org.uk/take-action/handpump-hijack/) any pub serving Marstons "FreshAle" products (currently limited to Wainwright Golden, Wainwright Amber and/or Hobgoblin IPA) will be excluded from all CAMRA awards.

January Committee meeting

1. Eligibility of all pubs in branch area selling cask ale is determined by data provided by the branch’s NBSS officer.
2. Establish the minimum qualifying criteria (MQC) for the branch meeting. This will consider the minimum average score, the minimum number of individual scorers and the minimum number of beer scores for a pub to be considered eligible.
3. All pubs meeting qualifying criteria for frequency of voting and number of scorers and where their average score is 3.5 and above is produced. This is List A.
4. A second list (List B) will include all the other pubs that are eligible for inclusion in the coming year's GBG, ie those meeting the minimum qualifying criteria.
5. The committee will agree a selection of geographical areas within branch boundaries. All pubs in List B will be allocated to one of these areas, post January's branch meeting.

January Branch Meeting

Branch members are asked to confirm, by a show of hands, the minimum qualification criteria proposed by the committee. This is done without any recourse to the score data.

From this point on a reference to pubs means only those exceeding the agreed minimum qualifying criteria. Should the Branch Meeting impose a higher minimum than that employed by the committee, some pubs may need to be eliminated from List A and List B above.

Before February Committee meeting

1. Geographical areas and pubs allocated to them will be confirmed.
2. An online poll will be set up populated as above. Every member will be able to vote for a number (typically 5) of pubs in each geographic area. The poll is available for ten days.
3. The online poll closes near the end of January.

February committee meeting

At this meeting the committee will consider pubs in the current GBG and the results of the poll.

1. All pubs from List A above (ie score over 3.5), plus the top 5 in each geographic area, as voted for online, form the basis for future consideration.
2. From these the committee will select up to 10 current GBG pubs with a recommendation that they go straight back into the coming year's GBG. This is List 1.
3. All other pubs are automatically on List 2.
4. Pubs with a high NBSS average, but not in the top 5 from each area as voted for by the members and/or situated in an area of the branch not represented by a nearby pub will also be considered for the members vote. These are added to List 2.
5. A note of any pubs in the current GBG that do not meet our criteria as DELETED from further consideration. This is List 3. NOTE: This is for clarification and would never have been included on List A or List B above.

February Branch Meeting

1. All of eligible pubs, along with the NBSS scores, is presented to the members attending. This is an amalgamation of List 1 and List 2.
2. The branch first considers the committee recommendations for pubs to go straight back into the GBG, ie List 1. If the branch does not approve any of those recommendations, then that pub automatically reverts to List 2 and is subject to the branch vote along with all of the other pubs on the list. Those committee recommendations approved by the branch are including in the GBG for the coming year.
3. A short discussion of the merits of any of the pubs can then be initiated by any member.
4. A secret vote by members present concludes the selection process. Members are able to vote for as many pubs as there are GBG places remaining. For example, with an allocation of 22 entries, if the 10 committee recommendations are approved in full, each member is able to vote for up to 12 pubs.
5. The total votes for each pub will be counted to form a ‘league’, highest to lowest.
6. The pubs receiving the greatest number of votes together with the committee recommended pubs up to a total of 22 plus 3 reserves will be our GBG entries for the coming year.
7. In the case of a dead heat (only critical in the lower orders) a further vote is taken on a simple show of hands.