Minutes of the 32nd Meeting

Minutes of the 32nd Meeting of the Kent & Sussex Regional branch of The Socialist Party of Great Britain held on 8th June 2014The meeting started at 2.01pm and was held at the Muggleton Inn, High Street, Maidstone, KentPresent: Dave Chesham (Secretary), Marie Chesham, Rob Cox (Treasurer), Ed Mann, Jacqueline Shodeke (until 5.40pm)Apologies for absence: Les Courtney, Hannah Dutton, Dan Fabian, Richard Harris, Glenn Morris1. Election of ChairMotion 1. D.Chesham & Cox “That Mann be Chair”AGREED2. Minutes of the 31st Meeting dated 18th May 2014 were before the meetingAGREED3. Matters arising from the previous minutesi) Les CourtneyIt was AGREED that Rob ask Les if Ed could visit him.ii) Advertising in 'The Net'It was AGREED to defer this item until January 2015.iii) Voter registration campaignIt was AGREED to have voter registration leaflets available at future literature stalls.iv) Summer SchoolIt was AGREED that Dan (who's visited the branch twice) be asked to confirm whether he's going to Summer SchoolAt least five branch members and one supporter had already booked and would be attending.v) Kent Miners' Festival – 25/8/14It was AGREED the Secretary persue the organisers regarding an insertion of the branch's advertisement in the Festival's programme and on its website.vi) Notice of business – "The Party's Image"It was AGREED to defer consideration to next month's meeting and that members be requested to bring along ideas.vii) Day or Weekend School in 2015Some discussion took place and it was AGREED to defer item and consider it as a recurring item each month.viii) Literature Stall – 14/6/14Members were reminded about the branch's stall in Tonbridge on Saturday, 14th June.It was AGREED to hold a further stall in Canterbury on Saturday, 19th July.ix) Robert Tressell FestivalIt was reported that no major event had been planned for this year but it was AGREED that the Secretary email the organisers to confirm that is the case.4. EC minutesNone to hand.5. New notices of businessi) “Branch Budget 2014. That the budget for travel be increased to £60 to provide for travel costs to Branch meetings to be met, should temporary financial assistance be required.”It was AGREED to increase the budget.ii) “European Parliament Election (SE Region) 2014.To the EC: The Branch thanks all those concerned with making the campaign for the election such a success and looks forward to continued activity in the region to follow up and extend this success; particularly in localities where our message has been relatively well received. However, the Branch is dismayed that technical issues practically disabled our website at the height of the election campaign, which is likely to have deterred an unknown number of potential supporters from making contact with the Party.This Branch urges the EC to:(a) Ask the Internet Committee for a report into the events which led to the technical failures during the election campaign, and ask for recommendations concerning any actions which could be taken to prevent any future such failure;(b) Revise the terms of reference of the Internet Committee to ensure that the committee shall make arrangements with contracted internet providers to ensure an acceptable level of service is maintained, and to make specific provisions to ensure uninterrupted continuity and quality of services during critical periods of Party activity.”Motion 2. (to the EC) Cox & D.Chesham “That the above notice of business be submitted to the Executive Committee as a motion.”CARRIED 2-1-2 (five members present)6. Future propaganda activitiesNone other than those already proposed.7. Any other businessa) Concern about advertising events in the Socialist StandardMotion 3. (to the EC) Cox & D.Chesham “That the event listing page in the Socialist Standard should cover all suitable events occurring within both the calendar month of publication and the following month. It is evident that failing to advertise events taking place in the following month is a huge opportunity lost because merely advertising the current month's events will be too late for many readers to participate.”AGREED 5-0-0 (five members present)b) Auditor's and Treasurer's reportThe Treasurer reported that charges had been levied for supplying bank balance certification (£15) and information supplied to the party's auditors (£39.60).It was AGREED that reimbursement for the latter amount be requested from Head Office.c) Report of European Election campaignIt was reported that the party had secured 5454 votes in the South East England region. Rob had prepared a comprehensive spreadsheet which gave a breakdown of the results in all of the 67 "local counting areas", which corresponded with the local councils in the region. The figures confirmed that in all but three of the councils covering the 20 Westminister parliament constituencies which were targeted with a total of 984,000 election leaflets using the free postal distribution service, we did better than average.Members also distributed K&S branch's own leaflet to additional areas in Kent and Sussex. To date we have received, as a result of the electoral campaign, 14 enquiries from Kent and 12 from Sussex, all of which are in the process of being followed up. One membership application, from someone living in Brighton, has already been approved and the member allocated to K&S branch.There then followed a discussion about future electoral activity.Motion 4. (to the EC) Cox & D.Chesham "Kent and Sussex welcomes and endorses the Executive Committee's recommendations that one or both Brighton constituencies be contested in the 2015 General Election.”AGREED 5-0-0 (five members present)Meeting adjourned at 6.47pmCollection taken: £12.00