Present: Bissett (Gen Sec), Carter, Lambert, Lawrence, Simkins (Chair),
Stair,
Thomas, White, Miller joined meeting late (see item: 7.1.ii below)
Absent: Browne.
1. Amendment and Adoption of Previous EC Minutes
1.1) Lawrence & Thomas: "That the minutes be adopted."
2 Matters Arising from February EC Meeting
2.1) Re. item 2.4.i. of March Minutes - Cde. Worker's self-nomination
for the
Ads Dept and the March EC resolution: "That the matter be deferred
pending a
report from the Ads Dept. on the need for a third member."
2.1.i) The Ads Dept had not reported back on the matter. Agreed to
defer one
month.
2.2) Re. item 6.8.i of March Minutes - relisting HO for residential use
and the
EC resolution: "That the matter be deferred one month."
2.2.i) Members were in agreement that we needed informed advice on the
matter.
It was unlikely that we would be charged council tax as the member
living at HO
was on benefits and thus exempt, but it might be that we pay less
business tax
if HO was listed as a residence also (many properties on Clapham High
Street
served as business premises and residencies). It was suggested that
from a
planning point of view it may be that HO could only be listed as a
business. Cde
Lawrence informed meeting that his son, with experience as a valuation
surveyor,
could offer advice on how best to proceed.
2.2.ii) Thomas & Carter: "That the matter be deferred one month
pending further
information from Cde Lawrence's son." Agreed: 7 for, 0 against, 1
abstaining.
2.3) Re. deferred item 6.5 of March Minutes. Email from Kabale Group,
Uganda,
containing a report dated 28th February and a budget proposal.
2.3.i) With EC members mindful of coming Conference items on sending
money
overseas, the discussion focused on the budget request of
£248.00. This figure
was for 4 monthly meetings at the cost of £15.00 per meeting and
four half-hour
radio presentations for four weekends at $47.00 per programme. Some EC
members
felt that any radio script that was to be broadcast in the name of the
WSM would
first need Party approval.
2.3.ii) Lawrence & Bissett: "That the Kabale comrades be asked for
a copy of the
radio script and that the matter be deferred pending the outcome of
discussion
at Conference on sending money overseas. Lost: for 4, against 4.
2.3.iii) Stair & Thomas: "That the Kabale comrades be given the
money for their
future activity and that we request a script or recording of their
recent radio
broadcasts." Lost: for 4, against 4.
2.3.iii) Thomas and Lambert: That the matter be deferred. Agreed 8-0.
2.3.iii) Thomas & White: Pending a Party decision, the comrades in
Kabale be
asked for scripts of their proposed broadcast." Agreed 8-0.
3. Conference
3.1) Late Conference Reports from Membership Department, Socialist
Banner
Editorial and WSCC.
3.1.i) Secretary apologised to meeting - the report from the Membership
Department posted to the EC prior to the meeting was an old report and
not the
one he had sent to HO to be mailed out. Report to be available at
Conference and
to be posted on spintcom.
3.1.ii) Report of Socialist Banner Editorial team. Thomas &
Lambert: "That the
report be adopted." Agreed 8-0.
3.1.iii) Report of the WSCC. Thomas & White: "That the report be
adopted."
Agreed 8-0.
3.2) In considering the report of the Socialist Banner Editorial team,
members
queried whether the grant for the PC surge protector had been sent to
Cde
Suhuyini. Secretary informed meeting he was still waiting for a
response from
Cde Suhuyini as to the cost.
4. Accounts
4.1) No accounts were presented to the meeting. Treasurer informed the
EC that
the December accounts had now been incorporated into the report to
Conference
and that the accounts would be audited next week and in time for
Conference. Cde
Worker, who the EC accepted as assistant to the Treasurer at the
previous
meeting, had worked on the accounts with the Treasurer and showed a
fair grasp
of treasury work.
5. Forms A
5.1) One Form A received from West London Branch for Michelle Martin.
5.1.i) Stair & Bissett: "That the Form A be accepted." Agreed 8-0.
6. Reports of Officers, Departments and Sub-Committees
6.1) Election leaflets presented to the EC for the Kingston (Canbury
Ward) and
Lambeth (Clapham Town Ward) local elections on May 4th.
6.1.i) There was much criticism of the leaflet at the table. Members
felt the
text was vague and sloppy and a poor presentation of the case for
socialism. It
was revealed that the text had been used as the editorial for the April
issue of
the Standard. It was agreed, time constraints considered, to use the
text of a
previous election leaflet. The Secretary said he would try to phone
members of
the Election Department during the tea break to discuss an alternative
leaflet
text. The Secretary phoned Cde Buick of the Election Department during
the break
and a suitable text was discussed. A previous election leaflet was
presented tot
the meeting, the text having been endorsed by a previous EC.
6.1.ii) Lawrence & Thomas: "That the text of the election leaflet
be accepted."
Agreed 8-0.
6.1.iii) Lawrence & Lambert: "That the question of the draft text
from the
Election Department be deferred one month." Agreed: for 7, against 1, 1
abstaining.
6.2) Publications Dept. report to April EC. The pamphlets Ecology and
Socialism
and The Right to be Lazy would be re-issued with new covers. A colour
catalogue
of Party publications was being planned. The Department acknowledged
receipt of
Cde Perrin's amendments to the pamphlet From Capitalism to Socialism
and these
changes would be applied in a new edition produced with a new cover.
Noted.
6.3) Premises Cttee report to April EC. The report listed various
renovations
and clean-up work carried out at HO. Further improvements included
plumbing
renovations of heating system, shelving on ground floor and new posters
for the
front of HO. Also to be implemented were renovations to the slanting
windows
above the balcony area. The department reported an ongoing problem with
static
electricity since the new laminate flooring had been installed. The
problem not
only annoyed members working at HO, who continually received shocks,
but posed a
risk to computers. One computer, in recent days, had ceased working
possibly as
a result of a static charge. Anti-static mats were on order. Fretchen,
the
resident ferret had caught, killed and consumed one mouse.
6.3.i) Lambert reported that he had enquired about the cost of
scaffolding so
that brickwork and sills on the front of HO could be repaired and the
cost was
£900. Members suggested other quotes be sourced.
6.3.ii) Stair & Bissett: "That the sum of £1000 be granted to
the Premises
Committee so that quotes can be sourced and work completed to the
repair of the
front upstairs elevation of the building." Agreed: 8-0
6.3.iii) Members queried what had resulted from the formation of the Ad
Hoc
Committee for the Renovation of the Front of Head Office. The
Committee, which
came about as a result of an instructed Conference resolution, had not
in fact
met last year and no nominations for the committeecould be secured this
year.
Stair informed meeting that the intended work would be carried out
under the
auspices of the Premises Committee.
6.3.iv) Members queried, on health and safety grounds, the proposed
shelving
just near the front door. Bissett asked that the fire extinguisher
outside of
the library be re-sited. Stair agreed to look into the matters.
6.4) The EC considered a letter from Cde Roy Beat dated 30/3/06. Cde
Beat was
offering to come into Head Office one day a week and to clean up at
Head Office
for £50.00. Lawrence & Thomas moved "next business". It was
queried whether next
business could be moved without the letter being discussed at the
meeting and
there was general agreement that members could indeed move onto next
business.
The vote was put to the meeting to move on to next business: For 5,
against 2, 1
abstaining. A division was
then called for. For - Bissett, White, Carter, Lawrence and Thomas;
against -
Simkins and Lambert; abstaining - Stair.
7. Correspondence from Branches, Companion Parties and Members
7.1) Resolution from South London Branch via email dated 29th March.
"That
Comrade Stan Parker and Tristan Miller be nominated for the EC." 5-0.
7.1.i) Secretary reminded EC that there was only the one vacancy for
the EC, but
two nominations from the same branch. Cde Parker, present at the
meeting,
withdrew his nomination.
7.1.ii) Thomas & Stair: "In view of Cde Parker's withdrawal, Cde
Miller be
accepted on to the EC." Agreed: 8-0. Cde Miller, present, then joined
the EC
table.
7.2) Letter from Harriet Cooper, Big Issue, dated 27th March, submitted
to
meeting by HOO and regarding the recommencing of advertising in a few
weeks. The
Ads Department hadn't had time to discuss the letter and the HOO was
asking for
advice as how to proceed as he generally dealt with such correspondence
7.2.i) Lawrence & White: "That the letter from Big Issue be passed
to the Ads
Department for their consideration." Agreed: 8 for, 1 against. Division
called
for: Stair was against the motion.
7.3) Miller & Thomas: "Be it resolved that the EC contact each
Committee and
Department individually, requesting that they send reports to the EC at
least
once every two months, outlining work completed since their last report
and work
planned for the future." Lost: for 4, against 4, 1 abstaining.
8. Forms F
8.1) No Forms F presented to the meeting.
9. Any Other Business
9.1) Late Report to Conference from the Discussion Journal Ad Hoc
Committee.
9.1.i) Bissett & Lambert: That the report be adopted." Agreed 9-0.
9.2) Stair, as HO, reported on a phone call from South London Press. The
reporter wanted info about the Socialist Party and which wards we were
contesting at the coming election. We were given a deadline of half an
hour in
which to respond to the request. Cde Stair expressed his frustration at
the
episode - he had tried to phone the Election Dept members without
success for
the information, eventually getting the info via a phone call to the
Gen Sec.
9.2.i) Thomas and Bissett: "The EC resolves that in future Party
election agents
be easily contactable during elections by members of the media asking
for
information about our candidates." Agreed: 9-0.
9.3) Simkins read a letter he had received from Cde Ndege, Kenya. This
related
to item 10.3 of the February Minutes and Cde Simkins' offer to contact
the
comrades in Kenya regarding their views on the famine there.
9.3.i) Lawrence & Stair: "That copies of the letter be made
available to EC
members:" Agreed 9-0
9.4) Re. item 6.7.i of March Minutes. Stair informed meeting that Cde
Brady-Smith had left Head Office where he had been staying for a month
and that
he had put in much unpaid work there.
9.5) Miller informed meeting that the hard-drive on one of the PCs at
head
Office seemed to be irreparably damaged. The PC was at the moment in a
repair
shop, but the forecast was that not all the info on it could be saved,
if indeed
any could be saved. Please note this was not the PC that contains the
membership/subscribers databases etc.
9.6) White queried whether Cde Easton could be hired to provide the
entertainment for the social at Conference. He referred to a concert
Cde Easton
was performing in at O'Neill's pub, 67-77 Euston Rd, London on 20th
April.
With no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 6.15 pm
Next meeting: Saturday, 6th May, 2.00pm at Head Office |
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