December 2018 EC minutes

[Anonymous]

MINUTES OF THE 12TH MEETING OF THE 115TH EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN

HEAD OFFICE, SATURDAY 1ST DECEMBER

[Note: These are draft minutes only and are not official until adopted by the EC]

Present: D.Chesham, C.Dee, M.Foster, S.Kennedy, M.Tenner, C.Alvarenga at 1:52PM, P.Shannon via Skype.

Apologies: N.Kirk, L.Stevens, G.Thomas

Meeting opened at 1:10PM

1. Election of Chair: C.Dee

2. Minutes of the previous meeting, business arising therefrom and the General Secretary’s raising of Notices of Motion and Business from previous meetings

(a) Amendment and adoption of the minutes of the November 2018 meeting

i. E-mail from Cde Tenner (7 November)
RESOLUTION: “That that the additional clause be attached to the previous minutes and that they be adopted.” (Lancaster Branch had submitted an email confirming that their nominees had accepted, but no further acknowledgement of acceptance from the nominees had been received by the General Secretary.)
D.Chesham/M.Tenner – (Carried 6-0-0)

(b) Matters arising from the August 2018 meeting minutes

i. Re §2(d)i (GDPR compliance), e-mail from the Treasurer (5 September)
RESOLUTION: “That the following be added to EC Standing Orders as item 28: There shall be a data compliance review every 3 years starting from 2021 to ensure that the Party remains compliant with all relevant legal requirements.” M.Foster/C.Dee – (Carried 5-0-1)

(c) Matters arising from the September 2018 meeting minutes

i. Re-call for nominations for 2019 Party Officers and Executive Committee – accepted nomination by Lancaster for Cde Brown for Auditor (no voting figures provided).
RESOLUTION: “That the January EC deal with the appointment of the following received Forms B: C.Dee, L.Stevens, P.Shannon.” D.Chesham/M.Foster (Carried 6-0-0)

(d) Matters arising from the November 2018 meeting minutes

i. Re Resolution in §5(d) (“That Comrade Foster’s offer to fix citations for the Rosa Luxemburg publication be accepted and that the EC read the publication before the next EC meeting.”) E-mail from Cde Foster (24 November)
RESOLUTION: “That the following amendments be made to the Rosa Luxemburg pamphlet: Typos to be corrected; D of P on one page; Add pictures in text; Change title to ‘Rosa Luxemburg on Socialism’; Font to be Arial 11; Text fully justified. Cde Foster to pass the text to Cde Fenn to add cover, barcode and price. Printing to be completed during January 2019. The Publications Committee are reminded to make a template (including standardised margins and page numbering) for future publications, based on the format for this publication.” M.Foster/C.Dee (Carried 6-1-0)

ii. Re Resolution in §5(d) (“That 300 copies of ‘What’s Wrong With Using Parliament?’ pamphlet be reprinted and that Comrade Tenner research its source and formatting.”) E-mail from Cde Chesham (24 November)
RESOLUTION: “That 500 copies of ‘From Capitalism to Socialism’ be reprinted with no amendments.”
D.Chesham/C.Alvarenga (Carried 7-0-0).
Cde Tenner agreed to arrange.

iii. Re §7(b) 50 Clapham High Street. E-mails from Cde Chesham
We do not want or need the BO’s money and have no intention of giving consent to special foundations.
BO’s surveyor is to provide the scheme in the near future.
We are concerned about the degree of indemnity available should anything catastrophic happen during building works as £50K does not seem to us to be sufficient to cover any eventuality. The £50K was considered by each surveyor to be a fair and reasonable sum that should cover any likely eventuality.
The building owner or their contractors are hereby expressly permitted access to erect scaffolding over the adjoining owner’s roof and to erect a hoarding and scaffolding in the adjoining owner’s rear courtyard to facilitate works.
The BO has also provided the scheme for mass concrete foundations rather than the special foundations, which we did not give consent for.
It was reported that the situation remains much the same and that our surveyor will be inspecting the work on site.

iv. Re §7(c) Update on the state of the website; unresolved issues              (raised by Cde Chesham)
Cde Kirk joined the discussion via Skype. Cde Shannon now admitted that his understanding of the website work had been inadequate and that the decision to clear payment was premature. However, D&F are amicably dealing with the outstanding issues, along with Cdes Kirk and Culbert. It was noted that there was no after-care agreement and that this should be considered in future.
RESOLUTION: “That EC decisions should henceforth be made online only rarely, and in cases of urgency, and certainly not involving matters of payment or those requiring exchange of views.” M.Tenner/D.Chesham (Carried 7-0-0)

Break at 3:21PM – resumed at 3:28PM

v. Re §7(f) State of Head Office and security concerns
E-mail from Cde Chesham (24 November)
After lengthy debate, the situation remains unresolved with a member having been denied lone access to the premises.

M.Foster left at 4:03PM

(e) Notices of Motion
None

(f) Notices of Business

i. The EC confirms the return of £100 from Cde Slapper as requested, in response to item 2(c)i of the EC agenda of 6th October.

ii. That we consider inconsistencies in postage charges.
Deferred

iii. That Cde Shannon liaise with Cde Buick concerning his suggested amendments to the banking publication.
Agreed

iv. That Cde Cox be requested to find out whether he can extract material from the disk of Party publications artwork which Cde Windle sent to HO.
Agreed

(g) Matters outstanding from previous minutes
i. Cde Alvarenga to report on photocopier repairs.
Deferred

3. Forms A and F
(a) Form A for Daniel Mullin (via Membership Applications Committee) Accepted 5-0-1
(b) Form F for Brian Stott – Deceased. Agreed
(c) Form A for Dave Humphries. Accepted 6-0-0

4. Treasurer: Report of the Treasurer (24 November)
Item 1: Website Migration Project – Final Payment to Dodgems and Floss. Dealt with previously.
Item 2: Review of the registers of political parties. Awaiting report from the Electoral Commission.
Item 3: Energy Supplies. There was a marginal difference in electricity costs.
Item 4: Implement of Data Protection Review Recommendations. Membership files need securing in cabinets, for which keys are sought.
Item 5: IT Upgrade. It was preferable to have two levels of security, not three; only one person able to access PC at a time from outside; internet connection requires two weeks’ notice.
RESOLUTION: “That we authorise the change to PlusNet internet provider.” M.Tenner/D.Chesham.
(Agreed)

5. Reports of Party Officers, Party Appointees, Subcommittees, and Departments; discussion of advertising, campaigns, and the Socialist Standard
(a) Report of the Publications Committee (3 September, via Cde Robin Cox): ‘Gender’ pamphlet.
Deferred
(b) Internet Committee reported (23 November) the resignation of Cde Johnson. Noted

6. Correspondence
(a) Matters of urgency.
None
(b) Correspondence from or concerning Branches, the Party in general and members.
None
(c) Correspondence from Companion Parties and Groups.
None
i. Socialist Party of Canada Secretary’s Report, 1 November 2018 (see p. 25). Noted
(d) All other correspondence.
None

7. Any other business
(a) As per item 6(b)ii. of the November EC Agenda, the General Secretary reported that there had been no response to his letter of complaint to the Editor and Publisher of Tribune.
RESOLUTION: “That the matter be referred to Cde Tim Hart to deal with.” (Agreed)
(b) E-mail received from Cde Oliver Bond of the Ballot Committee.
RESOLUTION : “That the EC favours the 2nd option presented by Cde Bond.” (That the ballot go ahead without validation papers.)
(Agreed)
(c) A call for 2019 Committee nominations was not made.
RESOLUTION : “The EC defers the call out to committees until January” M.Tenner/D.Chesham (Carried 6-0-0). Ref: ADM FLOOR RESOLUTION: Tenner/Chesham: “This ADM recommends the EC to investigate a simplification of the Party’s departmental committee and officer structure.”

8. Nomination of Chair for the next meeting
Deferred

9. Electoral Commission returns
None

Meeting adjourned – 5:56PM

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