THE SOCIALIST PARTY MINUTES OF THE 4TH MEETING OF THE 102ND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE HELD AT HEAD OFFICE ON 2ND APRIL, 2005,  AT 2.30 PM Present:  Bissett (Gen Sec), Carter, Lambert, Lawrence, Parker, Scholey, Stair, Thomas, Wigley Apologies: Shannon. Chair - agreed at previous meeting: Wigley. 1. Amendment and Adoption of Previous EC Minutes 1.1)  Re. 9.4i. of March Minutes, Stair pointed out that the "Red" Bookfair he was attending in Ghent, Belgium, was actually the "Alternative" Bookfair 1.2) Thomas & Scholey: "That the Minutes be adopted as a true record." Agreed. 2. Matters Arising 2.1) Re. 2.1.i. of February Minutes: PA system. Secretary informed EC that the full cost for the PA system, inclusive of shipping, VAT and an additional microphone was £363.85.  The EC were informed that the additional costs had not been taken into account when the matter was discussed at the previous meeting.  Members urged caution in the future when quoting costs. Other members expressed their disappointment at how few delegates at Conference were prepared to use the mic. It was queried whether the PA system was now the property of the Party. Secretary confirmed it was. 2.1.i) Carter & Thomas: "That the EC endorses the extra payment." Agreed. 2.2) Re. previous discussion on ways to prevent further cheque books being intercepted in the post. The Treasurer informed the meeting that he had been in touch with Alliance and Leicester who said they make no special arrangements - i.e. recorded delivery - when sending out new cheque books. 2.3) Re. item 5.2.ii. of previous minutes: Election in  Seaham. Further to the previous EC minutes and the EC's decision not to contest the Seaham seat in the local elections on the ground there was no branch support, the EC received two emails from the Election Department (21st and 23 March) with a copied email from Cde Colborn, appealing against the decision. The correspondence generated a fair bit of debate. The secretary queried whether Rule 17 - members elected to office locally having to act on the instructions of the branch locally - had any relevance, as Cde Colborn was not a member of a local branch. It was generally accepted by members that if Cde Colborn was elected he would still be under the instructions of the nearest branch. Other members expressed concern at the lack of co-ordinated preparation involved in the Seaham campaign and that this was not being contested by the NE Branch, Cde Colborn being a member of Central Branch. Overall, EC members did not wish to stand in the way of a member who was prepared, with others, to election leaflet the area and put in the requisite activity. 2.3.ii) Parker & Stair:  "That the EC reverses its decision of 5./3/05, regarding contesting the local election in Seaham and that Cde Colborn be allowed to contest the seat in the name of the Party."  Agreed - 7 for, 1 against, 1 abstention. 2.4) Re. 9.5.ii of March Minutes: new signatories to Party Account. Treasurer reported that he had travelled to the local branch of Alliance & Leicester in Balham with 3 other comrades to change the signatories to the account. Cde Bissett was still to be added to the account. One more was needed. 2.4.i)  Cde White was present during discussion of this item. As he was a regular attendee at head office, carrying out library work,  he agreed to act as a signatory to the account. Bissett & Lambert "That Cde Nick White be added to the list of signatories." Agreed. 3.  Business from Annual Conference 3.1.i)  Annual Conference moved two floor resolutions: a) Lawrence (South London) & Moss (Swansea): "That the Socialist Party of Great Britain be used on the ballot paper."  3 for, 11 against. b) Buick (West London) & Bennett (Manchester): "That members living overseas should be allowed to vote in Party ballots by email if the practicalities can be worked out." 15 for, 0 against. 3.1.ii)  Arising from the first of  the above, Bissett & Stair moved: "In future, wherever possible, the name The Socialist Party should appear on the ballot paper." Agreed 9-0. 3.1.ii)  Arising from the second of the above, members discussed various ways voting via internet could be done. Suggestions included members overseas voting by email and quoting their membership number or voting quoting a password held at head office. 3.1.iii)Thomas &  Bissett: That the matter be referred to the Internet and Ballot Committees and that they report back to the next EC meeting." Agreed 9-0. 3.2.i) Secretary had presented to the EC the report he had produced on the Motions at Conference and which would be sent out with the ballot papers. It was pointed out that the report need not have been presented to the EC as the General Secretary was not writing the report to the EC but for the entire membership. Secretary pointed out that he had included on the report  debate on an Item for Discussion, feeling it was relevant to one of the Motions and simply wished to know if this as in order. 4.  Accounts 4.1.i) Treasurer presented the EC with statements on the accounts for the period 5th January to 2nd March. The accounts for January balanced and the February accounts were still to be presented to the EC. 4.1.ii) A new mandate would be sent out to members paying by standing order, this time identifying exactly what the standing order included (donation, due, Standard subs), but that this would have to wait until after the conference ballot, which included a vote on the raising of dues. 4.1.iii) Treasurer apologised for omitting from the January accounts a donation of £23,000, which was now on deposit and had in fact been acknowledged by the bank. 4.1.iv) The EC was further informed that the transfer of £95,000 from our account at Leopold Joseph to our second account at Alliance and Leicester had been sent back as there had been a problem with the sorting code. 4.2.i) The EC was presented with a letter from Cde Fred Allen, dated 27th March. Cde Allen offered to take on the job of collecting dues and maintaining a list of members paying dues. 4.2.ii) The EC discussed the problem of access to the membership database, this being accessible by Party Officers only and also took into consideration the vacancy for an Assistant Treasurer. 4.2.iii) Lambert & Parker: "That Cde Allen be appointed as Assistant Treasurer, charged with the responsibility to collect dues remitted to the General Fund and subject to his acceptance of the post; the said acceptance to be submitted to the May EC meeting." Agreed 9-0 5. Forms A. 5.1.i) Form A received for Jim Worker (Central London Branch). Bissett & Stair: "Agreed to accept." Agreed 9-0. 5.1.ii) Form A for Janet Surnam (Turkey) returned with approval of Membership Dept. Lambert & Stair: "Agree to accept." Agreed 9-0. 5.2.i) Re. item 5.2 of March Minute. Whilst the EC had approved the application of Nick Davis, subject to further clarification of past dues/waiving by the Central Organiser, Cde Davis was still to reply to the Central Organiser. 6. Reports from Officers, Departments and Sub-Committees. 61.i)  No reports had been received. Members expressed dismay that departments and sub-committees neglected to keep the EC updated as to their progress. 7. Correspondence from Branches, Companion Parties, Members. 7.1.i)  Email from Weijagye Justus, Uganda (27th March), raising sundry points but in particular requesting a photocopying machine, The EC discussed this matter at length and many issues were raised, for instance the request was not costed and made no reference to whether the copier would belong outright to the Ugandan comrades, whether it would need to be insured or maintained from outside. The EC was also reminded that the comrades in Kabale had some time ago asked the EC for a photocopier, with the EC turning down the request in favour of fulfilling any requests for photocopying at HO. It was also suggested that any publication the Kabale comrades did photocopy would have to have EC approval as the comrades were still SPGB members to whom Party rules applied. The EC stressed that they had no intention of taking control of their own affairs away from the comrades in Kabale 7.1.ii) Lawrence & Parker: "This EC notes with enthusiasm the activity of our comrades in Uganda, regrets to inform them of its current position on overseas funding, detailed in previous EC resolutions and suggests they submit draft texts to HO for printing and return as per previous arrangement."  Agreed:  6 for, 1 against,  2 abstaining. 7.2.1) Lancaster Branch nominations for Advertising Dept. for Cdes Neil Windle and Paddy Shannon. These nominations had been included amongst a previous communication from Lancaster Branch on another issue and consequently overlooked. There was a further nomination for the Advertising Dept. from Cde Mike Browne. 7.2.ii)  Bissett & Stair: "That the three nominations for the Advertising Dept. be approved." Agreed 8-0 7.3.i)  A further self nomination for the Advertising and Enquiries Depts. was received from Cde John Lee of Enfield and Haringey Branch. 7.3.ii) Parker & Stair: "That Cde Lee's self-nomination for the Advertising Dept be approved." Agreed 9-0. 7.3.iii) Stair & Thomas: "That Cde Lee's self-nomination for the Enquiries Dept. be approved." Agreed: 7 for, 0 against, 1 abstention. 7.4.i) Cdes Stair & Wigley self-nominated for the Enquiries Dept. 7.4.ii) Parker & Scholey: "That the two nominations be approved for the Enquiries Dept." Agreed: 8 for, 1 abstaining. 8. Forms F.    8.1) No Forms F presented to the EC. 9. Any Other Business. 9.1 Secretary referred EC to a brochure sent to HO from Adshell Connect, a company selling election advertising space on the glass panels of phone booths. Phone booth windows could be hired for £60.00 per week. Members queried whether we had received the brochure too late in the day, considering the election was just over a month off. 9.1.i) Agreed to refer to Election Department. 9.2) Secretary referred the EC to the video produced on behalf of the party by 4 members and which could be viewed at www.socialist-tv.com. Several members present had seen the film and spoke highly of it. Secretary asked if the EC were prepared to endorse the video and spoke of the possibility of having the film mass-produced professionally on DVD with appropriate disc and jacket designs. Whilst members felt that the film was well made and gave a good representation of the Party case, the script had not in fact been approved by the EC prior to filming and neither was the Socialist Party or the word 'socialism,' mentioned in the film.  Members identified constitutional difficulties, observing that the video raised questions on party policy which were beyond the remit of the EC. Of the ten EC members, 5 had seen the film 9.2.i) Parker & Bissett: "That this EC takes steps to endorse the contents of the video/DVD, i.e. tell absent EC members how to see the existing draft and within one week give their endorsement or not to the Gen. Sec This (if passed) would enable a link to be put on the Election leaflet and the party website." Resolution fell: 2 for, 5 against, 1 abstention. 9.2.ii) Lawrence & Scholey: "Regarding the video produced by some members, the EC is bound to point out that by not mentioning the Party's name or the word 'socialism', it raises the question of published policy that is beyond the remit of the EC. Therefore, the EC cannot officially endorse it. However, there is no problem in it being used as a link with the Party's website, and the EC hopes that the comrades concerned will continue their efforts to produce party videos which should have an important place in our general campaigning." Agreed: 7 for, 0 against, 1 abstention. 9.3) Secretary informed EC that it was still to put out a call for departmental budgets. The oversight had largely been due to the slow take-up for the places on the existing departments and sub-committees and the fact that a call for budgets could not be made until sufficient members have filled the depts and sub-committees. 9.3.i)  The EC agreed that the Secretary put out a call for departmental budget proposals for the next 12 months and these be put to the next meeting of the EC. 10. Notice of Business for next EC Meeting 10.1) Thomas: "That at the next EC meeting I shall raise the matter of reports from officers, departments and sub-committees." Agreed: 7 for, 0 against, 1 abstention. 10.2) Thomas: "That at the next EC Meeting I shall raise the question of terms of Reference for the Audio-Visual Department and the Video Production Department." Agreed: 7 for, 0 against, 1 abstention. With No further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 5.30pm Chair for next Meeting: Stair    Date of Next Meeting: 2.00pm. 7th May. Head Office NOTICE: CAN DEPARTMENTS AND SUB-COMMITTEES PLEASE SUBMIT THEIR BUDGET PROPOSALS FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS TO THE NEXT MEETING OF THE EC