Q. Don’t those who play several times a week pay more under the new P2P scheme? 

A.  This is correct, and it is very much a situation which has been recognised.  The table below shows the amounts that an individual would spend if they played the indicated number of times a week for 48 weeks of the year.  Note that the calculation does not include the Master Point charge of about 13p per session, which an individual pays today by way of their participation in Club duplicates, in order to make equivalent the comparison of the “bottom-line” to the total annual membership subscription to the EBU and the County. 

Naturally, in any restructuring of the financial arrangements of the EBU, there will be those who will contribute more and those who will contribute less.  What is not known is to what extent this situation is significant, in terms of the numbers of people affected and by how much.

So, this potential difficulty will have to be monitored whilst actual data is obtained.  Note that if the National Rating Scheme were introduced before the new financial arrangement, then actual statistics on this situation would become available.  See also “How does the new scheme work in practice?”

The collection system must be kept simple at the Club.  Varying amounts for different players would be an unacceptable administrative burden on the Club, since it is presumed that the collection of the P2P charge at a Club will typically be by way of an element in the Club table money.

In the absence of actual data, it is hoped that the consultative phase will give a sound and early indication of how serious a difficulty this is thought to be.