THE SOCIALIST PARTY MINUTES OF THE 2ND MEETING OF THE 102ND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE HELD AT HEAD OFFICE ON 5TH FEBRUARY 2005 AT 2.15 PM Present: Bissett (Gen. Sec.), Scholey, Stair, Thomas (Chair), Wigley. Apologies received from: Lawrence, Carter, Shannon, Parker. Absent: Lambert 1. Nomination of Executive Committee and Party Officers 1.1a) Cdes J Carter had been nominated by West London Branch and P Shannon had been nominated by Lancaster Branch. Cde H Moss had been nominated by West London Branch for one of the two auditor vacancies. 1.2b) Wigley & Stair:  "That the nominations for the EC be accepted." Agreed 5-0. 1.3c) Thomas and Stair: "That Cde Moss' nomination be accepted." 2.  Amendment and Adoption of Previous EC Minutes 2.2 Stair and Wigley: That the minutes be adopted as a true record." Agreed. 3. Matter Arising 3.1a) As reported in previous minutes, the EC had been approached by members suggesting the installation of a loop system for the benefit of attendees of Conferences who had impaired hearing. Secretary referred to feedback from branches and members on the benefits of a loop system and PA system. Responses so far had favoured a PA system as certain problems were identified with a loop system and their compatibility with various hearing aids. 3.1b) On a motion moved and seconded by Wigley & Stair, it was agreed that the EC were considerate of a PA system. 3.1c) The Secretary suggested he would make enquiries as to the cost and installation of such a system. 3.1d) Wigley and Stair further moved "That the matter then be referred back to the Audio Visual Department." Agreed. 4. Nominations to Departments and Sub Committees 4.1) D O'Neil self nominated for Campaigns and Enquiries Depts. "Wigley & Stair: "That the nomination be accepted." Agreed. 4.2) D Porter and A Pitts self-nominated for the Membership Dept. "Wigley & Bissett: "That the nominations be accepted." Agreed. 4.3) A self nomination was received from D Perrin for the Socialist Standard Committee. It was noted that Cde Perrin had been accepted on to the Committee at the previous meeting. 4.4) A Buick had been nominated to the Election Dept. by West London Branch. Wigley & Thomas: "That the nomination be accepted." Agreed. 4.5)  B Gardner had been nominated for Campaigns Dept. and PFU by Glasgow Branch. Wigley & Bissett: "That the nomination be accepted." Agreed. 4.6) O Bond had been nominated for SS Subscribers Cttee by West London Branch. Wigley & Stair:" That the nomination be accepted." Agreed. *A final call is made for nominations to deparments; the closing date to be the next EC Meeting. A further call is made for an Assistant Treasurer, Assistant Secretary and one Auditor. 5.  Conference and Amendments to Conference Agenda (as per last call made in January EC Minutes) 5.1) Amendments to Motion 3 and 4 from Enfield and Haringey Branch and an  Amendment to Motion 5 with supporting statement from Lancaster Branch. (These to appear on Conference Agenda being sent out on 18th February). Agreed to refer to Standing Orders. 6. Accounts 6.1 Treasurer informed meeting that another cheque book had been stolen, seemingly intercepted in the mail between the bank and head office, this being realised when someone attempted to cash a cheque and the bank informing us. The bank had said the cheque book would be sent out by recoded delivery, but this appears not to have happened. It was a lengthy procedure to report the matter to the police, there being no main station in Clapham, but the Treasurer would be taking the matter to the main police station in Brixton. The Treasurer would be contacting the bank to agree upon a more suitable way of receiving new cheque books as this was the second time in recent months a cheque book had been stolen. It was suggested the problem may be rooted in the fact that the post office employed casual labour, sometimes for only one day. 6.2 Accounts were available for the period 3/10/04 to 5/1/05 along with revised accounts for 2/7/04 to 3/4/04. A financial summary of accounts for 2004 was also presented to the EC with the Treasurer's report to the February EC Meeting. 6.3 The meeting was informed that the shortfall in the July accounts was due to a £200 surplus.  Upon a motion from Wigley & Stair the EC agreed to accept the accounts. The November-December accounts balanced. There was a 2.00 surplus in the October accounts.  A discrepancy was noted in the income summary for 2004 and the Treasurer would be redrafting the same summary of the 2004 accounts by the next meeting. 6.4 The accounts for July-December needed auditing. Wigley and Bissett moved that Cde Moss (the Party Auditor) be asked to liaise with the Treasurer. Agreed. 6.5. Renewal of HO building insurance was up by £200 to £1,400 for the coming year. The insurers had agreed to pay for the damage to the flooring in the main hall at head office - damaged during a flood last year - which meant the Party would only have to pay the first £500 of the estimated £7,000 cost of the new flooring (work expected to be completed in time for Conference). 7. Forms A None to hand 8. Reports from Departments 8.1) General Secretary's Report to Conference.  Stair & Wigley moved to accept. Agreed. 8.2) Reports from M Browne for Ballot Committee, Standing Orders, and Advertising Dept. Wigley and Thomas moved to accept. Agreed 8.3) Membership Dept. Report to Conference. Bissett & Wigley moved to accept. Agreed. 8.4) Reports from Stair for Premises Cttee, Publications Dept, Campaigns Dept. Audio Visual Dept. Head Office Organiser. Bissett and Thomas moved to accept. Agreed. 8.5 Socialist Standard Cttee Report to Conference. Wigley & Scholey moved to accept. Agreed. *A Final call is made for EC Sub-Committees and Departments to have their reports in for Conference. 9. Correspondence from Branches, Groups and Companion Parties 9.1a) Letter from West London Branch dated 26/1/05 and referring to a branch resolution of 7/12/05 in response to the December 2004 EC Minutes:" That the secretary write to the EC, pointing out that Rule 11 has been amended and is not as quoted by the General Secretary (Any Other Business, item iii), and asking in what connection he raised the matter." 5-0. 9.1b) The current Secretary had not taken the December EC Minutes, this was the EC record of the previous Assistant Secretary. The matter West London Branch refers to arose out of an EC discussion of the display of books at HO during the December meeting. The main shelving to the right of the balcony contained all available party literature and books published by Party members. It had been pointed out at that EC meeting that in placing books written by members-which had not been approved by the Party prior to their publication-on the shelves along with Party publications, was in fact a breach of rule 11. The EC felt it would have been helpful if West London had have included in their letter what they believed the true wording should have been. It is agreed the rule in question was misquoted. The correct ruling, as of Annual Conference 2002 is: "Branches, Groups and members shall neither publish, sell or distribute literature in the name of the Party, excepting handbills and leaflets, which has not been approved by the Executive Committee or the New Pamphlets Committee. Election Statements and Election Manifestoes, being Official Party Statements, must be approved by the Executive Committee." 9.2) Minutes of Election Meeting held at head office on 9/1/05. Noted. 9.3) WSPNZ Minutes for 18/11/04. Noted. 9.4) WSPNZ Minutes for 16/12/04. Noted. 9.5a) Email from WSPNZ dated 18/1/05. The WSPNZ had a quote for the production of flags and  it would be cheaper if they could order 10 or more. The WSPNZ asked if there was interest in the SPGB. 9.5b)The EC thankd the WSPNZ for their offer but declined to accept. We have several banners already and could also have them made here fairly cheaply. Moreover, there was no general SPGB approved design, symbol or slogan for such a flag (the design the WSPNZ were suggesting was the one on their website). 10. Forms F None to hand 11. Any Other Business 11.1a) The Secretary raised with the EC the possibility of having a party video aired on Sky TV. He referred the EC to an email he had been copied from Cde Carol Taylor who had been in touch with Blue Tuna Television. The TV station was offering us 55 minutes of airtime for £600 for 30th March and 30th April, or the possibility of airing a 10 minute taster documentary for £115. 11.1b) The EC, though generally in favour of an airing of a Party video, agreed they would need to see such a video before agreeing to pursue its broadcast. The EC moreover felt the letter rather "timelined" the Party into producing a video. 11.2) The Secretary, also serving as Technology Officer, discussed the condition of the PCs at Head Office. He expressed concern at the slow running of one PC, due chiefly to the overwhelming volume of games and downloaded music and video files stored on the PC. The PC in question had a 37 gb hard drive, and of this only 2.5 gb was free. He gave Party members notice that they have one month to remove any personal files from the PC, to transfer them to disc, before the hard drive was cleaned up and defragmented. 11.3a) Stair raised with the EC the current front cover of the Socialist Standard. Whilst the cover was an immense improvement on past issues, the colour was somewhat dull and not as it could be because the paper used was absorbing the ink. We could reduce our order from 1700 copies to 1500 copies and thus saved £28.00 on publication costs (hundreds of copies remained unsold at HO each month). To have the cover printed on "full colour gloss art" paper, which would carry the colour better, would cost only £40.00, and this would greatly enhance the look of the Standard. 11.3b) Wigley & Thomas: "That the SSPC be authorised to make the following changes: i) Print run to be 1500. ii) Cover to be on gloss art paper." Agreed 5-0. 11.4a) Stair, as HOO and a member of the Premises Committee, raised the issue of new flooring in the main hall at Head Office - damaged due to a flood (see also item 6.5 above).He had secured quotes and the cost of the flooring would be £6,390, but we could get a hard wearing door mat fitted to the floor near the entrance-an area which was evidently very worn compared to the rest of the floor-for £85.00 and an extra waterproof sealant over the top of the flooring for £165.00 + VAT. The vast bulk of the cost of the flooring would be paid for by our insurers. 11.4b) Wigley & Thomas: "That the quote from the Premises Committee for new flooring be accepted." Agreed 5-0. With no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 4.10 pm Next meeting: Saturday 5th March 2005, 2.00pm at Head Office Chair for next meeting: Scholey Please Note: 1. This is the last call for nominations for the following vacancies: Assistant Secretary, Assistant Treasurer and one Auditor. 2. Any outstanding reports from Party Departments and Committees should be received by the next EC meeting. 3.  Can any member having personal files on the main PC at HO, please transfer them to disc if they want them. The PC will be cleaned up on 4th March and anything of no Party relevance will be deleted.