Proposed amendment to the Standing Orders of Broadland Constituency Labour Party

Transcription

1 Proposed amendment to the Standing Orders of Broadland Constituency Labour Party Overall the format and layout of the standing orders and the rules has been improved, headers, footers and page numbers have been added. Also throughout we have tried to use the consistent terms General Meeting, Annual General Meeting and Special General Meeting rather than the various and potentially confusing terms previously used for those meetings. Also, there is some duplication in the rules and standing orders which can allow a measure of contradiction between the Standing Orders and the Rules not a good thing. We have attempted to remove that duplication and simplify where possible. Specifically, the changes in substance are listed below. Standing Orders Agreed at the 15 th October 2017 Broadland CLP Meeting A. Annual General Meetings i. The Annual General Meeting of Broadland CLP (hereinafter referred to as this body ) shall be held each year in the month of June. ii. A formal notice of the annual meeting shall be sent by the secretary to all members and organisations entitled to be represented at least 28 days prior to the meeting. A notice detailing the business of the annual meeting shall be sent to all eligible members at least seven days prior to the meeting. B. Ordinary meetings i. Ordinary meetings shall be held monthly on the third Saturday of each month, except in August and December when no meetings will take place. There shall be no meetings to transact ordinary business during the period of a national election campaign. A. Annual General Meetings See the CLP rules Clause IX B. Other Meetings i. Ordinary General Meetings of all members shall normally be held bimonthly on the second Saturday of the month, except in August and December when, unless there are specific issues to discuss, no meetings will take place. That is, meetings will be held in January, March, May, July, September, & November. There shall be no meetings to transact ordinary business during the period of a national election campaign. The CLP rules Clause IX is identical to the wording in 15 October 2017 Standing Orders. And instead of the artificial construct this body through the term this CLP has been substituted. Enacts the change in frequency of General meetings form monthly to Bi -monthly and for the 3 rd Saturday in the month to the 2 nd. Title changes because the rule also refers to Executive Committee meetings Revised 16 December 2017 Page 1 of 6

2 Standing Orders Agreed at the 15 th October 2017 Broadland CLP Meeting ii. Executive Committee Meetings shall normally be held at least 11 days prior to each General Meeting and at other times as necessary for the officers to discharge their duties. Only those members who have been elected to it may vote at meetings of the Executive Committee. Where a constituency plan agreement has been entered into by this CLP and an organisation affiliated to the Party nationally and approved by the NEC, the affiliated organisation concerned may appoint a member of this CLP to the Executive Committee to represent their interest: this member shall be an ex-officio member with voting powers. Added to give clarity of when the Executive Committee will normally meet and to take account of representation form affiliated organisations which we do not have at present but our trade Union Liaison Officer is working on. C. Meeting times C. General Meeting times To make it clear that the following standing order applies to general meetings D. Quorum i. The quorum for business meetings of (this body) shall be 25 per cent of those members in attendance entitled to vote or twelve members entitled to vote, whichever is the greater. E. Entitlement to attend i. All members must be fully paid up individual members of the Party residing and registered as electors or, exceptionally if they are not eligible to be registered to vote, residing only within the area covered by this body. Only those members who have been elected to it may vote at meetings of the Executive Committee H. Notice of motion i. Original motions for the general meeting of this body shall be accepted only from members entitled to attend and participate in the meeting and must be received by the secretary in writing not less than 14 days prior to the meeting for which they are intended. D. Quorum i. The quorum for General meetings shall be fifteen members in attendance and who are entitled to vote. iii. The quorum for the Executive Committee meeting shall be 50% of the members elected and entitled to vote to include at least two of the Secretary, Chair, Vice Chair or Treasurer. E. Entitlement to attend i. All members wishing to attend General meetings must be fully paid up individual members of the Party residing and registered as electors or, exceptionally if they are not eligible to be registered to vote, residing only within the area covered by this body. Affiliated members may attend meetings and speak but without voting rights. ii Only those members who have been elected to it, and ex-officio members appointed by affiliated organisations, may vote at meetings of the Executive Committee H. Notice of motion i. Original motions for the General Meeting of this CLP shall be accepted only from members entitled to attend and participate in the meeting and must normally be received by the secretary in writing not less than 14 days prior to the meeting for which they are intended. No one could make any sense of the 15 October 2017 wording A quorum is required for the executive committee. There was none that I could find in the rules or standing orders. Separate out the two different issues renumber the subsequent rule. To maintain consistency with the rules. The modifier normally has been added. We are still a relatively small and friendly CLP and it s not necessary for us to be as ridged as the existing rule requires. We can rely on the chair to allow late submissions if sensible so to do. Revised 16 December 2017 Page 2 of 6

3 Proposed amendment to the Rules of Broadland Constituency Labour Party 2. This CLP adopts the rules and procedures for CLPs and branches set out in the appendix to these rules and such amendments thereto as may be agreed by Party conference or made by the NEC in accordance with the powers conferred upon it under Chapter 1 Clause X of the National Rules. 2. This CLP adopts the rules and procedures for CLPs and branches set out in the appendix to the National Party Rules and such amendments thereto as may be agreed by Party conference or made by the NEC in accordance with the powers conferred upon it under Chapter 1 Clause X of the National Rules. 15 October 2017 is wording taken straight from the model rules. The proposed change corrects the now invalid self-reference 3. The General Meeting shall, but only with the specific prior approval in writing of the NEC, have the power to enter into property-related transactions on behalf of the CLP. Such power may also be exercised by the Executive Committee, or by officers of the General Meeting, if so authorised by the General Meeting. 3. The General Meeting shall, but only with the specific prior approval in writing of the NEC, have the power to enter into property-related transactions on behalf of the CLP. Such power may also be exercised by the Executive Committee, if so authorised by the General Meeting. The term officers of the general meeting in the 15 October 2016 wording has no meaning we can find. Also removed in VII / 4 Clause VIII. - Officers 1. The officers of this CLP, the Executive Committee, and two auditors shall be elected at the annual general meeting of this CLP and shall continue in office until replaced or re-appointed Clause VIII. - Officers 1. The Executive officers of this CLP, the Executive Committee, and two auditors shall be elected at the Annual Meeting of this CLP and shall continue in office until replaced or re-appointed. Make it clear who the officers of the CLP are - they are defined in the next paragraph. 2. Any casual vacancies for Executive Officers or Executive Officer post unfilled at the Annual General meeting shall be filled by election at any subsequent Special General or General meeting. Added to ensure that our current practice of filling casual vacancies is covered by the rules. Revised 16 December 2017 Page 3 of 6

4 2. The Executive Officers of this CLP shall be Chair, Vice-Chair (Fundraising), Vice-Chair (Membership), Secretary, Treasurer, Women s Officer, Campaigns Co-ordinator, Equality and Diversity Officer, Political Education Officer, Press/Communications Officer, Trade Union Liaison Officer and Youth Officer. At least six of these officers shall be women. 3. The Executive Officers of this CLP shall be Chair, Vice-Chair (Membership), Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Women s Officer (who shall be a woman), Campaigns Coordinator, Equality and Diversity Officer, Political Education Officer, Trade Union Liaison Officer, Press/Communications Officer, Youth Officer, and Fundraising Co-ordinator. At least Six of these officers should be women. Recognising that at present the 2 nd Vice chair is not also the fundraising officer. In future there is nothing preventing a single person holding more than one officers post. 6. In addition, this CLP may elect coordinators to lead on specific areas of responsibility including community involvement, diversity (CLPs may consider splitting this responsibility between two or more people e.g. BAME, Disability, Youth, LGBT), information technology etc. These coordinators shall be encouraged to attend Executive Committee Meetings to report on their work and share expertise with colleagues but shall not be voting members unless elected to the Executive Committee as individuals. Added form the model rules as we could not understand why it was omitted from the 15 October 2016 wording. It is permissive. 5. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Executive Officers and a representative from each properly constituted Branch of the Party 7. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Executive Officers and in the absence of a representative of each branch holding an elected position or otherwise being a member of the Executive Committee that branch shall be entitled to send a non-voting representative to attend Executive Committee meetings It is right and proper that there are representatives of each branch at the executive committee. However, we felt that if there was a member of the branch who already had a seat on the executive it was unnecessary to have another. At 15 people the executive is already quite large the addition of 4 extra people may be unnecessary. Revised 16 December 2017 Page 4 of 6

5 Clause IX. - The General Meeting 1. Annual Meetings A. The annual meeting of this CLP shall be held in July of each year or, in the event of such meeting not being held in that month for any reason, as soon thereafter as possible. The annual meeting should not normally be held before May in any year. Affiliation fees due to this CLP for the previous year ended 31 December must have been paid to this CLP a clear 35 days before the date of the annual meeting. Twenty eight days notice of an annual meeting shall be given to all eligible affiliated organisations and Party units. Seven days notice of an annual meeting shall be given to voting members entitled to attend. Clause IX. - The Annual General Meeting and Special General Meetings 1. Annual General Meetings A. The Annual General Meeting of this CLP shall be held in July of each year or, in the event of such meeting not being held in that month for any reason, as soon thereafter as possible. The Annual General Meeting should not normally be held before May in any year. Affiliation fees due to this CLP for the previous year ended 31 December must have been paid to this CLP a clear 35 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. Twenty-eight days notice of an Annual General Meeting shall be given to all members, all eligible affiliated organisations and Party units. Seven days notice detailing the business of the Annual General Meeting shall be given to voting members entitled to attend. Clarification and consistency of reference to General meetings Clause IX. - The General Meeting 2. Special Meetings A. Special General Meetings may be called at the discretion of the Executive Committee and shall be called on the written request of at least one third of the of the fully paid up members of this CLP. Clause IX. - The Annual General Meeting and Special General Meetings 2. Special General Meetings A. Special General Meetings may be called at the discretion of the Executive Committee and shall be called on the written request 10% of the fully paid up members of this CLP or a minimum of three affiliated organisations. Clarification of terminology and addition of a stipulation similar to that in the model rules allowing affiliated organisation to call a special general meeting Revised 16 December 2017 Page 5 of 6

6 Clause XVI. - Amendment to rules 1. These rules, or any part thereof, may be amended, altered or additions made thereto by resolution carried at an Annual General Meeting by a vote of two thirds of delegates present, subject to the approval of the NEC under Clause VII.2 above. The provisions of the model procedural rules for Party meetings shall apply to this CLP with such local additions and modifications as may be approved by the RD(GS) of the Party on behalf of the NEC. Clause XVI. - Amendment to rules 1. These rules, or any part thereof, may be amended, altered or additions made thereto by resolution carried at an Annual Meeting, or at a Special General Meeting called for this purpose, by a vote of two thirds of delegates present, subject to the approval of the NEC under Clause VII.2 above. The provisions of the model procedural rules for Party meetings shall apply to this CLP with such local additions and modifications as may be approved by the RD(GS) of the Party on behalf of the NEC. To make it consistent with the standing orders. And the Labour Party model rules. That is the substance of the amendments and as reported above there are other minor tidying up changes that do not affect meaning of the rules but give some clarity. Revised 16 December 2017 Page 6 of 6