December 2016 EC Minutes

MINUTES OF THE 12th MEETING OF THE 113th EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN HELD ON 3RD DECEMBER 2016

(Note: these minutes are not official until amendment and adoption by the EC)

In attendance: Browne, Cox, Craggs, Scholey, Skelly and Thomas. Apologies for absence received from Foster and McLellan.

1. Call to Order/Election of Chair. As previously agreed Cde Scholey took the chair and Cde Skelly took the minutes, the meeting commenced at 13:05 hours.

2. Minutes of the previous meeting, business arising therefrom and the General Secretary's raising of Notices of Motion and Business from previous meetings

(a) Minutes of the November 2016 meeting

The EC noted a message received from Cde Bennett (18 November) with a minor correction that Cde Finch’s Form A was approved by Manchester Branch. On a motion of Craggs and Browne, it was agreed that, as amended, the minutes be adopted.

(b) Matters arising from the October 2016 meeting minutes

i. Re. Motion 7 of the October 2016 minutes (“That Cde V Maratty be requested to remove the video from YouTube and that its circulation is ceased immediately”), 2(d)ii. of the November 2016 minutes (e-mail from Cde V Maratty confirming removal of the video), and Motion 4 of the November 2016 minutes (“That we thank the Comrades of the Internet Committee for their reply to our request of October, and endorse their actions in the circumstances. We note that Cde Vincent Maratty has, in an email of 15/09/16 to the EC, undertaken to abide by the rules of the Forum, so therefore we lift his suspension and enjoin Cde Maratty to work together with the Comrades of the Internet Committee for our common aim.”).

A. An e-mail was received from Cde Skelly (18 November) noting that the video had been uploaded back onto youtube.

The EC discussed the differences between the video as currently on Youtube compared to that previously submitted to the EC for approval.

MOTION 1 (Browne/Thomas): “That the EC officially disassociates the Party from any video produced by ‘Vin Singer’ (V.Maratty) until further notice.”

Amendment (Cox/Craggs): “To remove ‘until further notice’ and insert ‘that has not been approved by the Party’”. Carried 4-1-1.

Motion as amended: “That the EC officially disassociates the Party from any video by ‘Vin Singer’ (V.Maratty) that has not been approved by the Party.” Carried 5-0-1

B. An E-mail from Cde V Maratty (22 November) was received asking that the EC reaffirm a 1973 Conference resolution (“This Conference reaffirms that nothing in the Party Rules should be understood as to prevent any member or members from expressing criticism of the Party verbally or in writing.”).

MOTION 2 (Browne/Thomas): “That V. Maratty be informed that the Executive Committee has no remit to affirm, reaffirm or unaffirm any Conference motion, which is a matter for Conference.” Carried 6-0-0.

C. A further email was received (23 November) in explanation of his use of a second account on the party’s Forum and in which he requested that “the EC informs the Internet Committee… to take down the inaccurate and defamatory post about us and publish an apology”. D. A report was received from the Internet Committee giving the reason for his continued suspension as his contravention of Rule 8 of the Party Forum prohibiting the opening of more than one account.

The EC discussed the timing of the lifting of V. Maratty’s suspension from the Forum and the opening of his second account.

MOTION 3 (Cox/Thomas): “That the Executive Committee endorses without equivocation the suspension of Cde V. Maratty from the Forum from 9th November, for acting in breach of Forum Rule 8. Further, the Executive as an act of good will asks the Internet Committee to lift the suspension from 12/12/16.” Carried 5-1-0 [Division: For – Browne, Cox, Craggs, Skelly, Thomas; Against – Scholey].

MOTION 4 (Cox/Skelly): “That the Executive Committee notes the content of V. Maratty’s communication and sees no need for further action.” Carried 6-0-0

MOTION 5 (Skelly/Scholey): “That the Executive Committee thanks the Internet Committee for its report.” Agreed.

E. An e-mail was received from Cde Johnstone resigning from his role as a Moderator for the Forum.

MOTION 6 (Brown/Cox): “That the Executive Committee thank Cde Johnstone for his work as a moderator and note his resignation with regret.” Agreed.

ii. Re. 6(a)i (Election Committee to investigate arranging for Party election communications to be personally addressed to electors and to report back to the December EC).

The EC received a report detailing the work required to send election leaflets personally addressed to electors.

MOTION 7 (Cox/Browne) “That the EC thank the Election Committee and ask them to request Evonprint for an estimate of the cost of the addressed mail options for the Canterbury constituency as an example.” Agreed.

 

(c) Matters arising from the November 2016 meeting minutes.

i. Re 2(d)iii (ad-hoc committee of Cdes Foster, Thomas, and Cox to present a report to the December EC, in consultation with Cde Kilgallon). The EC received a report from the ad hoc committee with recommendations regarding amended terms of reference for the Audio-Visual Committee (Appendix I).

MOTION 8 (Thomas/Scholey): “That the revised Terms of Reference for the Audio-Visual Committee be provisionally accepted by the Executive Committee and that the Assistant General Secretary posts the amendments on the various Party forums in to allow suggestions for improvements to be considered by the next EC.” Carried 5-0-0 (1 EC member absent from the vote).

ii. Re 5(a) (SSPC to make enquiries to establish what period of notice external graphic designers may need to take on page layout work, should it become necessary). No report received. It was agreed to defer until the January 2017 EC.

iii. Re 5(b) (Report of the Ballot Committee on accepted nominations for the 2017 EC and Party Officers), e-mail from Cde Kilgallon (23 November) resigning from the 2017 EC. The EC noted the e-mail.

iv. Re 6(a)i (Central Organiser to report on the dissolution of East Anglia Regional). No report received. It was agreed to defer until the January 2017 EC.

v. Re 6(a)iii (AV Committee to look into the costs and potential format and content of a 'whiteboard' (or similar) style of animated video, commissioned from an outside agency). No report received. It was agreed to defer until the January 2017 EC.

 

vi. Re 6(d) (E-mails from Cde Colome (Socialist Party of Canada) regarding the future of the WSM Forum). Message from Cde Colome regarding the future of the WSM Forum, which he wishes to close down.

MOTION 9 (Cox/Scholey): “That the Executive Committee asks the Central Organiser to consult the Companion Party’s on their views regarding the future operation of the WSM Forum.” Agreed.

 

d. Notices of Motion

None.

e. Notices of Business

i. Head Office and EC administrative arrangements for 2017. E-mail from the Acting General Secretary (1 December) regarding Notice of Business – Head Office and EC administrative arrangements for 2017 item 2(e) of the December EC agenda. Cde Bond reported on the essential duties requiring to be fulfilled in the absence of a General or Assistant General Secretary, Head Office Organiser and other Party Officers. The current Head Office Organiser indicated his willingness to continue his duties until late February 2017 and to assist with the essential duties. It was agreed that the Assistant General Secretary to be asked to put urgent administrative arrangements with these documents on the agenda for the January 2017 EC.

 

f. Matters outstanding from previous minutes

i. Election candidate guidance. No further developments. It was agreed to defer until the January 2017 EC.

ii. HO computers. No further developments. It was agreed that the Head Office Organiser will arrange the resolution of the matter (installation of hardware).

iii. O'Gorman bequest. The Treasurer reported that a valuation had been requested regarding selling the property with planning permission. A final demand for Council Tax payable for the property had been received and payment was in hand. The EC thanked the Treasurer for his report.

iv. Party wall. An e-mail from the Acting General Secretary (27 November) was received stating that the surveyor wished to attend again regarding the schedule of condition. The EC noted the correspondence.

 

3. Forms A and F

(a) Form A for Jessica Harrison (via Membership Applications Committee).

(b) Form A for Gus Hogg-Blake (via Membership Applications Committee).

(c) Form F for Dermot Manning (Central Branch, deceased).

(d) Form F for Kenneth Shaw (Central Branch, deceased).

(e) Form F for Francis Sturt (Central Branch, resignation – disagreement).

(f) Form F for Garth Whitley (Manchester Branch, resignation – unable to be active).

It was moved (Craggs/Scholey) “That the Forms A and F be accepted.” Agreed.

 

4. Treasurer

The Treasurer reported that the previous auditors were being approached for the approaching audit that was required. A cheque from the estate of the late Cde B.Flitter had been received. Possible double-billing for utilities was being investigated. The EC thanked the Treasurer for his report.

 

5. Reports of Party Officers, Party Appointees, Subcommittees, and Departments; discussion of advertising, campaigns, and The Socialist Standard.

(a) Report of the Auditors (27 November). The auditors reported on the Party book-keeping and made recommendations for improvements. The EC thanked the auditors for their report.

 

6. Correspondence

(a) Matters of urgency. Cde Browne reported for the Standing Orders Committee on timetable for placing items on the Conference agenda for 2017 (see Appendix II).

(b) Correspondence from or concerning Branches, the Party in general, and members.

i. E-mail/resolution from Kent and Sussex (21 November):

Please be advised that Kent and Sussex Branch is prepared to run a campaign in the Parliamentary Constituency of Canterbury – AGREED 4-0-0 (four members present) at our October meeting.

The EC noted the resolution of the Ken and Sussex Branch (in response to a call by the November EC for branches prepared to run candidates in the next general election) and referred the resolution to the Election Committee.

c. Correspondence from Companion Parties and Groups (available on the "World Socialist Movement" forum of the Party's website)

i. Socialist Party of Canada Secretary's Report, 1 November 2016: http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/forum/world-socialist-movement/spc-newsletter-1st-nov-2016. Noted.

ii. Word Socialist Party (India) Executive Committee minutes, November 2016:http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/forum/worldsocialistmovement/wspindianov2016-ec-mins. Noted.

d. All other correspondence

None

7. Any Other Business

(a)  Call for nominations for 2017 Committees and Appointees. 

MOTION 10’ (Browne/Cox): “That a call for nominations for Committees and appointees be issued by the Assistant General Secretary.” Agreed (see Appendix III).

(b)  Cde Cox wished to request that the Publications Committee reprint the leaflet ‘The Problem is not the Tories… it’s Capitalism’ with amendments, to include plain cover (just text with a coloured background, no pictures)

MOTION 11 (Cox/Skelly): “That the Publications Committee be asked to arrange a reprint of the ‘Problem’ leaflet of 5000 copies, but with a plain cover, inclusion of the official SPGB logo, and the amendment of text to read instead of ‘A campaign against Trident means support for capitalism, the cause of war’, put ‘A campaign just against Trident leaves unchanged the cause of war, capitalism’.” Agreed.

 

8. Nomination of Chair for the next meeting

The nomination of chair and minute taker was deferred for the new 2017 EC.

The date of the next Executive Committee meeting was agreed as 7th January 2017.

The meeting was closed at 16:00 hours.

 

 

Appendix I

Proposed amendments to the Terms of Reference of the Audio-Visual Committee provisionally adopted by the December 2016 Executive Committee.

 

November 2016, EC Agenda Item 2(d)iii (Audio-Visual Committee Terms of Reference)

 

MOTION 5 (Browne/McLellan): “In the absence of a reply from the A.V. Committee, the EC sets up an ad-hoc committee consisting of M. Foster, G. Thomas and R. Cox to revise the A.V. Committee terms of reference.”

 

“Audio-Visual Committee ToR – Proposed Amendments (underlined)

The following are intended just to address the specific issues of copyright and accountability which lead to the EC decision:

ToR #1:

“To produce and improve on A/V material on subjects decided by Conference or approved by the EC, the content of which shall be agreed by at least two committee members (or the EC) prior to public release.”

ToR #2 [New ]:

“To ensure that any copyright protected third-party content used in A/V productions is publically licensed for such use or is used with the permission or license of the copyright holder, or is used in accordance with legally-defined exceptions to copyright, and is appropriately acknowledged.”

ToR #3 [Formerly 2]:

“To record Party meetings and radio and TV broadcasts (for use in accordance with the broadcasters conditions or as legally permitted).”

Subsequent  AVC ToR’s to be re-numbered accordingly.”

 

 

 

Appendix II

Standing Orders Report Re. Conference 2017 Dates.

First Call for Items for Annual Conference 2017

Comrades, Branches are advised that this is the first call for Motions and Amendments to rule with their statements in support for the Preliminary Agenda for Annual Conference 2017. All such items to be sent to Standing Orders  at spgb.soc@… or to Head Office.

FRIDAY 3rd FEBRUARY 2017 is the last date for items for the Preliminary Agenda.

FRIDAY 10th FEBRUARY 2017 is the date the Preliminary Agenda will be issued.

FRIDAY 17th MARCH 2017 is the final date for all amendments to items on the Preliminary Agenda and also for items for discussion and all statements in support.

FRIDAY 24th MARCH 2017 is the date for the Final Agenda to be issued.

Conference will be held on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th APRIL.

Please submit all items in Arial font and please don’t use any fancy attachments, just word or adobe …

Standing Orders Committee, 4th December 2017.

 

 

Appendix III

Call for Nominations for 2017 Committees and Appointees.

The December 2016 EC meeting has issued a call for nominations for Committees, and Appointees for 2017. The following Committees, and positions need to be staffed:

 

i. Advertising Committee

ii. Archives Committee

iii. Audio-visual Committee

iv. Ballot Committee

v. Blog Committee

vi. Campaigns Committee

vii. Central Branch Secretary

viii. Education Committee

ix. Election Committee

x. Enquiries Committee

xi. Head Office Organiser

xii. Internet Committee

xiii. Library Committee

xiv. Media Committee

xv. Membership Applications Committee

xvi. Premises Committee

xvii. Publications Committee

xviii. Socialist Standard Production Committee

xix. Standing Orders Committee

xx. University and College Committee

 

 

Nominations, along with the nominee's written acceptance of same, should
arrive at Head Office by Friday, 3rd February 2017.