Unlock Democracy Council Meeting

Charity Centre, Directory of Social Change 24 Stephenson Way London NW1 2DP 6th March 2010 MINUTES Present: Andrew Blick, Peter Davison, Alan Debenham, Peter Hirst, Tamsin James. Finola Kelly, Susan Murray, Mick Pitt, Nan Sloane, Vicky Seddon (chair), Stuart Weir Apologies: Amy Rodger, John Strafford, Mark Valladares In attendance: Peter Facey, James Graham, Alexandra Runswick Preliminaries There had been an induction session preceding the meeting, conducted by Debbie Chay. As Chair of the outgoing Council, V Seddon took the chair until the election, later in the meeting. 1. Minutes and Matters Arising The minutes of the last Council meeting were approved as a correct record. The Management Board and AGM minutes were noted. VS reminded Council of the constitutional obligation council members are under to attend meetings if at all possible and that she would be writing to all council members to remind them of this. PF informed Council of the death of Prof. Nina Fishman who had been a member of the previous Council and a long term supporter of the New Politics Network as well as Unlock Democracy. VS added that the organisation was still thinking about the best way to remember and pay tribute to Nina. 2. Directors report PF reported that there was lots of activity on UDs areas of work in the run up to the election and that staff were primarily focusing on general election projects. There was wide ranging discussion on the Citizens Convention Bill campaign, the Wright Committee proposals, the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, the work of the Power2010 campaign and the organisations attitude towards hung parliaments and coalition governments. PD asked whether the local groups support function is going to be replaced within the organisation and emphasised how important this is to generating activism at a local level. PF drew Councils attention to the new staff post included in the budget. Although this post covers fundraising admin support and not just support for local groups he emphasised how important it is to strengthen admin support within the organisation so that it can campaign effectively. JG added that it was important to combine the membership and local groups support functions within the organisation so that this work is more coherent and to provide a better service for members and activists.

AB informed Council that at the request of the Justice Select Committee, the cabinet Office is drafting a paper on what the constitutional procedure is in the event of a hung parliament. He added that they are in effect drafting the UK constitution and that UD should seek to feed into this. 3. Budget PF spoke to the budget, outlining the trends in individual giving, the position this year compared to previous years and Unlock Democracys relationship to Rodell Properties. He indicated that he was happy to take detailed questions either now or later by phone. PF asked for Councils support in identifying potential new funding streams. PD asked about interest from property developers in buying the buildings owned by Rodell Properties. PF replied that the fall in rental income meant that there had not been any interest recently but that this may change when the property market improves. PD asked about legacy fundraising. PF replied that this is included in every membership mailing and the organisation may also produce a leaflet specifically about this. PF drew Councils attention to the fact that UD currently employs some members of staff on fixed term contracts as well as some contractors and that these costs are not included in the budget. The budget was approved. 4. Report on the result of the all member ballot on whether to support AV in the event of a referendum and any policy implications PF notified Council that the result of the consultative ballot was as follows: Campaign in favour of changing the electoral system from FPTP to AV Campaign against changing the electoral system from FPTP to AV Remain neutral in the referendum

71% (1082)

12% (179) 17% (268)

Turnout in the consultative ballot was 35.2%. PF emphasised that the result of this ballot does not mean that the organisation is in favour of AV. Unlock Democracy supports a proportional system but the ballot gives a clear sense of our members views as to what the organisation should do in the event of a referendum on AV. SW emphasised that PR is a live issue and that Unlock Democracys support for this must be more manifest and public.

NS added that the majority of the public do not understand the difference between electoral systems and why AV is not PR so it would seem odd if UD did not campaign in favour of AV in a referendum.

5. Discussion on the general election and the aftermath PF outlined the projects that UD is working on the general elections including: i) UDs policy manifesto ii) a publication and website that summarizes the different parties policies on our issues and gives them a score according to how far they agree with our policies iii) Votematch There was wide-ranging discussion about these projects including whether the BNP would be included in Votematch, the organisations attitude to a hung parliament and how the scoring system was devised for the policy comparison. 6. Change of bank signatories Council, as directors of Unlock Democracy agreed that the company should amend the HSBC bank mandate by allowing the following additional signatories on all bank accounts held with HSBC:Mr Osman Mustafa, Finance Officer; and Mrs Margaret Jane Mathews, Finance Officer It was further agreed that Mr Samuel Peter Tarry, Campaigns and Events Officer, should be deleted as a signatory

7. Elections for Chair of Council and members of the Management Board PF replaced VS as chair of the meeting for this agenda item. PF thanked all those who had served the organisation over the last two years by serving on Council, Management Board or as an officer. In particular he noted that Stuart Hill who had served as Vice Chair and Rosemary Bechler had not been re-elected and paid tribute to their long contributions to the organisation. PF informed Council that a query had been raised about the recent elections for Council and that the Returning Officer would report to the next meeting if there were any outstanding matters to do with the election. PF spoke to the options paper that had been circulated and the different proposals were then voted on. Council voted in favour of Unlock Democracy having 2 vice chairs with specific roles. There were 6 votes in favour and 5 votes against. Council then decided what those specific roles should be, voting in favour of creating the role Vice Chair- Rodell Properties, and Vice Chair - Policy

PF then outlined the process for electing members of the Management Board and that the elections would use STV or AV when only one candidate is to be elected. It was agreed that candidates could self nominate for the officer roles and the additional 5 Management Board places. SW nominated VS for the role of Chair of Council and she indicated that she would be willing to serve. VS was re-elected unopposed. SW nominated himself for the role of Vice-Chair Policy. Nominations for election to the Management Board were received from AD, PH, TJ, FK, NS, PS, SW and MV. It was agreed that an e-mail would be sent to all members of Council informing them of the new roles, that there would be elections for places on Management Board and for Vice Chairs and setting out the timescale for the elections. Anyone wishing to stand would be invited to include an election statement of no more than 150 words. The paper on Honorary Officers was discussed. PF confirmed that the proposal was for honorary roles should be on a fixed term basis. It was agreed that UD should appoint Honorary Officers. The paper on Honorary Officers was then approved. 8. Dates of future meetings VS retook the chair. The proposed dates for council and Management Board meetings for 2010-2011 were discussed. The date of the first Management Board meeting was changed to 6th April 2010. The proposed dates were then approved. The date of the next Council meeting is the 12th June 2010.