EC Minutes March 2010

Minutes of the 3rd Meeting
of the 107th Executive Committee
of the Socialist Party of Great Britain

6 March 2010

Note: These minutes are not official until amendment and adoption by
the EC.

Present: Byrne, M Chesham, Deutz, Carter, Allen, Browne, Buick,
D Chesham, Thomas (arrived late), Shodeke (arrived late), Miller (General Secretary)
Visitors: N White, S Parker, V Otter

The meeting was called to order at 13:02.

1. Election of Chair

Agreed at previous meeting: D Chesham

2. Minutes of the previous meeting, business arising therefrom and the
General Secretary's rising of Notices of Motion and Business from
previous meetings
a. Amendment and adoption of the February 2010 minutes

It was agreed to amend the minutes such that Stair was
appointed to the Audio-visual Department, not the Internet
Department.

Motion 1 (Browne & Deutz) That the February 2010 minutes as
amended be adopted.
Agreed
b. Matters arising from the December 2009 minutes
i. Acceptance of Central London Branch's nomination of
F Anderson to Campaigns Department
Motion 2 (Browne & Deutz) That Anderson be appointed to
the Campaigns Department.
Agreed
c. Matters arising from the February 2010 minutes
i. Re §2.e.i (Health and Safety requirements) the General
Secretary reports that he could find no information on the
Health and Safety Executive website, nor in its book
Charity and Voluntary Workers: A Guide to Health and Safety
at Work which appears to apply to the Party.

Deutz & Allen moved that Browne's name be added to the
Health & Safety poster.

Motion 3 (Browne & Buick) That the matter be deferred
pending a call for nominations.
Carried 6-0-1
ii. Re §2.b.i (election manifesto)

Buick reported that another Party was billing itself as the
"anti-capitalist party" and suggested that we may need to
revise our manifesto so as not to be confused with them.

iii. Re §2(d) (fire alarm), Browne inquired as to whether any
further instruction had been given in the use of the fire
alarm.
3. Forms A and F

Forms A for F Sartor (Swansea), L Wright (West Midlands), and
S Watkins (West Midlands)

Thomas arrived at this point.

Motion 4 (Buick & Browne) That the Forms A for Sartor, Watkins,
and Wright be accepted.
Carried 8-0-1
4. Accounts
a. Accounts for September, October, and November 2009; and revised
accounts for June 2009 (earlier report was incomplete due to
the running problem regarding the A & L bank statements)
Motion 5 (Browne & Deutz) That the June, September, October,
and November accounts be noted and the 2009 Treasurer be
thanked therefor.
Carried 8-0-1
b. Invoices and expense forms

Invoices and expense forms from New Statesman for advertising,
£35.25; A Buick for parking permits, £104.00; A Buick for
postage stamps, £400.00; Toshiba for photocopies, £70.14; Time
Out for advertising, £125.84; D Chesham for Audio-visual and
Campaigns Department supplies, £36.70. Buick indicated that the
postage in the denominations of 51p, £1, £2, and £5 is
required.

Motion 6 (Deutz & Browne) That the invoices and expenses be
authorised.
Agreed
Motion 7 (Browne & Byrne) That the General Secretary be
authorised to purchase £1000 worth of postage stamps.
Carried 9-0
c. Thomas noted that the Corporation Tax demand from HMRC had
arrived, and that he would be available to assist the 2010
Treasurer with it.
d. Treasurer

Thomas reported that he had scheduled a meeting with the new
Assistant Treasurer to instruct him on the accounts. It was
agreed to put out another call for nominations for Assistant
Secretary, Auditor, Central Branch Secretary, and Treasurer.

Shodeke arrived at this point.

5. Reports of Party Officers, Party Appointees, Subcommittees, and
Departments; discussion of campaigns and The Socialist Standard
a. Reports to Conference from the Education Department, Central
Organiser, Auditor, General Secretary, Advertising Department,
Treasurer, Publications Department, Production for Use
Committee,
Motion 8 (Deutz & Byrne) That the Reports from the
Departments and Committees be adopted.
Carried 10-0
b. Report of the Election Department, and letters from West London
Branch and Central London Branch

The Report indicated that Danny Lambert is prepared to be the
candidate, and Bill Martin the election agent, in Vauxhall for
the general election. It also suggested that for the local
elections the EC adopt the manifesto used in the 2002 local
elections in Lambeth.

The letters requested permission for the following candidates
to contest the local elections: Ferndale: Danny Lambert, John
Lee, Jacqueline Shodeke; Larkhall: Oliver Bond, Adam Buick,
Stan Parker; Canning Town: Norbert Lawrie; Kentish Town: Bill
Martin. The letter from Central London Branch suggested that
the approval of Lawrie be deferred pending further discussion
of the matter by the Branch.

Motion 9 (Browne & Deutz) That Lambert be approved as the
candidate, and Martin be approved as the election agent, for
Vauxhall in the general election.
Carried 10-0
Motion 10 (Browne & Thomas) That Lambert, Lee, and Shodeke be
approved as candidates for Ferndale; Bond, Buick, and Parker be
approved as candidates for Larkhall; and Buick be approved as
their election agent for the upcoming local elections.
Agreed
Motion 11 (Browne & Carter) That Martin be approved as a
candidate for Kentish Town.
Agreed
Motion 12 (Browne & Allen) That consideration of Lawrie's
candidacy be deferred one month.
Carried 8-2
Motion 13 (Deutz & Brown) In the local election manifesto,
that the sentence "This is why… poverty" be deleted and the
next sentence be amended to read, "A socialist community would
easily provide for all its members…"
Carried 10-0
Motion 14 (Browne & Carter) That the "An end to pessimism"
heading of the local election manifesto be deleted.
Carried 10-0
Motion 15 (Browne & Deutz) That the Election Department be
authorised to have up to 12 000 leaflets for the local election
externally printed.
Agreed
6. Correspondence
a. Matters of urgency
b. Correspondence from or concerning Branches, the Party in
general, and members
i. Letter accompanying Auditor's Report to Conference

The letter said the 2009 books were robust and accurate,
without any significant problems, but suggested that the
practice of initialling payment stubs be resumed so as to
reduce uncertainty about who had authorised them. The
letter also suggested that the Trustees could be more
involved in monitoring the Party's finances.

Motion 16 (Deutz & Buick) That the suggestions in the
letter be adhered to.
Carried 7-0-3
ii. Forms C from West Midlands, Central London, East Anglia,
Edinburgh, Enfield & Haringey, Glasgow, Lancaster, Swansea,
Manchester, and South London
iii. E-mail from West London Branch apologising for their late
Form C. Noted.
iv. Request from K Scholey to stay overnight at Head Office on
25, 26, and 27 March for Standing Orders Committee,
Archives Department, and Ballot Committee work
Motion 17 (Browne & Thomas) That Scholey's request be
agreed to.
Agreed
v. E-mail from Byrne concerning scheduling of the April EC
meeting
Motion 18 (Browne & Allen) That the next two EC meetings
be held on Saturday, 10 April and Saturday, 8 May.
Carried 10-0
vi. Letter from Lancaster Branch urging that the Parliament
pamphlet be professionally printed, and arguing that the
proposed cover did not violate copyright
Motion 19 (Buick & Browne) That the text of the
Parliament pamphlet be published forthwith on the Party
website.
Agreed
Motion 20 (Deutz & Browne) That in view of the imminence
of Conference and the General Election, the EC liaise with
Neil Windle for the expeditious publication of the
parliament pamphlet.
Carried 10-0
Motion 21 (Browne & Allen) That the EC note the letter
from Lancaster Branch, that the Branch be referred to the
previous resolutions, and that the Branch be informed that
Thomas will be sending a personal reply.
Agreed

The General Secretary was asked to enquire about the status
of the cover.

vii. General Secretary reports he has produced a List of Party
Officers, Appointees, and Department and Committee Members,
and has assigned a dedicated e-mail address to each
position. Noted.
viii. Resolution from East Anglian Regional Branch: "This
branch would like the EC to give approval to the
Publications Department proposal to put the parliamentary
pamphlet online prior to its physical printing" (agreed, 8
members present). Noted.
ix. E-mail from South West Regional Branch asking whether
Conference travel expenses would be paid for both one of
their delegates and for Byrne
Motion 22 (Thomas & Shodeke) That we reply that one
delegate's expenses will be met, and that the EC member's
expenses will be met.
Agreed
x. Letter from K Scholey giving apologies for Conference, and
asking for recommendations for speakers for a meeting in
Leeds in late April in connection with the election
Motion 23 (Deutz & Shodeke) That the letter be referred
to the Campaigns Department.
Agreed
xi. Resolutions from South London Branch: "That Paul Bennett be
nominated to chair the Annual Conference 2010" (carried
6-0), "That Darren Poynton be nominated as deputy chair at
the Annual Conference 2010" (carried 6-0), and "That Paul
Bennett be nominated for the Publications Committee."
(carried 6-0). No written acceptance of the nominations had
been received.
Motion 24 (Deutz & Carter) That the EC await confirmation
Bennett's acceptance of the Publications Department
nomination.
Agreed

It was agreed that the Conference nominations would be
referred to the Standing Orders Committee.

c. Correspondence from Companion Parties and Groups
i. World Socialist Party (New Zealand) Executive Committee
Minutes for January 2010. Noted.
d. All other correspondence
7. Any other business
a. Conference arrangements

It was agreed that Buick would approach Cde Stepanian for
assistance with catering.

b. Cash and payments
Motion 25 (Deutz & Allen) That Cdes Thomas and Buick have the
PIN for the HSBC self-service and business debit cards.
Carried 7-0-2
c. Head Office Intruder

Shodeke reported that she let an enquirer into the building on
Tuesday, 2 March. The man had apparently rifled through her
jacket and attempted to access private areas of the building on
the pretext of going to the toilet. However, nothing was
stolen.

d. Apologies from Miller for the May meeting
e. D Chesham, for the Premises Committee, requested about £150 for
a fireproof letterbox for the new shop front.
Motion 26 (Deutz & Allen) That the expenditure for the
letterbox be approved.
Agreed
f. Tolpuddle Festival

Byrne, for South West Regional Branch, reported that the second
stall was a great success at the last Festival, and requested
that the EC pay for the second stall at this year's Festival.

Motion 27 (Allen & Shodeke) That the EC pay for a second
stall at Tolpuddle.
Agreed
8. Nomination of Chair for the next meeting
Motion 28 (Deutz & D Chesham) Thomas chair the April meeting, and
Byrne chair the May meeting.
Agreed

With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 17:24.