Final Agenda Autumn 2007 - Green Party

Final Agenda for Green Party Autumn Conference 2007 of 60

Final Agenda Autumn 2007

September 13th to 16th 2007 at LiverpoolHope University, Everton Campus.

Contents: Introduction

Section A (Reports) – A1. Standing Orders Committee ReportA2. Party Treasurer’s ReportA3. Party Executive ReportA4. Regional Council Co-Chair’s ReportA5. Policy Committee ReportA6. Campaigns Committee ReportA7. Disputes Resolution Committee ReportA8. MEP Trust ReportA9. Green World Editorial Board ReportA10. Conferences Committee ReportA11. Association of Green Councillors Report

Section B (Voting Papers)B1. Media and Sport section of the MfSSB2. Public Administration and Government section of the MfSS

Section C (Policy Motions)C01. Climate change – Climate Change TargetsC02. Minimum WageC03. Climate change – Early replacement of the Kyoto protocolC04. Enabling motion on Northern IrelandC05. End of Life CareC06. Missile BasesC07. Climate change - BiofuelsC08. Racism and HousingC09. Care for the ElderlyC10. Climate change - Adaptation and leadershipC11. EU policy clarificationsC12. Reforming the abortion law to promote social equity and reflect medical advances.

Section D (Organisational motions)

D01: Process for compositing motions D02: Local Parties and constituency ballotsD03. Debate on relationship between local parties and local elected membersD04. Regularising eligibility to stand for executive posts.D05: Running prioritisation ballot by STVD06: Making DRC involvement mandatory for elected bodies

Section E (Draft Voting Papers)N/A

Out of orderGPRC standing order pointMigrant Workers

List of contactsProxy Vote standard template

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Introduction to Final AgendaWelcome to the Final Agendafor the Green Party’s AutumnConference 2007.

An electronic version isavailable on request fromSOC via the SOC emailaddress:[email protected] or onthe Members website and theConference webpagewww.greenparty.org.uk/conferences . Paper copies areavailable from Green PartyOffice, 1a Waterlow Road,London, N19 5NJ, telephone0845 456 0277

Content of the Final AgendaThe motions submitted areon the front of these agenda.Two motions were ruled outof order and are published inthe ‘O’ section of this agenda.

As usual, SOC continued toreceive motions andamendments right up to thedeadline and usually a fewafter. In anticipation of thenext Conference, please helpmake our job easier bygetting your items in wellbefore the publisheddeadlines. This also enablesus to inform you if there areany problems. This meansweeks, preferably, not days orhours! The Convenor – MattWootton - received 169emails regarding the SpringFirst Agenda, almost all ofthem in the last 48 hours.Apologies for not havingresponded to each personally,but the importance of gettingmotions in earlier is clear!

SynopsesSOC has also this year beendisappointed by the state ofpeoples’ synopses. Few havebeen within the 50-wordlimit set out in the StandingOrders, although there hasbeen an improvement on

Spring… Consequently, SOC isobliged to cut verbosesynopses, leading to potentialunhappiness on the part ofthe proposer. The way toremain a happy proposer istherefore to edit one’s ownsynopsis to within 50 words,to avoid having it done foryou. This applies also tosynopses that are reallyarguments in favour of themotion, extra backgroundinfo, or political point-scoring. Synopses mustrepresent the motion in theSummary for all members.That is their main purpose.Obviously not submitting asynopsis at all is also amissed opportunity, and thishas been another noticeabletrend.

Prioritisation BallotThe order of items in SectionsC & D of this agenda arestrictly in the order ofmembers’ prioritisationballot.

Proxy vote formThere is a proxy form at theend of this agenda to act as astandard template for peoplewishing to have their votecast by a proxy. It is hopedthat members will use thisform and bring it toConference, and this will actas an informal contractbetween the proxy giver andthe attendee, and increaseconfidence in the proxy votesystem.

Address for corrections inthis agendaPlease send any comments onthis final agenda to MattWootton, SOC, 33 AshfieldAvenue, Lancaster LA1 5EB orby email [email protected], orcontact a member of SOC atthe Conference itself.

Committee ElectionsElections will be held atConference for theseCommittees:CampaignsStanding OrdersConferencesGreen World Editorial BoardInternationalPolicyDisputes ResolutionCommittee

Any members currently co-opted to these committeesshould put themselves up forelection at that Conference.

For information on theseelections please contact SOC.

Executive Elections

The closing date fornominations was 6th August2007.

Only one valid nominationwas received for thefollowing posts:

PublicationsElectionsManagementPolicy DevelopmentExternal CommunicationsCampaignsFinanceInternational Co-Ordinator

No nominations were for thepost of InternalCommunications.

As such nominations for allthe above posts will re-openat Conference and bedetermined by a ballot ofConference. Other posts willbe contested by a ballot of themembers, to be conductedimmediately afterConference.

Candidates for posts on theExecutive must currentlyhave been a member of theGreen Party for two complete


years up to the closing dateand their nominations mustbe signed by at least tenGreen Party members.

Emergency MotionsFor those of you who havemissed the deadline for thisConference and areconsidering putting anemergency motion instead,SOC would like to remind youthat although StandingOrders are suspended whenan emergency motion isdiscussed, it is only Section Athat is suspended. This is thesection that deals with therequirement to submitmotions by the First Agendadeadline.

The section of the standingorders that deals withreasons for SOC rulingmotions out of order is NOTsuspended. This is Section C9of the standing orders, whichstates:“Motions or amendments tomotions shall be ruled out oforder on grounds of being:a) contrary to theConstitutionb) retrospective in theireffectc) ambiguousd) vaguee) trivial or requiring noconsequential actionf) substantially changingpolicy areas, or havingcomplex implications forother areas without havingpassed through the agreedprocess of consultation (seeAppendix A of the StandingOrders)”

In addition, Section G1 of theStanding Orders states:b) Emergency motions shallonly be accepted providedi) the issue has arisen, or hassubstantially changed, sincethe deadline for motionsii) the motion is consistentwith the MfSS and neitherchanges nor adds to the textof the MfSS

c) No amendments to theConstitution or StandingOrders are permitted underthis suspension.

Please bear these restrictionsin mind when composingemergency motions.

Contacts for motions andamendments in this agenda.The names of those signingmotions are included aftereach motion. Where there aremore than 4 they are listedfollowed by “+ n”. Theprincipal contact for eachmotion is in bold and thename and contact details canbe found at end of the agendabefore the prioritisationballot.

Errors in the AgendaIf you notice any errors in thefirst agenda please notify theconvenor of SOC forcorrection in the final agenda.

Section A (Reports)

Items in section A of theagenda are required by theConstitution or StandingOrders. These are the reportsof:

A1. Standing OrdersCommitteeA2. Party TreasurerA3. Party ExecutiveA4. Regional Council Co-chairsA5. Policy CommitteeA6. Campaigns CommitteeA7. Disputes ResolutionCommitteeA8. MEP TrustA9. Green World EditorialBoardA10. Conferences Committee

A1 Standing OrdersCommittee Report

Making the SOC email listobservable

SOC voted by majority tomake its list observable.Currently John Street andChris Cotton are alsomembers of the SOC emaillist, without posting rights.

Sundry workings ofConferenceAs good practice, SOCagreed that:Hustings would preferablycome BEFORE Committeeballot opens.That the Traffic lights werevery effective.SOC should make sureChairs go to workshopsthey are Chairing inPlenary.SOC should make sureChairs (chosen in advance)are informed of theirresponsibilities.SOC should agree anattendance rota to staff alldebates.

SOC analysis of proxyvotingDean Walton kindlyanonymously analyzed theproxy votes from SpringConference on behalf ofSOC. He reported thefollowing:

The results are as follows:

(1) Proxies issued for thewhole of Conferencebusiness 89(2) Proxies where there isno explicit statement13


(3) Proxies restricted to Dmotions only 14(4) Proxies restricted toD1/amendments only22

In addition one of the (4)'D1' proxies mentionedabove was issued to useagainst D5, C7 & C8.

Thus 65% peopleappointing proxies haveEXPLICITLY stated thatthey want them to be usedin all Conference business;75% have EXPLICITLYstated that they want theproxy to apply to thewhole of Section 'D', 15%explicitly restricted the useto just D1.

The conclusion here is thatmembers have generallyunderstood the form andissued their proxies in fullknowledge of theconsequences. Further, Ican't recall the last result,ie D5, but given thatbetween 103 & 116(depending on how youallocate the 'not stateds')proxies could be properlyexercised in that vote andnote that only 22 proxieswere issued that could notbe morally used in thisparticular vote, the resultsare entirely credible.

Proxy vote advanceregistrationSOC member Aled Fisherkindly agreed to processadvance registration forproxy voting forms, inorder to ease pressure onthe Conference desk. Seeend of agenda.

SOC Standing OrdersSOC agreed to resubmit itsproposed standing orderswith the deletion of theclause about a temporarycasting vote for theconvener. The SOs arereprinted below

SOC Standing Orders(1)Introduction

These Standing Orders areintended to set out basicprinciples that shouldshape the way in whichSOC makes decisions. It isin addition to the rules &procedures established inthe Constitution and theStanding Orders for theConduct of Conference.Should there be a conflictof interpretation betweenthese standing orders andthe Constitution/SOCCthen theConstitution/SOCC takeprecedence.

These standing orders willbe agreed at Conferencefrom time to time via theSOC report.

(2) SOC Convenor

Within a week of the endof each AutumnConference SOC willappoint a convenor. In theevent of a vacancy SOCmust appoint areplacement within aweek. Within a weekfollowing each Conference,the convenor must notifyall members of SOC, theConferences CommitteeConvenor, Policy

Committee Convenor, theGPRC Co-chairs and theGPEx chair, of the time &place for meetings todiscuss the first andsecond agenda for theforthcoming Conference.The Convenor willmaintain a copy of thesestanding orders.

(3) Principles of Decision-Making

SOC will operate to thehighest standards ofaccountability andtransparency as regardsdecision-making. The keyprinciples (in addition tothose set out in theConstitution are):(i) Decisions will

always be inwriting and makereference to therelevant sections ofthe party'sConstitutionaldocuments or otherrelevant principles;

(ii) Where possibledecisions will betaken by consensusof all members ofSOC; where this isnot possible (exceptwhere statedotherwise) alldecisions willrequire that both amajority ofmembers voted andthat a majorityvoted for theproposal;

(iii) co-optees to theCommittee will beallowed to vote buttheir votes will notcount towards


determining ifeither of therequired majoritieshave been reached;

(iv) All decisions shallbe taken with theknowledge of eachmember of SOC orone its sub-committees wherepossible

(v) Some decisionsmust be taken atone of the twomeetings in (2)above. However itis recognised thatthere times when itis desirable to takedecisions in otherways.

(4) Decisions That Must BeTaken at a Formal Meetingof SOC

(i) The agreement ofthe final agenda

(ii) The content of theSOC report

(iii) Changes to theseStanding Orders

All other decisions can betaken at either a formalmeeting, by a discussion &vote on the e-list or bytelephone conference. Theprocedures for these arebelow.

(5) Decision by E-list.

The SOC Convenor willmaintain an Email list (‘E-list’) to which all SOCmembers can post itemsand any Green Partymember can join on a‘read-only’ basis. SOCmembers must therefore

ensure that the SOCConvenor has a currentemail address andtelephone number for you.

The SOC Convenor willhave the sole discretion todetermine whether anitem is suitable fordecision by E-list. Beforedoing so the Convenorshould consider thecomplexity of the decisionto hand and the ability tohave a proper discussionvia the E-list. Generally, itis anticipated that prior toa request for a formaldecision by email, adiscussion about the issuehad taken place on the E-list and this will assist theConvenor in reachinghis/her decision.

Once the Convenor hasdecided to use the ‘E-list’he/she should post asimple email covering eachdecision to the list statingin the subject ‘DECISIONBY XX/YY/ZZ ON[SUBJECT]’. In the text ofthe email the Convenorshould explain thedecision to be made, makethe relevant references tothe Constitution & SOCCand confirm the deadlinefor a response. Thedeadline for responseshould be no less than 24hours. Further, if thedeadline is less than 72hours the Convenor shouldattempt to alert the SOCmembers of the vote bytelephone.

Members of SOC shouldvote by simply replying to

the list ‘FOR’ ‘AGAINST’ or‘ABSTAIN’.

In particular, once thedraft first agenda has beencompiled and circulated toSOC members andprovided there is no otherbusiness to be considered,it will be acceptable todecide by E-list to cancelthe meeting to considerthe first agendaestablished in (2) above.This option does not applyto the meeting to considerthe second agenda.

(6) Decision by TelephoneConference

Notice of a telephoneconference should bepublished on the SOC E-listalong with a note of thebusiness to be discussedduring the conference atleast 24 hours in advanceof the telephoneconference. SOC mayinvite relevant people toparticipate in theconference. Requests frommembers to ‘listen in’ willnormally be accepted.However such membershave no automatic right toactively participate in thediscussion.

Minutes covering decisionstaken, the reasons forthem, and votes cast willbe circulated by theConvenor (or a personnominated by theConvenor) on the E-listwithin 24 hours of the endof the telephoneconference. So that acontemporaneous record is


kept of these conferences,when the Convenor poststhe minutes onto the E-listhe/she will do so byinvoking the ‘E-list’ on aproposal to accept theaccuracy of the minutes.

(7) SOC Rulings

SOC will receive requestsfor rulings from time totime. SOC should refrainfrom issuing rulings basedon vague & hypotheticalsituations since this couldlead to the application ofrulings out of context.

(8) Emergency Business -Suspension of StandingOrders

If all members of SOCagree, these standingorders can be suspendedfor the purposes of aparticular decision.However specificallybusiness covered by (4)above cannot be discussedwhilst these standingorders are suspended.

(9) Changes to theseStanding Orders

These Standing Orders canonly be amended at aformal meeting of theCommittee.

(10) The SOC Report

The SOC Report shouldcontain the following:

(i) Rulings made andthe reasons forthem

(ii) a list of thedecisions made byE-list and telephoneConference

(iii) full details of anydecisions madeunder (9) above

Francesca Richardsrole as externalliaisonFrancesca Richards haskindly continued her roleas external liaison, liaisingwith the ERO, Green World,GPEx and the twocampaigns in theReferendum. Deadlineshave been set for thearrival of statements forand against thereferendum motion, withthe deadline of the Nostatement the 30th ofSeptember and thedeadline for the Yes the20th.

Retirement of GraemeMcIver andappointment of JimJepps as ERO.

Due to work pressuresGraeme McIver steppeddown in May as ERO. SOCwould like to thank him forhis diligent and effectivework. With especialsensitivity to the need tofind a candidate without anestablished position on theLeadership issue, SOCappointed Cambridgeactivist Jim Jepps. In hisapplication for the post, Jimwrote the following: "I havea background in trade unionactivity which equips meto read rules and apply themin a reasonable manner. I

hope I've a bit of areputation for being fairminded and personallyprincipled. I'm actuallychanging professions at themoment and will be workingwith an NGO that workswith the developing worldon IT, but have a backgroundworking with violent andchallenging people throughthe NHS and in some circlesI'm known as "unflappable".I'm also on the editorialboard of Red Pepper andwrite for variouspublications including myown blog.http://jimjay.blogspot.com

Compositing

SOC collectively agreed tosign a motion oncompositing. The motion isincluded in the finalagenda.

SOC concern at limitedpool of DisciplinaryTribunal MembersSOC discussed theirconcern at the limited poolof ex-chairs available toparticipate in DisciplinaryTribunals. After discussionwith GPRC Co-Chair DaveWall the matter was leftwith GPRC, who wouldapparently be seekingroot-and-branch reform ofthe tribunal system.

Concerns about theActions of GPRC During the year, theactions of GPRC havecaused considerableconcern to SOC. GPRCseem to have gone outside


its remit on a number ofoccasions, including somemembers calling for adisciplinary tribunal to beabandoned whilst GPRCwas in line to act as theappeal body for thetribunal, and pressurisinga duly-selecteddisciplinary tribunalmember to stand down,GPRC having been lobbiedby the defendant in thecase (who wassubsequently foundguilty). One of the Co-Chairs has been indiscussion with the SOCCo-ordinator about thesematters.

Web-workingIn order to ease thebureaucracy on SOC,convener Matt Woottonhas explored with onlinedemocracy expert JasonKitcat the potential forPrioritisation ballots andmotions to be submittedvia email or web. A draftPrioritisation ballotprogram is in developmentand if taken forward bythe next SOC would beavailable by nextConference. This willfacilitate members’participation, almostcertainly increase turnoutand ease the bureaucracyput on SOC. Traditionalmethods would stillremain open.

Late arrival of AgendaSOC notes that GreenWorld arriving latethereby delayed the arrival

of the First Agenda. SOCwould like to remind theGreen World Editorial ofthe importance of GreenWorld’s commitment tothe smooth functioning ofthe party’s systems. Onbehalf of SOC the convenerwould like to take fullresponsibility for the lateissuing of the final agendaand accept that it is purelydown to SOC, with noexcuse good enough.

GPEx nominationsdeadline extendedAt his discretion, and afterdiscussion with SOC andExecutive colleagues, theERO decided to extend thedeadline for GPExnominations from the 6thto the 16th of August.

ReferendumguidelinesSOC drew up guidelines bywhich to conduct theReferendum process. Theyare included below. Onsome points underdiscussion, Mark Hill andDean Walton declared aninterest and did not takepart or vote in thediscussion.

Leadership ReferendumCampaign RulesIn force May 2007 -October 2007

The term “Green Party” isused to mean the GreenParty of England andWales, “SOC” and “ERO”are used as an acronymsfor the Standing OrdersCommittee and Elections

Returning Officerrespectively.

If there is a dispute arisingfrom this procedure,campaigners shall acceptas final determination bythe Green Party ElectoralReturning Officer and theStanding OrdersCommittee actingtogether.

Internal Campaigning

Green Party members shallbe permitted to undertakeinternal campaigningwithin the followingguidelines:

Financial

(i) Members against themotion and members infavour of the motionshould appoint an agentfor their internal campaignand this must be notifiedin writing to the ReturningOfficer(ii) Agents must make adeclaration of donationsmade to his or hercampaign and expenditureincurred, to ReturningOfficer by a date decidedby the Returning Officerbut prior to ratification.Failure to comply with thisrule will result in a reportto SOC, which may thenchoose to postponeratification of the result orto take alternative action.(iii)Nominees may spendup to £8000 towards theircampaign costs to includetravel expenses andmailings. Any printedmaterial should bear a


suitable imprintidentifying who hasactually printed thematerial, who caused thematerial to be printed andon whose behalf thematerial was printed.(iv) Spokespersons foreither campaign shall notpromise or imply in anystatement to voters,including at hustings, thatthey will give any monies,goods or services to anypart of the Partydependent on anyparticular outcome of theballot other than as maybe required by any rulesagreed by the Party.(v) Paid assistants workingfor elected representativesare not, as far as ispossible,permitted to campaign onbehalf of their principalsduring the period ofdebate. Electedrepresentatives taking anactive role in campaigningare to make this restrictionclear to staff. Activitiesassociated with generalpromotional workundertaken in the normalcourse of a staff member'sduty or as a Green Partyofficer will not be in anyway affected by thisrestriction.

Internal meetings andevents

(i) Local and regionalparties holdingmeetings/hustings todiscuss the referendum,must publicise the event toall local and regional partymembers and invite an

equal number ofspokespersons from the forand against campaignsand allocate them equaltime to speak.(ii) Conference organisersfor the Green partyAutumn Conference 2007will allow space for a fairrepresentation of bothsides' views, for exampleduring a panel discussionor fringe meetings.

Publications

(i) Articles on thereferendum may bepublished on all GreenParty websites includingthe Green World websiteand in all national,regional and local GreenParty publications.(ii)Articles must includecontributions from bothcampaigns which must beof equal length and givenequal prominence withinthe publication.

Online discussion forums

(i)There will be an onlinediscussion forum on themembers website.

Telephone canvassing

(ii) Requests for data fortelephone canvassingmust be refused by headoffice.

Mailings

(i) Campaigners may sendmailings to members onthe basis that all costs are

registered with therelevant agent and arewithin the budget set bythe ERO.(ii)Head office may providedata for this purpose to thecampaign agent only.(iii)Members' data used formailings held by eithercampaign agent must bedeleted by the campaignagent prior to thereferendum taking place.

External campaigning

Green Party members shallbe permitted to undertakeexternal campaigningwithin the followingguidelines:

Press

(i) Local and regionalparties may publiciseevents organised to discussthe referendum in the localpress and on websites.(ii) Elected spokespersonsof the Green Party, ininterviews to representGreen Party policy shouldnot exploit such mediaopportunities to expressopinions on thereferendum.(iii)Members may postviews on websites or inblogs external to the GreenParty.

SOC will appoint anindependent assessor toassist the Returning Officerin interpreting breaches ofthese rules during thecampaign period. Thisassessor shall not beassociated with eithercampaign.


GPEx electionregulationsIn response to an outstandingdecision of a previous SOC,SOC asked the ERO to updatethe GPEx election regulations.The updated regs are below.

Green Party ElectionRegulations 2007

These regulations cover theconduct of elections by postalballot or at conference foroffice in the Green Party at anational level. The authorityfor these regulations is clause12iv of the Green Partyconstitution.

1 Method of election

1.1 Introduction

As specified in theconstitution the method ofelection shall be the SingleTransferable Vote. Theconstitution requiresprovision for negative votingonly in the event of theirbeing no more candidatesthan places to be filled.However it is establishedpractice to provide fornegative voting in all cases.There is a constitutionalrequirement that of theParty's two speakers there isone of each sex. Thisrequirement is achieved inthe counting process of theballot.

1.2 Conduct of theelection

Subject to the additionalregulations below, themethod of election and countshall follow the guidelines setdown in How to Conduct anElection by the SingleTransferable Vote, 3rdedition, published by the

Electoral Reform Society ofGreat Britain and NorthernIreland.

1.3 Provision fornegative voting

In addition to the candidates,the ballot paper shall allowthe voter to express apreference for "Re-OpenNominations" (RON). Thisindicates that no furthercandidates are acceptable to avoter. There can therefore beno transfers of preferencefrom RON. At the count votesfor RON are treated in thesame way as votes for acandidate except that RONcannot be excluded. If thereare no surpluses to beredistributed the lowestplaced candidate, eventhough they may have morevotes than RON, will beexcluded. If votes for RONexceed the quota, one placeshall be deemed to beunfilled. If votes for RONexceed twice the quota, twoplaces shall be deemed to beunfilled, etc.

1.4 Quota when thereare fewer candidates thanplaces

If there are fewer candidatesthan places there is still anelection because of theprovision of negative voting.In calculating the quota themaximum number of placesthat could be filled in thiselection, which will usuallybe the number of candidates(unless there are additionalconstraints on the result, suchas gender-balancing), shall beused in place of the numberof places to be filled.

1.5 Imposing genderbalance

In the elections for PrincipalSpeakers the constitutionrequires that one Speaker of

each sex be elected. This willoccur naturally when oneSpeaker is elected by postalballot and the other byconference ballot. Otherwisethis is achieved in thecounting process in thefollowing way. As soon asone candidate is deemedelected, all other candidatesof the same sex shall beimmediately excluded andtheir votes transferred. Thisshall be done before anysurplus is redistributed.Should two candidates of thesame sex exceed the quota atthe same stage of the countthe one with the greater voteshall be deemed elected. If atany point there is only onecandidate of a given sex leftin the election, that candidateshall be ignored whenconsidering who to exclude.

1.6 Relation of Executiveand committee ballots

The elections for theExecutive and for Committeeposts shall be considered astwo sets of elections with theExecutive elections havinghigher priority.

This means that the count ofany elections to Committeeposts held at conference thatinvolve candidates for theExecutive should not takeplace until after the count ofthe Executive ballot with anycandidates who have alreadybeen elected to the Executivebeing excluded during thecount. The ERO may, at his orher discretion, count thevotes immediately after theconference ballot to provideone or more resultsconditional on the Executiveelections.

If the Executive election inquestion is to take place as apostal ballot then the EROmay elect to count theCommittee post anywaytaking into account all


relevant possible outcomes ofthe future Executive ballot. Ifthe result would beunaffected this result willstand, if the result would bealtered then the newCommittee post(s) will onlycome into effect once thepostal ballot results are in.

2. Timetable

2.1 Posts filled byelection at conference

The timetable should bedecided by the ERO inconsultation with theConference organiser(s). Theaim should be to hold theelections at a time whenmost representatives arepresent (i.e. probablySaturday afternoon). Votingshould take place as soon aspossible after close ofnominations, allowing forsufficient time to make thenecessary administrativearrangements. At least twohours must be allowed forvoting. Hustings should takeplace in plenary session andconclude before the votingcloses, although they mayrun concurrent with thevoting. The counts forCommittee posts should takeplace as soon as possible afterthe close of polls (unlesscandidates for the Executiveare involved).

2.2 Executive elections

The ERO shall determine thetimetable, subject to therequirements of theconstitution, and inconsultation with the editorof the party newspaper as thetimetable is dependent on thepublishing schedule of thenewspaper. The counting of

any postal ballot shouldnormally take place as soonas convenient after thepublished deadline for receiptof ballot papers, but toensure a fair voting period.The ERO may accept ballotpapers returned after thisdeadline and/or authorise adelay to the count.

3. Rules for nomination

3.1 Committee postsfilled by election atconference

Nominations must besubmitted to the ERO on theofficial nomination form,making clear the post thenomination is for, by theclosing time for nominations.This form will include a spacefor the candidate's statement.The nomination must bemade by two nominatorswho have both beenmembers of the Green Partyfor at least a year.

3.2 Posts on theExecutive

Nominations must besubmitted to the ERO on theofficial nomination form,making clear the post thenomination is for, by theclosing time for nominations.The candidate's statementmay be submitted separatelybut must also reach the EROby the closing time fornominations. Thenomination must be made byat least ten nominators whoare current members of theGreen Party. Nominationsmay be made on separatesheets of paper provided theyclearly indicate the candidateand post they refer to, andcarry all the required

information. Candidatesmust have been members fortwo years, as specified in theconstitution.

3.3 Withdrawal

Any candidate may withdrawfrom any election by writtennotice to the ERO at any timeup until the commencementof the count. In conductingthe count the ERO will passover preferences for thatcandidate, passing on to thenext available preference.

4. Conduct bycandidates

4.1 Rules of conduct

By signing their nominationpapers candidates agree toabide by these rules. Ifcandidates, or theirsupporters acting with theirapproval are found to haveviolated these rules the EROmay, if he or she considersthis violation may havematerially effected the resultof the election, eitherdisqualify the candidate orrule the election void.

4.2 Campaigning

The official places forcandidates to promotethemselves are when eachcandidate has a fair chance topresent themselves and theirpolicies, and where all aregiven an equal chance to geta fair hearing.

Candidates may also takepart in hustings organised bylocal or regional parties, orother Green Party groups,provided that all candidates


for a post have been invited.Statements from candidatescan be distributed at thesehustings, whether or not theyare able to attend. Hustingsorganisers should, inparticular, be encouraged tocommission and distributestatements from candidateswho are not able to attend ahustings.

Green Party publications maycarry further statements fromcandidates provided that anypublication carrying thesestatements also carriesstatements of an equal lengthfrom all other candidates forthe same post.

In addition, there will be, atthe discretion of the ERO, aninternet message board oremail group specifically todiscuss all contested posts.This will be open to allmembers and candidates butprotected by a password to becirculated with ballot papers.Posts shall be moderated bythe ERO, or a person or groupappointed by the ERO, butonly to remove potentiallylibellous posts, personalattacks on candidates, orirrelevant or repeated postsby members. All posts shouldcontain the name and localparty of the member who isposting it.

In all these cases it is theresponsibility of thecandidate to ensure that, tothe best of his or herknowledge, the requiredconditions are beingcomplied with. Candidatesare free to refer to othercandidates for any post, butshould not refer to anynamed "slate"

They may speak to supportersand other members of the

electorate, whether on thetelephone or face to face butthey shall not be issuedtelephone canvassinginformation by Green Partyhead office. Where speakingengagements are alreadyarranged, for instance onofficial party business, theyshould not be used topromote the candidate,although when speaking tomembers informally this is ofcourse perfectly acceptable.

Candidates may incur somelegitimate expenses duringthe course of the election. Toensure an even playing fieldcandidates will be expectedto submit returns for theseexpenses within two weeksof the close of the election tothe ERO and that theseexpenses shall not exceed theagreed limit for the post. Thislimit does not include officialparty mailings that are aregular part of the electionperiod.

This limit shall be £300 for allGPEx positions except theprincipal speakers whichshall be £600.

5 Conduct of otherparty members

5.1 Rules of conduct

The ERO has no redressagainst members who are notcandidates in the election. Acandidate should not bedisqualified due to theactions of another member,unless it is clear that memberhas acted with the approvalof the candidate. However, if,in the opinion of the ERO, theactions of a third party mayhave materially affected theresult of the election except

as provided above, the EROmay declare the election void.All members are thereforerequested to abide by thefollowing rules.

5.2 Arranging hustings

Where local or area parties, orother party groupings,arrange their own hustingsfor a particular post, theyshould invite all thecandidates for that post. Theyshould also make allreasonable attempts toensure that the meeting is ata time and place that makesit possible for all candidateswishing to attend to be there

5.3 Publications

There should be no directadvocacy of a person'scandidature in partypublications, unless equalspace is given to eachcandidate for a particularpost to express his or her ownviews. This does not includefair comment on theelections.

A2. Party Treasurer’s ReportThis is my third report toconference as FinanceCoordinator and registeredTreasurer of the party.I am pleased to report thatthe accounts for the yearending 31 December 2006have been audited and filedwith The ElectoralCommission. Copies will beavailable at Conference.

The balance sheet as at 31December 2006 shows a verysignificant improvementwith assets exceedingliabilities by £171,158. This isrepresented by a Greenquestsurplus of £30,464, a FixedAssets Fund of 8,000, aContingency Fund of £50,000and a General Fund of


£82,694.There are tworeasons for the vastimprovement in our financialstability. Firstly, The Partyreceived a legacy of £132,000from the estate of the lateDavid Gillett who was a verycommitted member of TheParty. Secondly with a lot ofcareful planning anddiscipline we achieved a netsurplus of £148,030 against abalanced budget set by theExecutive at 1 January 2006. Iam pleased to say that evenwithout the legacy we had anet surplus of £16,030.

For the first time ever in TheParty’s history, we have beenable to set aside a sum of£50,000 in a ContingencyFund.

I am pleased to report that todate we have not used any ofthe legacy money for the dayto day operations of TheParty. We need to continueraising funds from internalappeals and also exploreexternal fundraisingpossibilities. It is too easy torely on the legacy money.With a possibility of aGeneral Election this autumn,I would appeal to ourmembers to dig deep anddonate as much as you can, sothat we can fight a credibleGeneral Election. In the eventof an election not being calledthis year, the money will beset aside and used in2008/2009.

The direct debit system hasbeen implemented, this isbeing monitored closely andearly indications are that itshould increase our incomefrom 2008 onwards. The costsof collecting the incomethrough the direct debitsystems will also increasesome of our costs. There ismuch more work to be donein improving retention andincreasing our membership.

The party needs to raisesignificant sums of money inorder to operate efficiently,with more paid full timemembers of staff. Whilst Iagree that we need toimprove systems and havethe personnel to manage theoffice in a more professionalmanner, we are not ready toappoint a Chief Executive. Wehave worked very hard to getinto this solid financialposition and we need tocontinue to build on thisbefore making anysignificant appointments.

I envisage that the Party willhave a small surplus at theend of 2007. There is stillreason for the Party to bediligent in its budget settingand financial controls.

In spite of improvements tothe collective discipline of theExecutive, there is still muchto do to improve the corefunctioning of the Party,which must be addressedfinancially if we are togenerate the capacity forfuture growth and achieve it.

I would like to thank all ourpaid staff and volunteers fortheir hard work.

Finally, I would like to thankall Party members for theirgenerous financial supportand assistance in 2006.

Khalid HussenbuxTreasurer and Finance Co-ordinator

A3. Party Executive Report

Chair’s Report – Part One

First and foremost theExecutive would like to thankand congratulate themembership and local partiesacross the country foranother year in which weagain increased our tally of

elected members. It is thepersonal contact resultingfrom your canvassing,leafleting, organising eventsand leading local campaignsthat enables success at theballot box and thereby todeliver on our manifestocommitments.We have, and shall continueto, support local efforts andpromote the party atnational, regional andinternational level, raisefunds and improve thecapabilities of the partyoffice.

Over the last year I haverepresented the party at anumber of external eventsand continued dialogue withcivil servants on issues suchas the Party Funding Reviewand allocation of MEPs’ seats.I have also had considerablecorrespondence with a widenumber of charitable andnon-governmentalorganisations and partymembers and non-membersover the year.

The Executive extendsconsiderable thanks to thesterling work of our paid andvoluntary staff, and a numberof interns who have workedwith us over the year.Changes over the yearinclude a newly recruitedfinance officer and a newpart-time administrator.Disability access to thebuilding housing our office isimproving but is still far fromsatisfactory, thus we arelooking out for an alternativeaffordable property.

Campaigns have had asuccessful year, continuing towork with other groups suchas the Stop the War Coalitionand Campaign AgainstClimate Change. A largenumber of leaflets have beenprinted and distributed atnumerous events.


The ExternalCommunications Committeeis working closely with acommunications agency toturn its focus to membershipgrowth as well as presscommunications. The firststeps in internet televisionand video blogging have beentaken. In the run up to theLondon Assembly andmayoral elections we shall beemploying a second pressofficer, funded jointly by thenational party and theLondon Federation.

The party’s financial health isgood and for the second yearrunning we can report thatthe party is running a smallbut growing surplus. Wecontinue to keep a tight reignon spending and seek newways to raise further monies.Donations and membershipsubscriptions may now bepaid by Direct Debit, and canbe set up by phone, post, orthrough the website. Thisprovides an easier route forpeople to join and makedonations. We are alsoencouraging existingmembers to switch topayment by Direct Debit; overthe next year we expect thisto aid considerably inmembership retention.

I look forward to furtherelectoral gains and furtherimprovements in theoperations of our party in thecoming year. Many thanks tomy colleagues on GPEx fortheir excellent work anddedication over the last 12months.

Councillor G. RichardMallenderChair, Green Party of England& Wales

Chair’s report – part two.

A matter arose early this yearwhen at the GPEx meetingheld on 13th January the

matter of making paymentsto two GPEx members wasdiscussed. As this fallsoutside the usual situationwhereby members of GPExonly claim expenses, it wasagreed to present thisdecision to conference.

The first event was due to theExternal Communicationscoordinator volunteering fulltime at the party office. Inorder to be eligible for JobSeekers Allowance, aclaimant must be 'availableand looking for work'. TheExternal Communicationscoordinator felt that neithercondition would be true, ashe was likely to be workingfull time voluntarily, andwould not be looking forwork. He therefore felt that itwould be inappropriate andillegal for him to claimbenefit and lie to the state onbehalf of the party. He alsofelt that this might put theparty at some risk. TheExecutive therefore agreed topay him an equivalentamount in lieu, paid withNational Insurance in orderto facilitate housing benefitclaims. GPEx voted to allowthis payment.In second was a situationwhere the Female PrincipalSpeaker could either employsomeone to carry out urgentresearch or could do the workherself, providing the costwas covered. As this was aclearly defined and specialistbody of work it was agreedthat she be paid to do it.

There is nothing in theconstitution stating whetherGPEx members should orshould not be paid, though isdoes state in the jobdescriptions that the roles areexpected to be voluntary. Weagreed that any decision onthe issue of payment shouldbe reviewed every year byGPEx depending on thecircumstances of GPEx

members; the situationwould not continueautomatically year on year.Any overall change, forexample permitting paymentof allowances to GPExmembers, would have to bethrough a decision byconference and ensure thatGPEx members were notsetting the rates for any suchpayments.Councillor G. RichardMallenderChair, Green Party of England& Wales

Management Coordinator’sReport 2006-2007

The year started expensivelywhen the printer had to bereplaced.

I decided to open the office onSaturdays to increase theoutput of the office and makebetter use of the space we arepaying for.

Fareeda Ahmed started inMay as an administrativeassistant for six monthsworking part time, includingSaturdays. Her startcoincided with Adam Stacey’spaternity leave which madeinitial training more difficult.A short term part time agencyworker was used in Aprilbefore Fareeda started.Shortage of staff and the lackof a manager have madeproviding a reliableadministrative service to theparty more difficult andstressful for staff than Iwould have liked.There has been a largeincrease in queries from thepublic, members and partyofficers causing a new workoverload for Adam.

Many thanks to the internsand many volunteers whohave helped to run the office.There is now a cycleallowance and a top limit on


travel expenses forvolunteers.I appointed Tony Cooper asmy IT consultant and havebeen working on a new staffhandbook. Ken Burgess hasprepared a new Health &Safety & risk assessment forthe office. He has alsocoordinated the telephoningof lapsed members, this beingan ongoing project toimprove membershipretention whereby we alsoencourage members toswitch to Direct Debit.

Organising disabled accesshas been a huge problem.Finally our landlords said thatthey consider that thebuilding is simply notamenable to conversion. Wehave decided that although1a has had minorimprovements we mustmove to fully accessiblepremises.

Office spending has stayedwithin budget.

Elections We have had anothersuccessful local election year.We have increased our tallyof Principal Local Authoritycouncillors from 93 to 110,with substantial gains in ourstrongholds of Brighton andLancaster. I'd like to thank allof the councillors, nationalstaff and activists whoworked so hard in achievingthis excellent result. Weshould also recognise someexcellent parish councillorresults. Unfortunately our WalesElections results were downon 2003, as we saw a verytough contest and a resurgentPlaid Cymru make advances.It should be a concern for allof the member of GPEWabout the advance of the BNPin these Proportionalelections, as they only just

fell short of winning a WelshAssembly seat. In comparison with the other"minority" parties, the GreenParty is now clearly puttingdistance at alocal governmentlevel between ourselves andthe BNP, who have 47councillors, UKIP and Respect,who each have 20 councillors.In a period in which nationalopinion polls have shown agrowth in support for"Others", it is only the GreenParty who can point tosignificant evidence ofpolitical progress in the lasttwo years. The positives thisyear have been a better focuson contesting local authoritybyelections, whereverpossible. We have alsocontested the twoParliamentary byelections inEaling Southall, where weheld our 4th place, despite aplethora of minority partiesstanding, and Sedgefield,where we contested the seatfor the first time. In addition to my role asElections Co-ordinator, I havebeen working on other areasof national business,including Fundraising,helping to organisethis Conference as a latesubstitute venue andcollective GPEx duties inother areas. The Elections Co-ordinator roleis often demanding andrequires a great deal of work,and since February of thisyear, I have been working fulltime for the Green Party witha very small amount claimedback in expenses. This yearhas been personallydemanding, but also veryrewarding, with the electionof our first councillor here inLiverpool. However I wouldacknowledge that thedemands of local and regionalwork have impacted on

timetabling ElectionsCommittee meetings. This will be my third andfinal Elections Co-ordinatorreport to Conference, as Ihave a new role andresponsibility in regards tothe European Elections in2009. I will offer all the adviceand support I can to theincoming Elections Co-ordinator, to ensure theyhave the kind of positivehandover I received when Istarted the role in October2004. I believe that a further20 gains at a local level arepossible again next year, andmy thanks go out to all of theother hard working membersof the Executive for theircontributions over the lastyear.

Peter Cranie

External comms this year

External comms has had anextremely successful year.Siân and Derek have both hadgood media coverage. Siânhad a particularly good runpror to the election,appearing on Newsnighttwice, Question Time andDaily Politics as the guesttwice. Derek got appearanceson the back of this success,and took invites extended toSiân to appear on Al Jazeeraand BBC's Hard Talk.

This has been built on theprofessional, full time paidpress support that Ipersuaded the Exec tointroduce last year. We haveemployed a second pressofficer to cover the LondonMayoral election.

We have also started toseriously promote onlinevideos, with a Youtubechannel and relations withpublic.tv and friction.tv - aswell as engaging with other


web 2.0 networks likeFacebook.

In the case of video work andparliamentary questions, andexternal fund raising, I havebuilt a team of volunteers inthe office to increase ourcapacity.

A thorough review of thewebsite is next on the list toincrease traffic, joiners andbuild better relations withvoters.

What I have done this year

When I took on working fulltime last Autumn, I suspectedI would have a heavyworkload. In fact I have beenaveraging a 50-70 hour week.That should give anindication of howoverstretched the party is,and why we need more paidstaff.

Pay in lieu of Job Seeker'sAllowance

If I had signed on, andworked 50-70 hours a week, Iwould have been lying to thestate on behalf of the GreenParty. Instead, the Executiveagreed to pay me £210 amonth to recompense me forloss of JSA.

How I've tried to change thesituation

Given that we need morepaid staff, I have prioritisedmembership recruitment andfundraising, particularlyDirect Debit. I also arrangedand promoted the PoliticalReview by James Humphrieswhich lead to therecommendation to hire aChief executive.

Without a doubt, mypresence in the office, DirectDebit would not have beenimplemented or would nothave been implemented

online. Introducing DirectDebit online means we willfinally increase our retentionrates. New members are nowdonating an average £55 ayear, rather than paying anaverage £25 membership fee.This should be worth anadditional £100,000 annuallyin five year's time.

We are running membershiprecruitment trials in London,to around 18,000 households.If successful, this will boostour income and activityfurther.

Projects like this could buildthe foundations of the nextrounds of future councillorsand successful local parties,as well as increasing ourincome and supporting thenational operation.

Jim Killock

Female Principal Speakerreport

I have had a very busy year.Initially, my background inanti-4x4 campaigning, andthe fact that many people inthe media had already metme in that context, meant Iwas able to get a lot ofarticles and interviews alongthe lines of ‘the new face ofthe Greens’.

This stood me in good steadin building up a profile, aswell as reaching out into newareas such as glossymagazines and the DailyMail. Regular comment ongreen issues and ‘presenter’sfriend’ guest spots on TVshows like the ‘Daily Politics’followed and, from October toMay, the number and rangeof my media hits andappearances graduallyincreased.

Starting with last autumn’sconference I have written aweekly blog for the New

Statesman website, coveringeverything from bins tocopyright, and drawing agood audience and regularreaders. I have now (August)done 52 of these, including aspecial for budget day. Theycan be read atnewstatesman.com/blogs/sian_berry/

I have also been asked tospeak at a number ofprestigious events, includingLondon College of Fashion’sethical fashion debate ‘Isgreen the new black?’ and‘Can a boom town be green’at Tate Modern organised bythe Architecture Foundation.Some other events around thecountry I have had to turndown because of lack of time.

Given the hard work I hadput in and the growingmomentum on green issues, Iwas dismayed to hearcomplaints in the spring thatI was doing too many thingsand should ‘give others achance’. I took a step backfrom external work in Maybut, in my opinion, this lossof momentum resulted inboth myself and the GreenParty as a whole receivingless media attention – not asimple transfer ofopportunities to the otherPrincipal Speaker.

All year, I have found givingup just one day of paid workto concentrate on Greenmatters (which I have donevoluntarily since September)isn’t enough to make theabsolute most of the role ofPrincipal Speaker. I proposedin my budget submission inDecember that I should giveup an extra day of work to domore research and take moreadvantage of opportunitiesthat were coming in on weekdays. (Unfortunately, fourdays’ pay is the minimum Ican live off currently, so Ineeded to be recompensed


through expenses for theother day).

I finally began to work threedays a week in June.However, unpleasant emailsand circulars were gettingworse, with some allegingcorruption. I can put up witha lot, and I could have chosento carry on facing down thissniping, but it was by thenlate in the year and I felt thatenduring this behaviour(which came only from avocal few) was no longerworth it, since it concernedjust a dozen more days ofextra work before Conference.I therefore stopped workingfor the party on Thursdaysafter five weeks, and tookfreelance writing jobs tomake up the loss of payinstead.

I did put the five days I waspaid for to good use, catchingup on a couple of magazineshoots and interviews I hadput off, and developing thecampaign to stop LockheedMartin from running theCensus, including making ashort film and writing awebsite for it. But I am verysad about giving up thisopportunity to use more timefor the benefit of the Greens,as an extra day beginningearlier in the year wouldclearly have made a realdifference. I strongly believethat representing the Greensshould not be confined to thewell-off, the retired andpeople with jobs that givethem long holidays.

Some of the main highlightsof my year as FemalePrincipal Speaker:

Infamous election article inIndependent on Sunday - SeptGMTV profile interview - NovPolitics Show interview - DecChannel 4 lunchtime newsdebate re 4x4 sales falling –Dec

BBC Breakfast news re schoolrun - DecConsultation response to theDTI Renewables Obligationreview - DecProfile in Harpers Bazaarmagazine – JanGrazia magazine profile - JanSky News re Prince Charles'emissions – JanIndependent feature oncheap fashion - JanChannel 4 Political Slot - FebDaily Politics, lunchtime‘presenter’s friend’ guest - FebMicrosoft Vista press workwith Derek – FebBroadcasting House, Radio 4,reviewing the papers - FebSky News, Adam Boulton ‘Inthe Crossfire’ – FebGreenpeace Judicial Reviewvictory over Energy Review –FebITN National News: Royalflights again - FebWrote foreword for Mayor’sLondon Climate Changeaction plan – FebQuestion Time fromNewcastle - MarHarper's Bazaar: named asone of Britain's 30 mostinfluential women - MarMeeting with DefenceMinister re Trident withCaroline Lucas - MarNewsnight, Ethical Mandebate – AprObserver Ethical Awardsjudging panel – AprDaily Politics ‘presenter’sfriend’ lunchtime BBC2 – AprRadio 4 PM programme recycling/red lights – AprNewsnight, re bins, debatewith James Whale - AprLondon College of Fashiongreen week debate - May ‘Talking with Tatchell’ for 18Doughty Street on Londoncampaign - MayCensus issue covered on TheRegister internet news (bigfor geeks) - MayInterview in Independentmagazine on profile of ‘thenew face of eco-warriors’ -Jun

Architecture Foundationdebate at Tate Modern – JunGMTV debate on energypolicy – JunSky News re patio heaters –JulEmissions-based congestioncharging – London radiostations - AugCensus story in Independenton Sunday - AugBroadcasting House, Radio 4,reviewing the papers - Aug

Sian Berry

Male Principal Speaker.I have worked hard topromote the Party, in whathas been a short year, as Iwas elected towards the endof November.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6203821.stm is anice interview with BBConline that outlines myapproach, radical, passionateand thoughtful (hopefully).In terms of television mymost exciting moment wasHard Talkhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/6382103.stm, 25 minutes of intensequestioning on the BBC news24 television show broadcastglobally. I have had othertough assignments debatingwith climate change denierChris Horner on the DavidFrost Show, Johnny Ballanother denier on Sky andalso on Sky arguing with theorganiser of the million pluspetition against roadcharging. I have done lots ofother bits of Sky, News 24,Radio 4 (PM, Westminsterhour, a couple of news items)and at least 5 items for theonline right wing TV channelDoughty Street.I have had nearly 20 letters inthe national press, at least 5in the Guardian, 3 or 4 in theIndependent, 3 in theTelegraph, 2 or 3 Observer, 1in the Daily Mail. I write acouple a week. The Guardian


have asked me to provide acomment is free blog, I havecompleted 15 pieces, I amnow being paid for about 1 ofthese a month, the £225 Ihave received so far has beenset against my expenses. Ihave tried to keep myexpenses claims as low aspossible, I am not sure myfinal figure but it will be wellunder a £1,000 this year, weare not as far as I can see awealthy party. I want to beboth revenue and carbonneutral!I have lost count of thenumber of items I havewritten or the interviews Ihave completed on line, itmust run into the hundreds!http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/derek_wall/2007/07/clarkson_on_trial.html isone of my pieces for theGuardian.http://www.politics.co.uk/in-focus/domestic-policy/environment/carbon-offsetting/offsetting-has-very-limited-role-$470796.htm is one frompolitics.com.http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/07/376363.html isfrom Indy media and theGuardian CIF.lots for egov monitor, I havewritten 4 articles publishedin the Morning Star and moreare in the pipeline. Mypersonal blog is getting about120-140 hits a day and I postat least once a day.I have spoken to local partiesin Bracknell, Croydon, Kent,Stroud, Kirklees, at theLondon Fed, Reading,Haringey, Havant,Twickenham, helped launchthe Welsh campaign inCardiff, locals at Millbank andspoken at the climate changeprotest against Exxon,outside the IndonesianEmbassy for Free West Papuacampaign, GlastonburyFestival, Sussex University,Manchester Carnival againstClimate Change, SOAS

climate event, PermanentRevolution, Leicester SocialForum, Climate Conference inBushey School, Hands offVenezuela, Green Left. I haveundertaken numerous smallevents including partyfringes. You can see myconference speech athttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6484987.stmI have sent out at least 3 pressreleases every week andworked hard to supportVictor Schonfeld's The AnimalFilm, Free West Papua, CWUaction on postal services,anti-drm and vistacampaigns, the release ofMiriam Rose from anIcelandic jail forenvironmental protest,boycott of Npower because ofRadley Lakes, against thehomophobic Moscow attackon Peter Tatchell, againstclimate change, againstTescos/for food localisation,for Iraq withdrawal, againstwhaling and in support ofCaptain Paul Watson/SeaShepherd and much muchmuch more. These haveattracted lots of mediamentions for the Party andincreased good will fromcampaigners.I have cultivated strong linkswith the Camp for ClimateAction.Networking has also helpedme recruit new membersincluding the great NickHutton chair of the Campaignagainst Climate Change (andin my view the mostintelligent person I have evermet!) and BridgetStrawbridge plusdisillusioned supporters ofJohn McDonnell. My writingon eco-Islam has brought theParty message to thousandsof Muslims who would neverhave thought of us before.Its been a tough years insome ways, I juggleparenting, work and myPrincipal Speaker post. I haveobjected to the party deciding

to employing a CEO for nearly£38,000 a year and tomembers of GPEX being paidbeyond basic expenses, I haveprotested at the Irish GreenParty decision to go intogovernment with Fianna Faildespite the decision tocontinue building amotorway through one ofEurope's most importantprehistoric monuments atTara. They may be in anothercountry but the decisiondamages world heritage.More positively I am going tobe working hard to get ourmessage across from you tubeto the BBC to more letters andarticles. Climate change ishere, the Yangtze Dolphin isextinct and Gordon Brown's ispushing through new roads,incinerators and nuclearpower, together with dodgycarbon offset. We need tochange the world fast and Iam doing my bit.

Derek Wall

Internal Communications2006-2007

Internal Communicationsproduced four editions of theGreen Activist distributedwith Green World, a total of26 pages including firstagendas for the spring andautumn conferences,prepared under SOC’sdirection. Photos were addedto the format, and morevariation in the layoutintroduced to make it moreuser-friendly and inviting.

Monthly email updates weresent (with a couple of extra“special updates” for electionand conference) to theapproximately 4,000members for whom the partyhas email addresses, coveringa broad range of the party’sactivities, with a particularfocus on actions thatmembers could take, withelections, campaigns,


conference, and otheractivities. Some non-partyactivities likely to be ofinterest to members werealso included.

The text format has meantthe number of items isrestricted to about 14 items;an improvement to themembership database isrequired before an HTMLnewsletter, with much betterpresentation andopportunities for more items,could be developed.

The members’ website hasbeen considerably developed,within its technologicallimitations. The front pagehas been developed as a“current news” site, withmedia monitoring and linksto new additions to otherparts of the site, and the keyelements members are likelyto find most useful. Traffictopped 400 unique users inJuly for the first time – butmuch more could be donewere individual passwords tobe introduced with greatersecurity.

A survey of members wasconducted in February, withthe survey being distributedthrough Green Activist butalso able to be completedonline, and proved popularwith members. A detailedreport on the results waspresented to GPex and isavailable in its minutes.Members expressed a desireto be able to regularly so offertheir thoughts on the party’sdirection.

A new “new members’” guidewas prepared and is beingdistributed, to replace the “Ato Z”, which has been in usefor a number of years.

Some email lists that werewith Yahoo and similarproviders have been movedover to the Green Party

server, but it has not provedpossible to complete this task.Management of email listswould be far easier weremembers able to self-managetheir subscriptions in oneplace.

Natalie Bennett

International Co-Ordinators’Report International Committee hasmet every 2-3 months inLondon. The European Green PartyCongress and Council inGeneva (Oct 07) showcasedthe relative success of European Green Parties, and brought home how unjust theUK electoral system is. The Green Islands Networkhas been very active in recenttimes, and there has beenprogress in relationshipbetween Northern Irelandand Comohantas Glas. TheNorth Sea Greens’ meetingseems to be losingmomentum. We have linkedwith the Global Greens, andintend to send at least onedelegate to their meeting inMay 2008 in Sao Paulo (theNairobi venue failed tomaterialise). We will offsetthe CO2 debt associated withall meetings. We sent delegates to theBarcelona Councillorsmeeting, and had a meetingwith delegates of the NordicLeft in the House of Lords. We met with Oscar Palmafrom Colombia, a member ofthe Colombian Green Partywhich has recently recoveredafter the kidnapping of IngridBetancourt, the ColombianGreen Leader, and. At ourrequest Derek Wall hadcontacted the government inVenezuela to ask their help inreleasing Ingrid.

Jean Lambert attended andexplained that the MEPs Trustwas an informal structurethat handled the majority ofmonies of the UK GreenMEPs. It was created to act asa buffer between party andMEPs, and to allowaccountability of MEPactivities to the Party. Finalfinancial responsibility restedwith the MEPs. The Trust’sstatus in the EP is that of aservice provider. We had correspondence witha variety of new Green Partiesacross the world includingfrom Nepal and some inAfrica. It was noted that BeiLi, the China Green Party repin the UK, has been grantedasylum. At the EGP Berlin meeting ourresolution on Darfur waspassed Discussion at GPEWconference focused on the EUConstitution problem. Papers have been prepared onthe Remit of the InternationalCoordinators, the Strategy ofthe International Committee,and Voting Procedures inInternational Meetings.

Richard Lawson, VolkerHeinemann

A4 Regional Council Co-Chairs’ Report

1 Introduction

The first half of this year’sRegional Council businesswas dominated by theDisciplinary Tribunal for theprevious Chair of GPEx whichmeant that some businesscould not be dealt with as itshould have been, inparticular work on Strategy.The main business of theTribunal is now behind us butit showed the need to revisethe Disciplinary Tribunal


process and other relatedmatters, which is now beingundertaken.

2 Regional CouncilHandbook and RegionalCouncil standing Orders

The Handbook neededsubstantial revision. This hasbeen done. The revisionincludes revision of theStanding Orders whichRegional Council has the rightto change provided that anychanges are brought toConference for approval. Theonly substantive change inthe Standing Orders is theclause which allows RegionalCouncillors to call anEmergency meeting of theCouncil. The revised StandingOrders are set out inAppendix 1 and GPRCrequests that these areapproved by Conference.

3 Disciplinary Tribunal.

The main role of RegionalCouncil in the DisciplinaryTribunal of the former Chairof GPEx was to consider therecommendations of theDisciplinary Tribunal and anyappeal that the defendantmight have brought.However, it found itselfhaving to deal with othermatters related to theDisciplinary process.Regional Council was askedto consider the appointmentof one of the Tribunalmembers to whom thedefendant had objected, butwhom SOC had declined toreplace. Regional Councilconsidered that thedefendant’s objection wasreasonable, and asked SOC toreconsider their decision, butSOC stood by their originaldecision. GPEx voted to writeto SOC in support of GPRC,but SOC again stood by theirdecision. Fortunately, theperson himself stood downfrom the Tribunal, and was

replaced by another to whomno objection was raised.

The Tribunal met in earlyDecember and reached itsdecision. It suspended thedefendant, and sent a copy ofits recommendations to arepresentative of the plaintiffbody (GPEx), the defendant,and to Regional Council Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs wereasked to respect the need forconfidentiality of all theTribunal documents,including the Tribunal’srecommendations. Theywere asked to allow time forlegal advice on the appealprocess to be obtained inorder to avoid doing anythingthat might open upindividuals or the party tolegal action. The decision ofthe Co-Chairs to respect thisrequest for confidentialitywas challenged by SOC andby some Regional Councillorsbut at its January meetingRegional Council agreed totreat the documents asconfidential until the SpecialMeeting at which any appealwould be heard, and at whichRegional Council wouldconsider therecommendations. The legaladvice obtained from aspecialist solicitor wasprovided to Regional Councilat the January meeting.

The Special Regional Councilmeeting was held inBirmingham on Saturday 17February. A short report ofthe meeting is set out inAppendix 2. Regional Councillifted the defendant’ssuspension, and decided notto implement the Tribunal’srecommendations to expelthe defendant but to bar thedefendant from standing fornational, and regional GreenParty posts, and fromstanding for external posts,for seven years.

4 Disciplinary TribunalProcesses

Recent experiences ofdisciplinary mattersespecially, but notexclusively, the disciplinaryprocess described above, haveshown the need to improvethe procedures. RegionalCouncil has begun theprocess of dealing with this,which includes revising theDisciplinary TribunalStanding Orders.

5 Confidentiality.

The need for confidentialitythat arose out of theDisciplinary Tribunal referredto above, highlighted the lackof guidelines in this area, andthe lack of provision for thekeeping, and communicating,of confidential material. TheGPEx Management Co-ordinator has been asked toconsider the practicalarrangements needed to keepconfidential records.

6 Procedure for theCensure and Recall ofGPEx Co-ordinators andGreen Party Members byRegional Council

Regional Council has onoccasion needed to considerwhether to censure a memberof GPEx and might need touse the recall process for aGPEx Co-ordinator, orconsider whether to censure amember of the party. There isno process in place to guideRegional Council, and toensure that the individualsconcerned are treated fairly.Regional Council isconsidering whether to adopta procedure that has been putbefore it.

7 Approval of SedgefieldBy-election Candidate.

Since there is no local partythat covers Sedgefield, and


since there was insufficienttime to allow a full selectionprocedure for a candidate,Regional Council was askedto approve the selection ofChris Haine as candidate forthe Sedgefield by-election.This was agreed by theCo-Chairs and On-callCouncillors and endorsed bythe July meeting of RegionalCouncil.

8 Review of theConstitutional Provisionfor the Selection ofCandidates.

A working group has been setup by Regional Council tofollow up the decision byConference to revise the rulesfor the selection of GreenParty candidates. The grouphas circulated a paper forcomment and will holdmeetings at this conferencein order to consult the Party.

9 By-election for a Greenisland Networkrepresentative

One of the Green IslandNetwork representativesresigned and a by-electionwas held in July. PhelimMcCafferty was elected.

10 Election of RegionalCouncillors

On the advice of a previousSOC, a motion was sent toSOC for the Spring conferencein order to remove anyambiguity in therequirements of theconstitution that election ofRegional Councillors must beby postal ballot. SOC decidedthat their recent clarificationof the constitution meantthat the motion was notnecessary.

11 Virtual Conferencing.

Regional Council agreed tosupport a pilot project by the

South-West Region to try outa virtual debate in advance ofConference.

12 Agreement with theGreen Parties covered bythe Green IslandNetwork

At the request of the GreenIslands Network, amemorandum ofunderstanding was agreed toon behalf of the Green Partyof England and Wales by theRegional Council – seeAppendix 3.

13 Candidate Agreement forthe Green PartyNominees to the Houseof Lords.

Regional Council agreed onbehalf of the Green Party ofEngland and Wales to thedocument drawn up by theGreen Parties of the UnitedKingdom for futurecandidates for the House ofLords – see Appendix 4.

14 Representation on theGreen Islands Networkby the Green Party ofEngland and Wales.

Regional Council agreed tosupport the proposal tochange the constitution sothat the autonomous WalesGreen Party elected its ownrepresentative to theNetwork, and that RegionalCouncil would elect tworepresentatives for the GreenParties of England.

15 Guests of RegionalCouncil.

The following members ofGPEx attended RegionalCouncil during the year.Richard Mallender (Chair),Natalie Bennett (InternalCommunications), PeterCranie (Elections), BrianHeatley (PolicyDevelopment), Richard

Lawson (Joint International),Volker Heinemann (JointInternational), Derek Wall(Male Principal Speaker). Inaddition Noel Lynch, StaffLiaison Officer, and JennyJones (GLA member), andsome local membersattended.

16 Delegates to theEuropean Green Party

Regional Council wasconcerned at the reports itreceived about the lack ofsuitable arrangements toensure that delegatesfollowed Green Party policyat the meetings of theEuropean Green Party.International Committee nowhas an agreed procedurewhich Regional Councilexpects to be followed.

17 Censure of anInternational Co-ordinator.

Regional Councillors hadbeen given assurances, inadvance of the procedure fordelegates being formallyadopted, that arrangementswould be made for delegatemeetings and agreementsabout voting. One of theInternational Co-ordinators,Volker Heinemann wascensured by Regional Councilfor not adhering to theseassurances.

18 Approval of theEuropean Trades UnionPetition on Publicservices

Regional Council approved apaper in support of thepetition.

19 Payment to GPExMembers.

Regional Council wasconcerned that GPEx hadagreed to the payment of


some of its members withoutprior approval by Conference.

20 Political Committee

A new GPEx committee wasset up during the year,Political Committee. RegionalCouncil Co-Chairs aremembers of that committee.Co-Chairs had concerns aboutsome aspects of the way thecommittee has operated, andRegional Council has askedthe GPEx Chair to provide areview of its work for theirOctober meeting.

21 Conference CommitteeMembership

Regional Council agreed towrite to ConferenceCommittee to remind themthat all elected members ofthe committee were entitledto be involved in the work ofthe committee. However, itwas decided not to send theletter when it was learnt thatthe person being excludedwas now involved in thework of the committee.

22 Concerns about theActions of SOC

During the year, the actionsof SOC have causedconsiderable concern toRegional Council. SOC seemto have gone outside its remiton a number of occasions.One of the Co-Chairs has beenin discussion with the SOCCo-ordinator about thesematters.

23 Immigration Policy

Regional Council agreed thatit would be of benefit to theparty to improve its ability tospeak on immigration issuesand will be in touch withpolicy committee about this.

24 Leadership Referendum

Regional Council agreed tokeep a watching brief overthe Leadership referendum inits constitutional role toensure the health of thedemocratic processes of theparty. It appointedrepresentatives from bothsides of the debate to keep itinformed. It ruled that thecontact details of Green Partymembers should not be madeavailable for canvassing ofmembers.

David Wall NicolaWatsonCo-Chair Co-Chair

Appendix 1

Green Party RegionalCouncil Standing Orders

1.0 Status

The Green Party RegionalCouncil (hereinafter referredto as the Regional Council) isdefined by the constitution ofthe Green Party (hereinaftercalled the Party).

2.0 Organisation

2.1 At the first meetingfollowing the AutumnConference, the RegionalCouncil shall elect fromwithin its number two Co-Chairpersons, one man andone woman in accordancewith the Constitution. TheCo-Chairs will normally beexpected to shareresponsibility for organisingthe chairing of meetings ofthe Regional Council. Othermembers of the RegionalCouncil or of the Party mayact as the Chair, provided thisis acceptable to a majority ofthe members of the RegionalCouncil present at themeeting.

2.2 At the first meeting

following the AutumnConference, the RegionalCouncil shall elect fromwithin its number at leastone officer (hereinafterreferred to as Friends) permember of the Green PartyExecutive (hereinafterreferred to as the Executive).The Friends will normally beexpected to support andadvise the individualExecutive member whomthey have been elected towork with and to sit on anycommittee which theirparticular Executive membermay create in accordancewith the Constitution. TheCo-Chairs of the RegionalCouncil shall act as theFriends of the Chair of theExecutive.

2.3 At the first meetingfollowing the AutumnConference, the RegionalCouncil shall appoint aSecretary/Minute Taker. Therole of the Secretary/MinuteTaker shall be to copy andcirculate the agenda andsupporting papers for eachmeeting of the RegionalCouncil, to liaise with theappropriate Local Party orRegion in the booking andorganisation of the venues forRegional Council meetings,and to take, copy, andcirculate minutes ofmeetings. TheSecretary/Minute Taker willalso be expected to writeletters and deal with externalenquiries on behalf of theRegional Council, collectitems for inclusion on theagenda for Regional Councilmeetings, and to keep a log ofany reports sent to orproduced by Regional Councilmembers in their capacity asRegional Council Friends.

2.4 At each of its meetings,the Regional Council shallelect from within its numberthree On-Call Councillorsuntil the next Regional


Council meeting. The On-CallCouncillors together with theCo-Chairs will normally beempowered to takeresponsibility on behalf of theRegional Council for allmatters not the properbusiness of other elected andappointed Councillors.

2.5 Voting in elections forall officers of the RegionalCouncil shall be by the SingleTransferable Vote with aprovision for negative voting.

2.6 At its first meeting,Regional Council will elect aTreasurer.

2.7 At the first meetingfollowing the appointment ofa Treasurer by the PartyExecutive, the RegionalCouncil shall vote whether toratify this appointment. Thevote shall be by simplemajority.

2.8 Regional Council shallcreate Working Groups. Thecomposition, terms ofreference, power, frequencyof meetings, duration andquora shall be determined ata full meeting of RegionalCouncil.

2.9 At its first meeting,Regional Council shallappoint representatives onthe Green Islands Network(GIN).

2.10 In the event of a casualvacancy arising in a post thatexisted at a previous RegionalCouncil meeting and wherework or agreed actions needto be carried out before thenext full Regional Councilmeeting, the Co-Chairs shallbe empowered to appoint aRegional Councillor to fill thepost temporarily.

2.11 In the event of aRegional Councilrepresentative or officeholder being unable to carry

out his/her duties on atemporary basis, theCo-Chairs shall beempowered to appointsomeone to take their place,consulting as necessary,should that seem desirable.

3.0 Meetings

3.1 The Regional Councilshall meet in accordance withthe requirements of the PartyConstitution.

3.2 The first meetingfollowing the AutumnConference shall normallytake place within twomonths of the AnnualConference.

3.3 Regional Council mayinvite any person to attend ameeting as an adviser orobserver.

3.4 If possible, the dates ofall meetings of the RegionalCouncil shall be published atleast two weeks in advance toLocal Parties and they shouldalso be published in the Partynewsletter and in activistsmailings.

3.5 Business which isdiscussed at Regional Councilmeetings will have beenpublished in advance tomembers of the RegionalCouncil in an agenda. Nobusiness will be discussedwhich has not appeared inthe agenda except emergencybusiness - this will beconsidered only if a majorityof the members of RegionalCouncil present, vote toconsider it. Voting on theoutcome of emergencybusiness shall be by simplemajority.

3.6 Business for the agendamust be delivered to theSecretary not later than fourweeks before the meeting

3.7 An agenda will be sent

to all members of theRegional Council at least twoweeks before the meeting,accompanied by supportingpapers where these havebeen provided.

3.8 The Co-Chairs and/orSecretary may highlightuncontentious agenda itemsfor fast-tracking. Such itemsmust be agreed asappropriate for fast-trackingat the start of each meeting.

3.9 Business on which theRegional Council haspreviously reached a decisionwill not usually return to bereconsidered by the RegionalCouncil for at least two clearmeetings. Any reconsideredbusiness will require a simplemajority to be discussed.Voting on the outcome of thebusiness will also require asimple majority.

3.10 The need to addressemergency issues that arisebetween full Regional Councilmeetings may be met bymeans of electronic mail ortelephone conference.Emergency issues shall bedefined as those which, in theopinion of both Co-Chairs, ifnot addressed before the nextfull Regional Councilmeeting, may result inoutcomes considered to bedetrimental to the well-beingof the Green Party. Suchinterim decisions shall besubject to the agreement offour out of the five followingRegional Council Officers: twoCo-Chairs and three On-callCouncillors. All interimdecisions shall be reported to,and ratified by the next fullRegional Council meetingirrespective of agendadeadlines.

3.11 An emergency meetingof GPRC must be arrangedfollowing a request signed byten GPRC members.


4.0 Recall of Members ofthe Executive

4.1 Recall petitions fromLocal Parties shall besubmitted to the Secretary.

4.2 Recall petitions shall bevalidated by the Convenor ofthe Standing OrdersCommittee. A valid recallpetition shall bear thesignatures of three officers ofthe Local Party, or in theabsence of sufficient officers,of members of the Local Partyappointed in their stead.

4.3 The Standing OrdersCommittee shall beresponsible for ascertainingthe numbers of valid LocalParties in existence, so thatthe number of petitionssufficient for recall can bevalidated.

4.4 When a sufficientnumber of valid petitions hasbeen received for recall, theSecretary shall without delay:a) notify the member(s) of

the Executiveconcerned of theirimmediate suspension

b) notify the members ofthe Regional Council ofthe suspension

c) notify Local Parties ofthe suspension

d) cause information ofthe suspension to bepublished in the nextedition of the Partynewsletter.

e) place on the agenda forthe next meeting of theRegional Council thedetermination of thedate for a new ballotfor the post(s) andrequest that theElectoral ReturningOfficer be present forthe debate.

5.0 Disciplinary Matters

5.1 Disciplinary mattersshall first be considered by a

Tribunal (Constitution 4vii)

5.2 Should RegionalCouncil need to appointmembers to a Tribunal, theyshall be chosen by lot fromamong those RegionalCouncil members who are notinvolved in the matter andare not Co-Chairs.

5.3 When consideringappeals, Regional Councilshall normally heararguments and evidence inopen session, and shallconsider its decision in closedsession. The following shallalso be excluded from theclosed session and decision:a) members of theTribunalb) members involved inthe disciplinary matterc) any member who as

Co-chair of RegionalCouncil or chair of theExecutive approved thebringing of the matterto a Tribunal.

5.4 Clause 5.3 shall alsoapply if there is disagreementon whether to approve theTribunal's recommendations,even if there is no appeal.

5.5 Regional Council maynot impose a harsherretribution than the Tribunal,nor may it reinstate asuspension that the Tribunallifted. It shall not considerappeals from the plaintiff.

5.6 In hearing appeals,Regional Council shall seek togive equal time to both sides.It shall hear first the groundsfor the appeal from thedefendant (eg error of fact,error of judgement, error ofinterpretation of the Party'srules). Regional Council shallconfine its consideration tothese grounds, and in othermatters shall accept theposition of the Tribunal.

5.7 See, in addition to the

above standing orders, 5.1 to5.6, standing orders forDisciplinary Tribunals as setout in a separate section.

6.0 Miscellaneous

6.1 Regional Council shalldetermine Policy Statementsin accordance with theAppendix hereto.

6.2 Regional Council shallreport to Conference. It shallprovide a record of itsbusiness to the Executive andmake the record available tothe membership.

7.0 Standing Orders

7.1 These Standing Ordersare subsidiary to anddependent on theConstitution of the Party anddeal only with matters whichconcern the dealings of theRegional Council. Theyshould be considered only inthe company of theConstitution, which laysdown many regulationsconcerning the RegionalCouncil, not all of which arerepeated here.

7.2 These Standing Ordersmay be amended by theConference of the Party or byanother conference to whichthe power to do this has beenspecifically delegated by thepreceding Conference. Thechange will require a simplemajority in accordance withthe Standing Orders ForConduct of Conference.

7.3 These Standing Ordersmay be temporarily amendedby a two thirds vote of allmembers of the RegionalCouncil, and the changesmade will stand until thenext Conference. Iftemporary changes are notbrought about before the nextConference or are notaccepted by that Conference,these Standing Orders will


revert to the unamendedversion, but the sameamendment may be madeagain should RegionalCouncil so deem necessary.

7.4 If the Constitution ofthe Party is amendedwithout an appropriatechange being made inthese Standing Orders,the Standing OrdersCommittee may amendthem in such a way asto bring them into linewith the constitutionwithout furtherauthorisation.

Appendix 2

GPRC Special MeetingSaturday 17 February - 1.00pm-5.00 pm

Welsh CongregationalChurch, Bath Street,Birmingham

This special meeting wascalled to decide whether toratify the recommendationsof the tribunal held on 3December 2006 to investigatethe circumstancessurrounding the nominationof Hugo Charlton for a seat inthe House of Lords.

Green Party Regional Council(GPRC) had available all thedocuments provided to thetribunal. An instruction wassent by Standing OrdersCommittee (SOC) to GPRC on14 February 2007 that theonly document to be usedwas the recommendations ofthe Tribunal. Such a rulinghad not been requested byGPRC but was noted.

In making its decision, GPRC'sinterpretation was that theoptions available to it were:

1 To approve therecommendations of theTribunal

2 Not to approve therecommendations of theTribunal3 To approve therecommendations of theTribunal with a less harshsanction

In its discussions, GPRC tookthe following into account.

By the deadline of 5 February,no appeal had been receivedfrom Hugo Charlton althoughsome correspondence hadpassed between him and theCo-chairs. GPRC consideredwhether one of these lettersconstituted an appeal withinthe rules, however themeeting agreed that it didnot.

Disciplinary TribunalStanding Order 8.4states:

8:4 In an appeal, thedefendant (andplaintiff) mustonly address theaccuracy andfairness of theTribunal's rulings,not seek to 're-runthe case'. GPRCmembers mayquestion thedefendant andplaintiff if present.

This leaves open tointerpretation what GPRCmay consider in the absenceof an appeal.

GPRC members had receivedin advance the followingdocuments:

The original submission bythe PlaintiffThe response by HugoCharltonThe recommendations of theTribunalThe notes of the Tribunal

In coming to its decision,GPRC noted that the originalsubmission by the Plaintiffwas excessive in length andscope. At well over 300pages, it contains assertionsand opinions that had nobearing on the case. Also,information had beenprovided in confidence whichwitnesses had not expectedto be printed and circulatedin this manner.

GPRC was concerned at thelength of time it had taken tocarry out the disciplinaryprocess. There were manyreasons for this, includingillness. The unsuitability ofthe Plaintiff's submission ledto delays while the Tribunalnegotiated with theDefendant over whichsections would be used. GPRCalso noted that some delaywas caused by the Defendantrefusing to release papersrequested by the Tribunal. Asfar as GPRC is aware, theDefendant has still notreleased one documentdespite many requests.

GPRC regretted that its viewthat one of the originalTribunal members wasunsuitable due to a perceivedbias was not accepted andthat it took too long to resolvethis situation, necessitatingintervention by GPEx.However, GPRC notes that themembership of the Tribunalwhen it was finally agreedwas satisfactory to all parties.

GPRC noted that thePlaintiff's submissioncontained references to theperformance of HugoCharlton in his role as Chairof GPEx. GPRC noted thatthere are mechanismsavailable to censure orremove a member of GPExand wondered why GPEx didnot act on these concernsearlier.


This was a seriousdisciplinary matter and GPRCwas generally satisfied thatthe Tribunal carried out itsdifficult task with integrity.GPRC supported the majorityof the findings of the Tribunaland there was some supportfor its recommendation thatHugo Charlton be expelledfrom the Green Party.However, GPRC as a wholewas not persuaded that thiswas the appropriate sanction,especially given the manyconcerns about the conduct ofthe disciplinary process. Awide range of views wasexpressed and variety ofsanctions considered; thefinal decision was necessarilya compromise but had thesupport of a clear majority ofthe Regional Council.

GPRC agreed that thesuspension of HugoCharlton's membershipimposed by the Tribunal belifted.

GPRC passed the followingresolution:

"The Council decides not toimplement therecommendation of theTribunal that the Defendant,Hugo Charlton, be expelledfrom the Green Party.Instead, the Councilsubstitutes a lesser penalty, abar for seven years fromseeking election internally inthe Green Party for anynational or regional post, anda bar for the same periodfrom seeking selection as acandidate for the Green Partyin any external election."

Dave Wall Co-ChairNicola Watson Co-Chair

Appendix 3

Memorandum ofUnderstanding

Mindful of the history ofthese islands and recognisingour collective responsibilities,we reaffirm:

a our mutual recognitionof individualmembership and theprovision of access andobserver rights at annualconferences

b collaboration in theselection of nominees forthe House of Lords, andfor their ongoingaccountability to theParties of the UnitedKingdom

c co-ordination of specificcampaigns and policyinitiatives

d co-operation inpreparation for and attimes of elections

e commitment to co-ordination of our Partiesand representatives inthe European GreenParty

f support of our MEPs.

We acknowledge thecontribution made by electedrepresentatives to thedevelopment of Green Politicsthroughout these Islands;

The Green Parties of theseIslands regard Green IslandsNetwork as an appropriatemechanism which givesexpression to mutuallybeneficial recognition of ourParties’ North-South and East-West links.

Our Member Parties join inaffirming the commonresponsibility to further thecause of justice, peace and co-operation across these islandsas embodied in Good FridayAgreement.

Appendix 4

Candidate Agreement forGreen Party Nominees to theHouse of Lords

Preamble

The purpose of this documentis to agree clear guidelineswith nominees whorepresent the Green Parties ofthe United Kingdom(hereafter referred to asParties). It is designed tofoster a positive, supportiveand constructive relationshipwith the Parties. Nomineesshould always bear in mindthat they are responsible tothe Parties and to each other,as much as the Parties areresponsible to the nominees.

You are asked to sign at theend.

On taking your seat in theHouse of Lords

1 Nominees shouldpromote and support thepolicies of the Parties inany materials, speeches,press releases,interviews and otheroccasions. Where thereis a divergence in policypositions, the nomineewill make reasonableefforts to consult withthe relevant policyspokespersons and toreflect a consensus inline with our commonvalues and principles.

2 At the start of eachparliamentary session,the nominees shall makeevery effort to consultwith each of the Partiesto identify key themesand messages. This doesnot impact on nomineesdrawing on the fullrange of policy to react toqueries.

3 Nominees are asked tocopy press and mediareleases to each of theParties. Nominees willmake every effort tofacilitate media


opportunities identifiedby each of the mediateams of the threeParties.

4 Nominees are asked tohelp the three GreenParties by makingavailable HMSOpublications asrequested and byalerting the Parties torelevant forthcominglegislations and debates.They should also takeany opportunity whicharises to initiate oramend legislationarising out of the Parties’policies.

5 Each of the Parties willbe responsible forkeeping the nomineeinformed of latest news,policy ideas, newmaterials and any otherways in which thenominee can supporttheir campaigns,particularly duringelection periods.

6 Nominees shouldconduct themselves in amanner such as not tobring the Parties intodisrepute or to result inthe Parties beingpresented in an adverselight. If nominees havereason to believe thatsomething they havesaid or done is likely tobe used against them orthe Parties, they shouldcontact the nationaloffices of the threeParties.

7 The Parties arecommitted to supportingnominees and toworking with them toresolve anydisagreements.

8 The nominee agrees toprepare annual reportsto the Executive bodies

of each of the Parties.Each annual report shallinclude sections onmatters of concern toeach of the sponsoringParties

If you understand and agreewith the above, please signbelow

Signed:.................................................Name (Print).................................................Date:................................................

A5 Policy Committee Report

For the first time for a longtime we have two newVoting Papers for thisconference, which are notsimply existing sections ofthe MfSS being proposed forreview.The first is on Government.The last three conferenceshave discussed the DraftVoting Paper. We currentlyhave three sections in theMfSS covering PublicAdministration andGovernment. They areinconsistent, sometimes outof date, and have somenotable gaps in areas such asthe organisation of centralgovernment, where the newpaper proposes a radical newapproach.The second is largely onmedia and sport. This is allnew policy in an importantarea we have neglected fortoo long. The Draft VotingPaper was discussed at lastconference, but the section onculture has not been includedin the Voting Paper as we donot feel it is yet ready; insteadthere is a separate CultureDraft Voting Paper.We owe special thanks toJonathan Dixon for thegovernment paper, and toRoger Creagh-Osborne, andearlier Matt Follett, for mediaand sport.

Policy Committee haveproposed one further motion,an enabling motion coveringa review of our policy onNorthern Ireland. Followingthe resumption of devolvedgovernment, the currentpolicy is extremely out ofdate and arguablyunnecessary; the motionsuggests a review inconsultation with the otherGreen Parties in the GreenIsland’s Network.There are eleven other policymotions on this agenda.Could we endorse StandingOrders Committee’s concernthat people are still failing toprovide proper synopses formotions, or indeed anysynopsis at all. All that manymembers ever see of motionsare the synopses published inGreen Activist, and they are akey part of our democraticpolicy making process.Policy Committee do notsupport the Standing OrdersCommittee sponsored motionon the process forcompositing motions, whichpotentially affects policymotions as well asorganisational ones Thecurrent position is thatconference, in practiceusually guided by the chair ofthe session concerned, hasdiscretion to decide the orderin which amendments areconsidered. Under theproposed new arrangementthe proposers of motions willbe able to undermine thisdiscretion. Supposing forexample that there are twoamendments, the firstdeleting part of the text of theoriginal in such a way thatthe second more minoramendment to that part ofthe text is no longer relevant.The sensible way to take thiswould normally be to takethe second more minoramendment first, so that thefirst amendment can still betaken whatever hashappened to the second.


However, under the proposal,the proposers of the motioncan simply accept the firstamendment, and so ensurethat the second is notdebated. It should be forconference to take such adecision, taking account of allthe circumstances (and thevariety of potentialcircumstances is endless, thisis just one example), not theproposers of the motion.Other policy work since lastconference has includeddrafting a new policy pointeron housing (thanks toJacquetta Fewster), creating amuch more comprehensivebudget position than we havehad in recent years, includingthe idea of a carbon budget,dealing as ever with routinepolicy enquiries and keepingthe MfSS and Record of Policystatements up to date.Our recent success in councilelections looks as if it is goingto have a devastating effecton the membership of PolicyCommittee, with threemembers leaving because ofelection success or the knockon effects of other’s success.So don’t be shy, we will needa lot of new members nextyear, and please feel free totalk to me about what itinvolves. But my thanks aredue to the members of theexisting committee for alltheir hard work and support.Brian HeatleyPolicy DevelopmentCoordinator

A6 Campaigns CommitteeReportNo report submitted

A7 Disputes ResolutionCommittee Report

This has been a quiet sixmonths for DRC with no newapplications for DRCassistance in resolvingdisagreements betweenGreen Party members.Two disagreements where

elected bodies failed torespond have re-emerged atGPRC. In two other cases noaction was possible becauseelected bodies believed thatthey had already carried outtheir own resolution processto exhaustion.In one case the elected bodywishes to continue their ownefforts at resolution withoutDRC assistance.

Two meetings of thecommittee were held in thelast six months, at the SpringConference in Swansea and inBirmingham. The response byDRC to the ignoring byelected bodies of requests byothers for DRC interventionwas discussed inBirmingham, and as a resultmotion D43 on theConference agenda has beenput forward.

This requires elected bodies tosend a representative toattend a resolution process ifone is requested. DRC doesnot have power to punishnon-attendance other than byreporting a failure to complyto the next conference. Thereal benefit will be that theparty can make clear that itconsiders that its electedrepresentatives should makeuse of the resolution process.This could avoid the tensionsand expenditure of memberstime involved in recentDisciplinary Tribunal andCensure situations. DRC hopethat conference will give thenecessary two thirds majoritysupport required to make thischange to the constitution.Clear support from GreenParty members is essential tocontinue this greenoperation.

The benefit of the quietperiod has been that therehas been time to consider theincreasing experience ofdispute resolution, and tocondense this into advice for

resolvers on how to approachdisagreements, and advice tothose in disagreement withothers in the Green Party onthe contacts with and thebenefits of DisputeResolution.

Owen Clarke Co-ordinatorDispute ResolutionCommittee

A8. MEP Trust ReportThe MEP Trust's primary taskis to act as agent for theEngland and Wales GreenMEPs, managing certainmonies and operating as theemployer of their staff – bothin the UK and in Brussels. Themonies the Trust managesare not and cannot be moniesof the Party.

The Trust meets quarterly inLondon and is currently madeup of the following members:Jean Lambert MEP, CarolineLucas MEP, VolkerHeinemann (Co-InternationalCo-ordinator), RichardLawson (Co-International Co-ordinator), Margaret Wright(for GPRC), Tony Cooper (forSouth East region), JohnStreet (for London region),Steve Emmott (finance), andEmma Hallett (personnel).

There were fewer staffchanges in the year comparedto prior years. All posts arecurrently filled.

The MEPs have issued anddisseminated a number ofpublications over the pastyear. At the Green Partyconferences in particular ahigh volume of thesepublications are madeavailable to members and thegeneral public. Anyonewanting to receive MEPsnewsletters and othermaterials directly may leavetheir email details at theMEPs' stall at conference.These reports cover the detailof the MEPs work during the


year.

Access to recent MEPpublications may be found ontheir websites. Both haveproduced and co-authoredsignificant works during theyear.www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk,www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk

The MEPs continue to valuethe existence of the Trust.Trust spending continues tobe within the budget limitsset by the EuropeanParliament.

Volker Heinemann. RichardLawson

August 2007

A9 Green World EditorialBoard

The last twelve monthshave seen a secondsuccessive year of stabilityfor Green World: fourissues were published asplanned, and each of thesewas well within budget.There have been bothplaudits and criticismsover the content of theissues, but the balance ofoverall opinion has beenstrongly positive. GreenWorld is the officialmagazine of the party, butit is not some bland officialmouthpiece; it is primarilythe magazine for theparty’s members, and assuch I hope that we haveprovided a read that isboth stimulating andinformative.

Particular developments ofnote over the last 12months include:- the growth in bulk orderstaken by local parties fortheir use. The organisationand distribution has beenundertaken by twoeditorial board members,Susan Murray and OwenClarke, avoiding any extraworkload for party office- the restarting of salesthrough specialistbookshops with the help ofthe distributor CentralBooks; a barcode has nowalso been added to thefront of Green World toassist retail sales- the redesign andimprovement of thewebsite to allows access topast issues, comments onarticles, and audio andvideo streaming- increasing use of theGreen World mailing byother sections of the partyto distribute informationto members (particularlyGreen Activist and the FirstAgenda Summary forconference)- the insertion of a ‘VoteGreen’ poster as acentrespread in the issueimmediately prior to thelocal elections in MayWe have not been withoutour mistakes andproblems; the omission ofthe imprint from the VoteGreen poster was anembarrassing andavoidable error, althoughone that fortunately hadno long-termconsequences; andadvertising revenues haveremained relatively low,

although the increasingnumber of ‘contra’ dealswith other organisationshas been a welcomedevelopment.

Challenges for the yearahead are most notably todo with personnel – afterfive years as editor,Richard Scrase hasannounced his desire tostand down, so we arecurrently searching for areplacement. Ouradvertising agent, JacobSaunders, who has donethe job for a similar lengthof time is also standingdown. However, we havenow completed theappointment of a businessmanager for the magazine,and this will hopefullyenable more of the ideaswe have to come tofruition.

Finally, thanks are due fortheir work in putting eachissue together over thepast year to Richard Scrase,Jacob Saunders, and ourdesigner Steve Chadburn.I’d also like to thank theother members of theEditorial Board for theirhelp and input, and thevarious members whowrite articles andproofread – all of which isundertaken for free, andfrequently at short notice.

Matthew Ledbury

A10 Conferences CommitteeReport

The new members of theCommittee elected at SpringConference picked up the ball


after the local electioncampaigns, and haveorganised the AutumnConference almost from fromscratch. We hope thatcolleagues are pleased withthe new arrangements. Theprevious arrangements atOxford had been made for adate which was not suitablelocally, nor for the media, andcould not be changed.This Autumn Conference isbeing held at a new venue.The facilities we are using arethose of the Liverpool HopeUniversity at their Evertoncampus. We believe memberswill enjoy the new facilities,and the chance to visit aEuropean City of Culture for2008. We are very gratefulthat they took us on at suchshort notice, and to PeterCranie for suggesting a localvenue.The Conferences Committeeare Joe Blakesley (stalls), PeterCranie (co-opted fromLiverpool GP, bookings), JohnNorris (convener, venue,general enquiries), Rob Smith(accommodation), Viv Smith(GPRC Friend), and John Street(co-opted, treasurer,timetable).We have been working withothers in the party to deliverthe arrangements, andespecially with LiverpoolGreen Party. We have soughtto divide the work betweenthose involved ratheradopting a centralisedapproach. We apologise ifcolleague have at times hadto deal with more than one ofus as a result.FUTURE CONFERENCESWe have also undertakeninvestigations to identifyvenues not just for the nextconference, but several inadvance. We hope this willbecome the normal practice.A particular concern has beento identify venues that areeconomical for the party, butwhich also offer cheapaccommodation for members

nearby. Thoseaccommodation costs arepaid directly by members.Bearing in mind that half theparty subscribes on the "lowwaged" rate, cheapness is anessential requirement toenable attendance.SPRING CONFERENCE 2007We apologise that this reportdoes not cover the SpringConference. Of the threemembers elected to run thatconference, two of themdecided to run it and excludethe third. This was addressedby the Executive and RegionalCouncil. The two membersleft the committee afterSpring Conference, andadditional members wereelected and co-opted.THANKSWe should like to thank allour colleagues who havecontributed to theorganisation of Conference.We thank Natalie Bennett inparticular for sorting outproblems with the party'swebsites and e-mail, wherewe have experienced somedifficulties.We should like to wish ourcolleague Viv Smith all thebest in recovering her health.Viv suffered a heart attack atGPRC, and has had to standdown during her recovery.

John Norris

A11 Assocation of GreenCouncillors Report

SOC Note – this is not aformal report required bythe Constitution but hasbeen included at the requestof the AGC.

Local Elections

This year saw the AGC finallyhit the historic three figuremark with 110 PrincipalAuthority Councillors (upfrom 93). In total there were39 holds, 24 gains and 7

losses. The AGC also includesaround 140 Parish and TownCouncillors. AGC Assistant,Jon Hooper, prepared a “NewCouncillor Pack” which wassent out to 30 new PrincipalAuthority Councillors and 62new Town & ParishCouncillors . The pack wasaccompanied by a letter fromthe AGC Chair, DarrenJohnson, and Green PartyElections Co-ordinator, PeterCranie. Likewise, we alsowrote to all departingcouncillors in appreciation oftheir contribution to Greenpolitics and localgovernment.

Working with the LocalGovernment Association

A key priority has been todevelop our relationship withthe Local GovernmentAssociation, through ourmembership of the LGA’sIndependent Group, whichcovers all councillors who areoutside the three largestparties. Such a relationshipled to the Greens beingoffered the Deputy Chair ofthe LGA’s Regeneration andTransport Board. Cllr JohnWhitelegg was elected to fillthat role in July 2006 and re-elected in July 2007. TheIndependent Group alsokindly agreed to host the firstday of this year’s AGCconference, as well as usingtheir budget allocation tofund two training events forGreen councillors.

AGC Annual Conference

Over 60 councillors as well asother key activists attendedthe AGC annual conference inLondon this year. The firstday of the conference washeld at the Local GovernmentAssociation’s headquarters inSmith Square. The openingspeech was given by PaulCoen, Chief Executive of theLGA, and there was also a


climate change panel and alook at the implications of thecurrent local governmentreforms. Workshop sessionsincluded: Green approachesto crime, Influencing LocalDevelopment Frameworks,Making best use of Scrutiny,Green budget amendments,and Working with the majorparties. At the AGC’s AGM onthe second day of theconference the followingofficers were elected:

- Cllr Darren Johnson –Chair

- Cllr Maya de Souza –Secretary

- Cllr Susan Murray –Treasurer

- Cllr Miriam Kennet -Parish and TownCouncillorsrepresentative

- Cllr Adrian Ramsay – AGCRepresentative onElections Committee

- Cllr John Whitelegg –Nominee for the LGA’sTransport andRegeneration Board

AGC WebsiteThe new AGC website hasbeen fully operational for ayear now. It was created as anextension of the members'website, with the intention ofencouraging people to makebetter use of what is already auseful resource. Jon Hooper’stechnical knowledge andcapabilities have beeninvaluable in setting this up.The website is now used toset out successful campaignsand motions, to list thosewith particular areas ofexpertise, to run thebuddying system and to storereports of meetings and otherevents. An on-line web-basedsystem has been set up toassist new councillors andlearn from the large numberof experienced councillors wedo have.

Member DevelopmentEvents

Darren worked with theLeadership Centre for LocalGovernment to stage twotraining events for Greencouncillors. The first “PioneerGreens” was aimed primarilyat lone Green councillorswhile the second“Powerbroking Greens” wasaimed at more establishedgroups on No Overall Controlcouncils.

Links with European GreenCouncillorsMaya and Oxford councillor,David Smith, attended aconference of GreenCouncillors in Barcelona inAutumn 2007. Attending this2-day conference assistedgreatly in terms ofunderstanding what Greenshad achieved elsewhere.Germany and other northernEuropean countries appear tobe many leagues ahead interms of recycling and energyefficiency at least in partbecause of the campaignsfought by green parties. Otherissues were also coveredincluding: minority rights,gender equality and climatechange.

AGC AssistantThe AGC officers would like toput on record their thanks toJon Hooper, for the excellentsupport work he continues tocarry out as a the AGC’s paidAssistant. In this role Jon hasaveraged twenty-one hoursper month at the standardGreen Party rate of £8 perhour which is paid for out ofcouncillors’ subscriptions tothe AGC.

Cllr Darren Johnson – ChairCllr Maya de Souza -Secretary

Section B (Voting Papers)

B1. Media and Sport sectionof the MfSS .

Synopsis:Spring Conference in 2005passed an Enabling Motionrequesting Policy Committeeto bring to a futureConference a proposal for anMfSS policy section onCulture, Media and Sport. This proposal shouldincorporate the present Artssection of the MfSS andinclude within its scopecommercial advertising andsponsorship.

Following well attendedfringe meetings at earlierconferences, a Draft VotingPaper was presented to lastconference, and discussed ina workshop. The policydevelopment process hasgone faster for the materialon general principles, themedia and sport than it hasfor culture, and in view ofthis and also because of thepotential size of the wholeVoting Paper, PolicyCommittee in consultationwith the relevant policygroup has decided to submit aVoting Paper covering justthe general principles and themedia and sport sections tothis conference. Culture willfollow at a later conference atwhich point the Arts chapterwill be deleted and subsumedinto the Culture section.

This voting paper includespolicy on commercialadvertising as required by theenabling motion, but makesno proposals for the existingArts section of the MfSS, sincethis will be covered by thefuture culture section. Nordoes it include material onsponsorship, which will becovered in the Culture sectionand added to the Sportsection.

The Voting Paper covers thefollowing main topics:


- the importance ofparticipation rather thanpassive consumption

- democratisation of accessand ensuring no groups areexcluded

- the importance of localcultural, media and sportingactivities

- reserving a proportion oflimited resources for publicaccess

- concentration of mediaownership

- public service broadcastingand the BBC

- commercial broadcasting,new media, and advertising

- sport in schools

- amateur and professionalsport

- international and local sport

Motion:

Insert the following newsection, entitled 'Culture,Media and Sport (generalprinciples) and Sport andMedia Policy in the MfSS

Culture, Media and Sport(general principles) andSport and Media Policy

GENERAL

Background

CMS101. CultureMedia Sport (CMS) are threeimportant elements throughwhich social identity and asense of community can befostered in larger socialgroupings than those whichcan be sustained by personalrelationships.

CMS102. In all areas ofCMS there are two ways inwhich people can engagewith the activity – through

participation as performer orproducer, or throughreception as audience orspectator. Both forms ofengagement with theparticular activity areimportant; the major socialvalue of CMS activities is thedialogue between participantand audience.

CMS103. The rise of newmedia at the beginning of the21st century can be seen as apublic expression of a needfor better access andimproved participation.Similarly the continuingexistence of grass rootsactivity in sport and culture,despite the large scalewithdrawal of public sectorsupport, shows thecontinuing need and value ofthese activities to citizens.

General Principles

CMS201. The central Greenprinciple in Culture Mediaand Sport (CMS) shall be thatof promoting participationover passive consumption.

CMS202. Green policiesshould seek to democratiseaccess to culture, media andsporting activities, ensuringthat individuals are notexcluded by reason of age,gender, social, ethnic,economic or geographicalfactors.

CMS203. There is aparticular duty onorganisations responsible foradministering cultural, mediaand sporting activities toensure that both participantsand audiences are not subjectto any form of discriminatorytreatment or abuse.

CMS204. We believe, asacross all our policy, indemocratising and localisingwhere possible. Regulatorystructures need to be effectiveand accountable, and appliedand controlled at the mostlocal practicable level.

CMS205. Supportshould be given toensure that there areadequate resourcesavailable to allowactivities to flourishat a local level ofparticipation. Wherethe private sector isunable to provideaccessible localmedia, local sportingactivity or localcultural support thenit is the role ofgovernment toensure that adequateprovision is availableto meet the needs ofthe community.

CMS206. Where anactivity makes use oflimited resources (forexample mediabandwidth, land forsporting activity,venues for culturalactivities) then it isthe role ofgovernment toreserve a proportionof the resource for‘public’ access (e.g.public servicechannels, publicplaying fields,support for localtheatreinfrastructure)

General Policies

a. Green electedmembers ofgovernmentauthorities will seekto introduce policiesto promote thewidest participationin culture, the mediaand sportingactivities.

b. Specific policyframeworks for eacharea are outlinedbelow. All policyproposals are aimingto reinforce the coreprinciples ofaccessibility,


localisation,participation and fairmanagement oflimited resources.

MEDIA

Media Background

CMS600. The mediasection covers three majorareas:

a) Broadcast media:primarily television andradio

b) Print media: primarilynewspapers, magazinesand journals.

c) New media: primarilyinternet delivery bylandline, wireless andmobile access.

In addition this section dealswith advertising in themedia.

A major concern for a policyframework across all media isthe ownership of the meansof content production anddistribution, particularlywhere this allowsgatekeepers to control accessto the medium

A second concern is that somemedia make use of a limitedresource (e.g. electromagneticspectrum, print distributionchannels, internetbandwidth) and where this isthe case a proportion of theresource needs to bemaintained for public servicepurposes.

A third concern is that,particularly in the case of thetraditional media (press andbroadcast), there need to besystems to ensure a degree oflocal access and content.

Media Principles

CMS610. The Green Partybelieves that a public serviceelement in masscommunications is a vitalpart of Britain’s democracy. A

healthy democracy is aninformed democracy.

CMS611. The Green partybelieves that marketmechanisms alone are aninsufficient basis forregulation of the mass media.

CMS612. A key factor inGreen Party media policy isrecognition of the largeinfluence that the massmedia has on our democracyand our citizens. Publicinformation supplied throughmass media channels shouldnot be subject to private orministerial control.

CMS613. The world ofmass media and digitalcommunications is one ofconstant technologicalchange and innovation. Thereis no reason why suchchanges cannot be utilised tofacilitate greater publicwelfare and democracy.

CMS614. As a generalprinciple data that iscollected or generated atpublic expense should bemade available to individualcitizens for private use at noextra charge. Examplesinclude Ordnance Surveymapping data and the PostOffice postcode data

Media Objectives

CMS620. We believe thatthere is a proper democraticcase for limiting cross mediaownership by trans-nationalcompanies. We would havetighter rules on cross-mediaownership. We are notconvinced that argumentsaround globalisation andcompetition are anyjustification for looseningrestrictions. Allowingindividuals and companies tohave too much influenceundermines the operation ofhealthy informed democracy,not just in the UK, but acrossthe EU and beyond.

CMS621. We would seek toencourage wider, morelocalised, participation anddiscourage any furtherconcentration of mediaownership. Localparticipation links in withour economic strategy ofstrong local economies (seeEC500)

CMS622. Part of the role ofpublic service broadcasting isto provide a shared space forall citizens. Atomisedbroadcasting contributes toan atomised society; publiclysupported channels shouldseek to address the wholesociety, reflecting thediversity and commoninterests of the wholepotential audience.

CMS623. Public servicebroadcasting means thatinformation and educationare given equal precedence toentertainment in terms ofavailability and are notghettoised to inconvenienttimes.

CMS624. As noted above, apublic service obligation alsoincludes entertainment aspart of the mix. A publicservice channel may helpensure that top qualityentertainment is available attimes and places where itmay not be commerciallyviable. This could includeoffering repeats of peak timeentertainment from otherchannels in non-peak slots, aswell as the production of highquality original programming

CMS625. The operation ofpublic service media shouldbe entirely divorced frominterference by thegovernment of the day bothin terms of editorial contentand in terms of economicsupport. Government’s roleshould be confined todefining and reviewing apublic service remit forchannels with a publicservice obligation and


providing sufficient funds tofully deliver the publicservice obligation throughthe Public Service MediaCouncil (see CMS644).

CMS626. Across all thebroadcasting media and presswe would seek to ensure thatlocal channels were locallyowned and accountable. Theconcentration of regionalpress and radio ownership innational organisations acts toreduce diversity of outputreflecting regional and localdifferences. The loss of locallyowned television stationswith the aggregation of ITVand Cable TV ownership isunhelpful and we will seekways to reintroduce andprotect viable locally basedchannels.

CMS627. New mediaownership and access need tobe monitored to ensure that‘digital divides’ orghettoisation of sections ofthe community does notoccur. Just as society hashistorically provided auniversal postal andtelephone service to everyaddress in the countrywithout geographic penalty,so we should seek to ensureuniversal access to digitaltelevision and radio channels,broadband communicationsand mobile telephone use.

Media Policies

a) General

CMS630. We will establisha principle of appointingregulatory bodies bydemocratic means, throughnomination from appropriatedemocratically organisedbodies, including tradeunions and Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs), as well as direct andindirect elections. All seniorappointments, such asDirector General of the BBC,or Chair of IndependentTelevision Commission (ITC),should be made by regulatory

bodies, and whereappropriate, scrutinised bythe relevant SelectCommittee in the House ofCommons.

CMS631. We envisage TheOffice of Communications(OFCOM) remaining as theprimary regulatory authorityacross all media, but theremit will be amended to givesocial and cultural concernsequal weight to commercialfactors. The current biasagainst intervention hastended to create a focus onmarket failure as the basis forregulation.

CMS632. Membership ofthe OFCOM Board and theBoard Committees will bereformed to includedemocratically electedrepresentatives fromstakeholders.

CMS633. The role ofOFCOM will be furtherexpanded to take on statutoryresponsibility and regulationfor matters relating to printmedia. In the first instanceOFCOM may delegate frontline complaint handling tothe Press ComplaintsCommission (PCC), butOFCOM will provide aregulatory framework for thework of the PCC

CMS634. Regulationsacross media/printinvestigations: A free press &media and free speech arefundamental to our societyand should not beconstrained by spuriousdefinitions of the publicinterest. Privacy laws, whilstprotecting citizens’ rights,should not be used toobstruct proper investigativejournalism.

Amendment 4

In CMS634, delete,“Regulations acrossmedia/print investigations: Afree press & media and free

speech”, and replace with, “Afree press and media”.

signedRoger Creagh-OsborneCornish Green Party (BagasGwer Kernewek)Colloggett Cottage, Landulph,Cornwall, PL12 6ND

ALSO:Donald LoweChris HaineMatt Follett

CMS635. Trade unions inthe mass media can helpdemocratisation of access tomedia by giving employeestakeholders a voice in theoutput of media channels.The Green Party will supportthe role of unions in themedia, with a view todeveloping a formal unionrepresentation on governingboards of large mediaorganisations in the UK.

b) Public ServiceBroadcasting

CMS640. In television andradio an importantcomponent of a public serviceobligation is the productionand promotion of nonratings-led programming.Public service broadcasterswill not be expected tomaximise ratings where theycan demonstrate a culturalvalue to their work.

CMS641. The primarypublic service broadcasterwill remain the BBC fundedwholly by public money froma tax which may be ring-fenced (hypothecated) forpublic service broadcast use.The operation of this taxshould not be regressive. Theexisting licence fee will beabolished and in the firstinstance replaced by aguaranteed inflation linkedpayment from generaltaxation.

CMS642. As part of itspublic service obligation theBBC will be required to


continue to develop itscentres of excellence in allregions of the UK and have asignificant local presence inall regions. The centralisationof functions in London doesgreat dis-service to the rest ofthe country, and moderntechnology makes it feasibleto run a fully dispersednational organisation.

CMS643. The BBC shouldbe organised primarily as apublic service and thus nothave to behave as if itoperated in a commercialmarket. This is not todiscourage innovation in theBBC or to prevent the BBCcompeting in certain marketsagainst commercialcompanies, but to recognisethat the value and success ofthe BBC is not solelymeasured in commercialterms. Following from thisthe funding of the BBC cannotbe viewed solely through aneconomic prism, but mustinclude the idea of publicutility.

CMS644. The Green Partybelieves in maintainingpublic funding, as long as theBBC is pursuing clearly statedcommitments to non-ratingsled programming andcontinuing to fulfil a publicservice remit defined by thegovernment through theregulators. This wouldinclude significant localproduction and distributionof content reflecting localcommunities.

CMS645. Whilst the BBCremains a public serviceorganisation it is vital todistance it from Governmentor State interference. Thelevel of funding available andits distribution between theBBC and other organisationsfulfilling public serviceobligations shall be removedfrom direct governmentcontrol through ademocratically appointedPublic Service Media Council.

CMS646. The Public ServiceMedia Council (PSMC) willagree with government thetotal level of funding requiredfor all public service media todeliver the agreed publicservice obligations. PSMC willdistribute the funding toappropriate organisationsincluding the BBC.

CMS647. Where anexisting public servicemedium is being supplantedby a new alternative (as forexample in the switch fromanalogue to Digital TerrestrialTelevision (DTT)broadcasting, or the possiblemovement of some publicservice programming to newmedia) then the governmenthas an obligation to ensureuniversal access before theold medium is discontinued.

c) Commercial Broadcasting

CMS650. We would seek torestore some public serviceobligations to the commercialTV and Radio broadcasters. Inparticular we wish to see thereintroduction and protectionof locally owned and runtelevision and radio channelsthrough more stringentcontrols on the licencesissued to broadcasters.

CMS651. We wouldestablish Community MediaCentres, at a sub-regionallevel, where residents of thearea can be trained andproduce programmes thatreflect the diversity ofperspectives in theircommunity. TheseCommunity Media Centresshould be run democraticallyand accountable to regionalpublic broadcasting councils.

CMS652. We will removefinancial and otherbureaucratic barriers to smallgeographically basedchannels built around thelocal output of CommunityMedia Centres.

CMS653. We wish to keepChannel 4 as a publiccorporation with a significantpublic service obligation asan alternative to the BBC. Ingeneral we will amend theregulations so that there is apresumption againstaggregation of ownershipboth within and acrossmedia.

Amendment 5

Delete CMS653 and replacewith: CMS653 Broadcastmedia will be regulated suchthat there is a presumptionagainst aggregation ofownership both within andacross media.

signedRoger Creagh-OsborneCornish Green Party (BagasGwer Kernewek)Colloggett Cottage, Landulph,Cornwall, PL12 6ND

COSIGNED:Brian HeatleyClaire O’NeillMatt FollettAnd 2 others

CMS654. We are opposedto 'contesting' funds forPublic service programmes((i.e. opening up aprogramme fund for whichall Broadcasters can bid). Thiswill undermine BBC's andC4’s public service platform.Only where existing publicservice broadcasters areunable or unwilling to meetan identified public serviceneed would funding throughPSMC (see CMS646) beopened to alternativechannels.

d) Press and print massmedia

CMS660. Ownership andcontrol of national and localprint newspapers andjournals is a proper matter forregulation by OFCOM.

CMS661. At present we donot see the need for a public


service print publisher in ananalogous position to theBBC, but this shall be keptunder review as thenewspaper market evolves.

CMS662. Concentration ofownership of the distributionchannels for print media actsas a barrier to new andunusual entrants. There maybe a case for intervention bythe regulator (OFCOM) toensure a vibrant print culturedevelops. Retailers shall notbe tied into single distributoragreements for magazinesand national chains will beencouraged to allow localmanagement to source andstock local material.

CMS663. Measures will beintroduced to encourage localownership and editorialcontrol of titles particular tospecific communities, citiesand regions.

CMS664. We willencourage local papers toreport on local governmentissues (parish, town, districtand principal authoritylevels) as a public service tohelp re-engage citizens withtheir governance.

e) New Media

CMS670. Democratisationof media/TV: the Green Partyrecognises and welcomesdevelopments in broadbandTV channels that allow freeparticipation. The GreenParty believes thatgovernment at all levelsshould encourage suchdemocratisation of media,and wider participation ingenerating content.

CMS671. Councils will beencouraged and helped tomake their publicdeliberations availablethrough streaming media.

CMS672. The Green Partybelieves that thedevelopment of computercommunications has reachedthe point where BT should

have an obligation to providebroadband capableinfrastructure to everyhousehold. Funding formarginal ‘uneconomic’ linesmay come from a small levyon every access line. Theprinciple of universal accessat the same base price to thehousehold should prevail aswith post and telephoneservices.

CMS673. The BBC will beallowed to carry its publicservice role over into newmedia through developing itsweb and online servicesfunded from its generalrevenue stream. In line withthe principle of limitingcross-media ownership, wemay wish to see the newmedia arm of the BBC developinto a separate organisationwhich carries a public serviceobligation specifically fornew digital media andfunded from public moneythrough the Public ServiceMedia Council.

CMS674. As technologiesevolve ‘spare’ spectrum orbandwidth may becomeavailable. This represents avaluable ‘commons’ whichshould not simply beauctioned to the highestbidder but a proportionshould be reserved for publicuse.

f) Advertising

CMS680. Advertising hasgreat impact on the world inwhich we live. The Greenperspective is that in thecontext of deregulatedcommercial freedom andunsustainable consumptionby citizens, advertising is inneed of some restraint.Whilst we recognise thefreedom of individuals tomake informed choices forthemselves, regulation isneeded where the impact ofconsumption is to thedetriment of society.Regulators have a particular

responsibility towardschildren and the vulnerable.

CMS681. Advertisingto Children. Unsustainableeconomic growth is highlyinfluenced by a culture ofconsumption. This culture iscurrently engendered inchildren and young people byadvertising, particularly ontelevision. Children must beprotected from unscrupulousmarketing and aggressiveadvertising. A Greengovernment wouldstrengthen regulation ofadvertising in media thatmay be viewed by children,and of products intended forconsumption by children, toensure that they are factualand informative and notmanipulative.

CMS682. As specifiedin DU401 we will introduce acomplete ban on promotionof tobacco and alcoholproducts through advertisingor sponsorship.

CMS683. Environmental Advertising. Productswhich are harmful to theenvironment, for example interms of greenhouse gasemissions through use, orembodied carbon in theirmanufacture or distribution,will be required to carry aprominent warning in alladvertising. See also policiesTR550, TR552 and TR553 onair travel advertising

CMS684. SocialAdvertising. The costsassociated with advertisingspace create an imbalancebetween commercial andnon-commercialorganisations in their abilityto influence the public. Wewill investigate means toprovide access to alladvertising media for groupsseeking to redress a perceivedimbalance.

CMS685. PoliticalAdvertising


Political Parties are notfundamentally commercialorganisations, and needcontinuing access to mediachannels in order to helpmaintain a citizenry aware ofthe political issues andinvolved in the democraticprocess. The system of PartyPolitical Broadcasts should beextended to allow allregistered political partiessome free access to mediaspace outside election periodsand in print as well asbroadcast media. Accessbetween elections would bein proportion to theirregistered membership.

Amendment 1In paragraph CMS685, headed"Political Advertising", inpenultimate sentence deletethe word 'all', prior to'registered political parties'. Inthe final sentence, replace 'inproportion to their registeredmembership' with'dependent on the partyexceeding a given thresholdof votes cast in the last roundof proportionalrepresentation elections, inline with the rules regardingeligibility for state funding ofpolitical parties (see PA307).'

PROPOSED: Jonathan Dixonand Brian HeatleyJustine Hall, Matt Follett + 2others

Amendment 2Add a new section afterCMS685 CMS686 The aggregate andcumulative effect ofadvertising taken altogetheris to increase overall demandand foster a materialist andconsumption driven culturewhich is not sustainable. Theoverall volume of advertisingthat promotes unsustainableconsumption will becontrolled and graduallyreduced. This control will beexercised by OFCOM, whomay also exercise it over

forms of advertising nototherwise within theircontrol. They will take intoaccount, amongst otherthings: a) the extent to whichadvertising is straightforwardand factual,and provides usefulinformation to consumers, orpromotes worthwhile causesor activities, as againstunsustainable consumption, b) the need, given theimportance of advertisingrevenues, tomaintain and encouragediversity within the mediaand freedom of editorialexpression, c) an overall target for thevolume of advertisingprovided by thegovernment to OFCOMannually in the light ofeconomic circumstances, and d) the need to avoidunnecessary regulation ofsmall scale or localactivities that promote thedevelopment of the localeconomy or community. Proposed by Brian Heatley,Brian Leslie, Roger Creagh-Osborne, Matt Follett and oneother.

SPORT

Background

CMS800. Sport has a hugerole to play in the culture andhealth of any society. Webelieve that currently there isan imbalance betweenparticipation andconsumption of sport. Bothparticipation as a player andconsumption as a spectatorhave been subject to massivecommercial pressures

Amendment 3

"Delete CMS800, replace withtext from CMS810 as newCMS800, renumber CMS811to CMS813 as CMS810 toCMS812"

Proposed byRoger Creagh-Osborne,Brian Heatley, Brian OrrClare O'Neill + 4 others

CMS801. There hasbeen a growth in sport as aspectator basedentertainment and adiminishment of sport as ameans to improve physicalhealth and co-operativebehaviours. We see a need forgovernment to encourageand provide support forparticipation in all sports atlocal level.

CMS802. Nationalexcellence in sport can bestarise as a result of awidespread engagement insporting activity across age,class, race, gender andgeography.

CMS803. Any sportthat involves the killing orinfliction of pain or sufferingupon any animal is excludedfrom this section (see AR411)

Sport Principles

CMS810. Sport can have avery positive influence on thesociety we live in.Participation in sportimproves physical fitness,and sport can help provide asense of community and canhelp break down barriersbetween communitiesthrough engaging in friendlycompetition.

CMS811. There aresignificant wider socialbenefits through increasedparticipation in sport; forexample health and well-being benefits translate intoreduced pressure on the NHS(see H311) and improvedgreen economic performance(see EC310)

CMS812. In line with theprinciples above, the GreenParty believes that there is noplace in sport at any level for


racism or any other form ofdiscrimination.

CMS813. The Green Partyfurther recognises that sportis one of the main remainingareas of genderdiscrimination. Women facemany barriers (social,cultural, official) to fullparticipation in many sports.This is an equallyunacceptable discrimination.

Sport Policy

a) General

CMS830. Programmes tocombat discriminationshould be introducedwherever necessary, with aparticular focus on youngpeople.

b) Sport in School

CMS840. Participation inphysical activities such assport is a very important partof children’s development.Because many sports requirespecial facilities, equipment,or the participation of largeteams, they can be thingswhich children or parentswill be unable to properlyorganise for themselves.Schools therefore have animportant role in firstintroducing children to awide range of sportingactivities.

CMS841. Sport in schoolshould not be treated in thesame way as other lessons.Since it can involve setting upequipment and getting to andfrom playing locations, all ofwhich take time, sports arelikely to suffer if they aretimetabled into a school dayjust like any other lesson.Instead, they should be givensufficient time to make themmeaningful. This may beachieved by extending theschool day and increasingresources specifically toenable sporting and physicalactivities.

CMS842. Schools shouldbe aiming to provide a full,unbroken half day per weekof sport for every child, inaddition to dailyopportunities for physicalexercise. All sports should beopen to all children and allchildren should be expectedto participate in somesporting activity appropriateto their needs.

CMS843. Schools shouldseek to form ties with localsporting clubs (eitheramateur or professional) inorder to share facilities, gaincoaching assistance andprovide pupils with an easierroute to taking up thesesports outside school.

CMS844. School playingfields should be protectedfrom development throughrigourous planning controls.All new schools shouldinclude sufficient indoor andoutdoor facilities to ensurethat all pupils can beaccommodated.

CMS845. School sportsfacilities should be open foraccess by local clubs andteams outside teaching hoursto ensure maximum use of avaluable resource. This wouldapply to all types of schoolhowever funded. In addition,as noted in ED320,community resources shouldbe fully integrated into theeducational system.

b) Amateur Sport

CMS850. Participation inamateur sport fosters goodcommunity relations andhelps maintain people_sphysical fitness. The aim ofsports education in schoolshould be to encourage asmany people as possible tocontinue participating insport after they leave school.As the vast majority of thisparticipation will be at anamateur level, it is important

to ensure that sufficientfacilities exist to allow theparticipation of all those whowant it.

CMS851. Local councilsshould ensure that facilitiessuch as sports centres,swimming pools and sportsfields are sufficient to meetdemand. The importance oflocal amateur sporting teamsshould be recognised bygovernment at all levels, whoshould provide assistance tosuch clubs wheneverpractical. This could includethe use of school fields byclubs for matches, wheresuch clubs are unable tomaintain their own grounds.

c) Professional Sport

CMS860. A strong schooland amateur sports cultureshould, in turn, strengthenprofessional sport by bothencouraging those who wishto pursue sport as a careerand increasing the potentialaudience. Access to a sportingcareer should be availablewithout discrimination toanyone with the desire andability to pursue it.

CMS861. In addition totheir commercial aspect,professional sporting teamsoften represent communitiesat local or national level andthis social function needs tobe recognised and supportedby developing structureswhich would allow localstakeholders to participate inthe running of the business.

CMS862. The Green Partywould prefer professionalsporting clubs to be mutuallyowned by the membersrather than by shareholders.For those clubs which arecurrently Public LimitedCompanies, whose shares aretraded internationally, therisk is always that distantshareholders, with no regardfor the community the club is


supposed to represent, willtake over the club and severall meaningful links with thelocal community. In someinstances, clubs have evenbeen moved to other townsand cities - making a mockeryof any supposed localconnection implied in theclub’s name. We willintroduce legal mechanismsto allow transformation ofsuch PLCs into MutualOrganisations withagreement of stakeholders.

CMS863. Where clubswish to remain as PLCs, theGreen Party would like to seesupporters’ trusts set up withthe aim of achieving enoughof a shareholding to preventthe club being taken over byoutside financial interests.

CMS864. Localauthorities should bepermitted to invest in sharesin professional sports clubswhich operate in their area asa means of maintaining aconnection between the cluband its community. Anydividends paid to theauthority must be reinvestedinto public sporting facilitiesor coaching programmes inthe area.

CMS865. We believe in‘safestanding’ for sportsstadia. This means thatspectators who wish to standwill be allocated their ownspace separated from seatingonly areas. There areexamples of good practice incountries like Germany andwe believe it is high time theUK adopted this practice.Currently (2007) UEFA doesnot allow the use of standingareas in grounds for itsfixtures. We would seek toundo this ban where suchareas are proven to be safe forspectators and where thepolice are satisfied that nocrowd control issues wouldarise.

d) International Sport

CMS870. Whilstprofessional sport is abusiness, as noted above, itsrole in representing acommunity in a spirit offriendship and mutualrespect with othercommunities should never beoverlooked. This is especiallyso in the case of internationalsport.

CMS871. If a team isrepresenting the nation thenthe Government should takea role in deciding whether itis appropriate for the team totake part in competitionagainst a country with whomnormal friendly, respectful, ordiplomatic relations are notpossible. The Governmentshould not try to avoid takingaction by treating the sport asif it was a private businessventure.

CMS872. Indetermining whether aparticular country isappropriate for internationalsporting contactsconsideration should be givento the freedom of access bysupporters and media in thecountry. If host governmentactions meant that suchfreedoms for UK citizens andjournalists could not bereasonably guaranteed, thereshould be a presumptionagainst a visit by arepresentative national team.

CMS873. Strategicnational planning shouldseek to ensure that majornational sporting arenas arenot all sited in one part of thecountry and that all can beeasily accessed by good publictransport links. Whereverpractical, the venue forinternational sportingfixtures should be rotatedaround various suitablestadia throughout thecountry, and should avoidbeing excessively focussed inLondon.

CMS874. When biddingto host major internationalsporting competitions, suchas World Cups or theOlympics, wherever possibleexisting facilities should beproposed. No new facilitiesshould be proposed unlesstheir existence will also proveto be useful to the wider localcommunity in the years tofollow the games.

CMS875. The UK shoulduse its influence with theworld sporting community toencourage the placing ofinternational games acrosswider geographic areas toprevent excessive negativedisruption to the lives andeconomies of hostcommunities.

CMS876. The televisingof major national andinternational sporting eventshas a significant influence ininspiring young people totake up sports. It is thereforeimportant to ensure that suchevents remain available onfree-to-air nationwide TV.The Government shouldresist proposals to removeevents from the list of thoseprotected in such a way. Itshould negotiate to gethighlights of major eventswhich are no longer protectedin this way, and eventsstaged overseas involvingrepresentative nationalteams, made available onfree-to-air TV if possible.

f) Localised Sports

CMS880. Some sports arespecific to small localisedareas of the country. Forexample Cornish Wrestlingand Sussex Stoolball. Localauthorities shouldparticularly seek toencourage and support suchactivities both in educationand in the community.

ENDS


Roger Creagh-Osborne andPolicy Committee

B20. Public Administrationand Government section ofthe MfSS .

Synopsis:We currently have threesections in the MfSS coveringPublic Administration andGovernment. They areinconsistent, sometimes outof date, and have somenotable gaps in areas such asthe organisation of centralgovernment. Spring 2005Conference instructed PolicyCommittee to produce asingle section, rectifyingthese problems. Followingthe submission of DraftVoting Papers to recentconferences, this VotingPaper carries out that remit.

Motion:Delete the Green Councils(GC100-GC209), Principles ofGovernment (PG100-PG340)and Public Administration &Government (PA100-PA907)sections from the MfSS andreplace with the following:

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONAND GOVERNMENT

Introduction

PA001. We live in a statewhere over centuries ofstruggle some democraticrights and institutions havegradually been grafted on to afeudal monarchy. In thatfeudal monarchy all powerflowed downward from themonarch, and the peoplewere subjects and notcitizens. Gradually some ofthat power has beendelegated to bodies likeParliament, or to localauthorities, and citizens haveacquired some rights.However our constitutionstill has many of the

elements of its feudal past,including some remnants ofthe royal prerogative. Webelieve that the basicprinciple of Governmentshould be the reverse of this,that is that power flowsupwards from the people, andfrom their most local levels ofGovernment to the higherlevels. Certain principlesfollow from this:

Principles

PA100. All decision-makingand action throughout alllevels of government,including internationalgovernment, shall begoverned by the principle ofsubsidiarity: namely thatnothing should be donecentrally if it can be doneequally well, or better,locally.

PA101. A further principle isthat any democratic andaccountable authority mayjudge for itself whichfunctions carried out at ahigher level it can do equallywell, or better, provided thatthe devolution of suchfunctions does not threatenthe sustainability of thewider area. Coupled with theprinciple of subsidiarity, thisestablishes the need for astructure that respondspositively to demands fordecentralisation from below,and that ensures that thisproceeds smoothly and doesnot disempower othercommunities.

PA102. The highest form ofdemocracy is directparticipation. This is bestachieved through thedecentralisation of society, sothat decisions can be madethrough face to facediscussion. All the majorpolitical decisions whichaffect our lives should ideallybe made with our activeparticipation, which requires

open and informed debaterather than simply votingwithout discussion. Thisrequires that all economicand social activity should becarried out on a human scale;that is, in a way that allowsindividuals and groups accessto, and influence over, suchdecisions. Direct democracywill encourage cross-party co-operation and weaken thehold of ideologies andfactions.

PA103. Such direct democraticparticipation requires citizensto be able to access theinformation they need inorder to be able to take part indecision-making. Freedom ofinformation, and openness ofgovernment and itsprocedures, are thereforeintegral principles in thecreation of a more democraticand decentralised society.

PA104. Given the scale ofhuman activity in the worldtoday, and the indirectimpact that much of thisactivity has on people livingin different areas, it is clearthat not all decisions can bemade locally. The best form ofdemocracy for large-scaleactivity is voting, in electionsand referenda, in such a waythat the outcome reflects thepattern of voting and no voteis wasted. Delegatedauthority and trust must beaccompanied by fullaccountability.

PA105. A community cannotbe self-determining unless itis to a large extent self-reliant. Self-reliance is theability to satisfy needswithout being excessively orunequally dependent uponanyone; self-sufficiency isone way to achieve self-reliance, but is by no meansthe only way.

PA106. Co-operation andworking together in order to


achieve a state of harmonywith the planet and the life itsupports must befundamental to all policydecisions. Divisions, power-relations, intolerance,prejudice, wide inequalitiesand failures incommunication all weakencommunities and precludesuch co-operation. A Bill toenshrine rights andresponsibilities must exist tohelp protect against this;positive action to build atolerant, global awarenessand to empower oppressedgroups is also necessary.

PA107. Government musttherefore exist at manylevels, each based upongeographical areas withinwhich a given set of functionscan be carried out and withwhich the people themselveshave some common bond.These areas will in manycases be bio-regionally based,on the geographical andecological boundaries alreadyexisting.

PA108. The Green Party viewscitizenship as a set of rightsand responsibilities based onresidence in and commitmentto a community orgeographical area. Thoserights include the right tobasic material security andshelter, and participation inthe democratic process. TheGreen Party believes that theage of majority (at which fullcriminal responsibility andthe power to make contractsis acquired) should bereduced to 16, to clarify theage at which children becomeadults in the eyes of the law,with accompanying fullcitizenship rights andresponsibilities.

PA109. The basis for adecentralised society and theestablishment of a Bill ofRights must be laid out in aclear and accessible written

constitution; but in the yearsbefore the adoption of such aconstitution there is muchwork to be done indismantling such ahierarchical and centralisedstate. While this can onlysucceed with the activeparticipation of communitiesand local councils, and whilevarious international bodiesand institutions will heavilyinfluence the process, the keyto a smooth transition will liein the way in whichParliament surrenders itstradition of nationalsovereignty.

PA110. The above principlesall relate to issues ofdemocracy and participationin the democratic processes.Important as these are, itshould not be forgotten thatthe primary purpose ofgovernment andadministration is theprovision of public services,including those institutionswhich maintain public orderand national security.

PA111. Public services mustalways take account of thewider social impacts of theiractions. All those involved inpublic service provision, bethey elected representativesor public sector employees,should be working for thegood of the community as awhole. They should beresponsive to the needs, andrespectful of the wishes, oftheir communities. In return,their efforts and commitmentshould be valued by thecommunities they serve.

PA112. Government actionsmust always be subject to therule of law, which must beoverseen by an independentjudiciary.

Policies

Constitutional

PA200. A ConstitutionalCommission will be requiredto draft a writtenconstitution, oversee andarbitrate the process ofdecentralisation, and takeover the functions of theBoundary Commissions andthe Electoral Commission.The ConstitutionalCommission will also beresponsible for overseeing theappointment of anindependent judiciary. TheCommission must beaccountable, representative,diverse, aware of practicalrequirements and grassrootsconcerns, and independent ofWestminster. Therefore it willbe formed at the earliestopportunity of electedmembers representing alllevels of Government in allparts of the UK countriesinvolved.

PA201. The Green Party willrecommend to theConstitutional Commissionthat the structures laid outhere for a gradual butcomplete decentralisation arewritten into the Constitution;that the Constitution is basedon Green principles (seePA100-111); and that it fullyguarantees political rights aswell as wider human rights.(see RR)

PA202. In order for councils tobe sufficiently legitimate andtrustworthy to take onincreased responsibility,large-scale electoral reformwill be required, andimmediate legislation forcitizen's rights. (see PA250-308, RR301)

PA203. The CentralParliament needs to beprepared to surrender manyof its traditional powers, andactively assist in the processof decentralisation. To thisend, Parliament has anumber of key roles to play -first, to devolve functions to


more local bodies; second, tolift its hold over councils andenable them to realise theirpotential; and third, to workwith the ConstitutionalCommission to meetdemands from localGovernment to take onresponsibility for resourcesand functions which arecurrently dealt with at toohigh a level by centralGovernment and the privatesector. (see PA100-101)

PA204. The ConstitutionalCommission will beresponsible for keeping theboundaries and structures oflocal and regionalgovernment under review,taking account of the viewsof local authorities andresidents. The aim should beto move towards structureswhich better reflect theecology of the land and thecharacter of localcommunities, and whichenable better democraticdecision-making and theeffective provision of publicservices. Any significantproposed changes to suchstructures would be subject toa referendum of all residentsaffected.

Direct Democracy andPolitical Rights

PA250. A Bill of politicalrights will be enacted at theearliest opportunity toprohibit oppressive actionsby unrepresentativeGovernments andinaccessible bureaucracies.

PA251. There will be acompulsory register of electedrepresentatives’ and seniorofficers’ pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests, whichwill be open to publicinspection.

PA252. Legislation will beintroduced to provide forreferenda to be held on any

government decision at theinstance of a prescribedpercentage of that body'selectorate.

PA253. When a Bill of Rightshas been enacted, aprescribed percentage of thecitizens of any area shall beable to take a Citizens'Initiative, whereby they placea proposition on a ballotpaper for popular vote.Should the propositionsucceed the result will,subject to the law, be bindingon the relevant governmentbody.

PA254. Government at alllevels should be accountableto electors between electionsand accordingly necessarylegislative steps will be takento provide for a prescribedpercentage of anyrepresentative's electors to beable to petition for the recallof any elected person, andrules will be made for theconduct of such recallpetitions.

PA255. It is accepted thatsuch recall provisions asdescribed in PA254 abovemay cause some difficultiesunder a proportionalrepresentation method ofelecting representatives andaccordingly theConstitutional Commissionwill look further at thismatter. Until, however,proportional representationexists for elections to alllevels of government theGreen Party will campaign forrecall provisions under thecurrent “First past the post”system.

Electoral Reform

PA300. Elections for all levelsof government should be bysystems of election thatprovide for highproportionality, few wastedvotes and good

accountability, so that thepolitical aspirations andviews of each area arerepresented.

PA301. The right to vote andstand in elections will bebased on residence ratherthan nationality. (see alsoRR706)

PA302. The voting age for allelections, and the age atwhich people may take seatsat any level of Government,would be reduced to 16.

PA303. The Green Partysupports Electoral Reform inall levels of Government,with different systems beingappropriate for differentlevels of Government. Of thevarious electoral systemsavailable, we would considerthe Single Transferrable Voteand Additional MemberSystems to be entirelyacceptable, whilst First-Past-The-Post or SupplementaryVote Systems are not.

PA304. The most appropriatesystem for elections to theWestminster Parliament isthe Additional MemberSystem (AMS). Electors wouldvote on two ballots: one forthe party of their first choiceand the other for theirconstituency MP. MPs wouldbe elected fromconstituencies as at present,but each party'srepresentation would betopped up on a regional basisby additional members tobring its number of seats upto its proportion of votespolled, provided thatproportion was above aminimum qualifying level of3% of votes polled. Therewould be a requirement thateach party's list has to beelected by a system of 'onemember one vote' of theparty's membership.

PA305. The most appropriate


system for elections to localGovernment is by SingleTransferable Vote (STV). Thissystem elects multiplemembers for individualwards or divisions in a givenelection, which will eitherincrease ward/division sizesor increase the number ofcouncillors elected for a givenward/division. Wherecouncils currently elected athird of members at a time,switching to electing thewhole council at once couldlimit the increase in size.Final decisions on thesematters should reflect localcircumstances.

Amendment 1

Delete PA305 and replacewith the following: "PA305 The most appropriatesystem for elections to localGovernment is the AdditionalMember System (AMS).Electors would vote on twoballots: one for the party oftheir first choice and theother for their wardcouncillor(s). Councillorswould be elected from wardsas under first past the post,but each party'srepresentation would betopped up on a council-widebasis to bring its number ofseats up to its proportion ofvotes polled, provided thatproportion was above aminimum qualifying level of3% of votes polled. Therewould be a requirement thateach party's list has to beelected by a system of 'onemember one vote' of theparty's membership. AMSwould result in moreproportional outcomes thanSTV and would enablesmaller, more localised wardsto be used. AMS could eitherwork through electing thewhole council at once or byelecting half the council ateach election to enableelections to take place more

frequently. Final decisions onthese matters should reflectlocal circumstances. TheConstitutional Commissionwill oversee theestablishment of AMS votingsystems for local authoritiesacross the country and workout the exact details. It willneed to consider whatproportion of membersshould be elected from thetop-up list in order to achieveproportional outcomes." Proposed by: Adrian Ramsay,Chris HullJennifer Toms Howard Jago

PA306. All terms for electedrepresentatives to all levels ofGovernment shall be fixed inlength, except when a seat istaken following a by-election.Each Parliament atWestminster should normallybe for a fixed term of fouryears, but if the Governmentloses a vote of confidence inthe House of Commonsbefore the end of the fixedterm then an earlier GeneralElection should be held.Under the Green Party'slonger term proposals forcentral Government reform(PA452-459), such votes ofconfidence would not benecessary unless Parliamentwere unable to elect a FirstMinister or members of theCoordinating Committee.

PA307. UK political partieswill be funded by the State.Such political funding will becalculated and administeredon a regional basis, and fundsallocated in proportion to thenumber of votes cast in theregion in the last round ofproportional representationelections held across theentire region. Parties wouldneed to exceed a threshold of3% of the vote to becomeeligible for this funding.

PA308. The democraticprocess should be as open and

inclusive as is practicallypossible, and should not seekto put unnecessary obstaclesin place which may preventindividuals from seekingelection. To this end,candidates' deposits will notbe required at any election,nor will there be arequirement to collectelectors' signatures in orderto validate a nomination - thesignature of a single witnessto the nomination beingsufficient.

AmendmentIn PA308 delete “, nor willthere be a requirement tocollect electors' signatures inorder to validate anomination - the signature ofa single witness to thenomination being sufficient”

Alan Francis, Martin LoveGraeme McIver, Janet Altyand 1 other

Local Government Structure

PA350. The currentorganisation of localgovernment, with some areasbeing covered by UnitaryAuthorities whilst others stilloperate two tiers of Countyand District/BoroughCouncils, has arisen for anumber of historical andpractical reasons. The GreenParty believes that differentareas may have differentneeds in terms oforganisational structure, andthat there is no reason why asituation in which differenttiers operate in different partsof the country cannot workwell. We are thereforeopposed to any centralisedimposition of uniformstructures across the wholecountry.

PA351. In particular weoppose the drive by centralgovernment towards unitarycouncils and ever largerdistricts. The average


population of British districtsis already significantly largerthan their equivalents incontinental Europe, and thistendency serves to distancethem from their people andmake them seem less local.Some of the larger shiredistricts should considerwhether or not partitioningthem into two separatecouncils would enhance civicpride and local participation,without compromising theirability to deliver qualityservices (see PA204).

PA352. The county level ofgovernment can have animportant place in strategicdecisions too large for onedistrict to deal with -particularly while thereremains no popular will tointroduce a regional tier ofgovernment. Popular supporthas been shown formaintaining what are largelycounty-scale policeauthorities. Many additionalcountywide bodies remain inthe metropolitancounties after the abolition oftheir councils. Someresponsibilities of unelectedbodies could also be devolvedto counties (see PA415).

PA353. All Councils will beasked to complete a review ofthe pattern of Town andParish councils in their areawithin two years; and thelegislation on Parishes will beextended to cover all parts ofBritain. Every effort should bemade to ensure that theboundaries of Parishes reflectlocal peoples' wishes; theConstitutional Commissionwill arbitrate in disputes.

PA354. Town and ParishCouncils will have the optionof whether or not to payCouncillors a salary,depending on theresponsibilities taken by theCouncil and the resultingworkload of its Councillors.

PA355. Adjoining districtsmay co-operate to any levelfor the joint exercise ofspecific functions, providedsuch co-operation does notimpact on the accountabilityof decision making. Similarly,parishes may co-operate toact on common concerns notapplicable to the wholedistrict. We support co-operation betweenauthorities across nationalborders, where necessary orappropriate.

PA356. The Green Partybelieves that local authoritiesrun by single party cabinets,or by directly elected mayors,are not in the best interests oflocal democracy. They takedecision making powersaway from councils as awhole and place them in thehands of a few individuals,leading to thedisenfranchisement of thosecouncillors who are not in theruling party and the citizensthey represent. We wouldtherefore reintroduce thecommittee system acrosslocal government at all levels,which provides for directmember involvement indecision making.

The Scottish Parliament,Welsh Assembly andNorthern Irish Assembly

PA400. Provision will bemade for reconsideration ofthe role of the ScottishParliament, Welsh Assemblyand the Northern IrishAssembly in accordance withthe wishes of these people.Scotland, Wales and NorthernIreland will enjoy the degreeof autonomy, perhapsinvolving full self-Government orindependence, which thecitizens of each, expressingtheir views throughreferenda, wish them to have.Citizens of regions in England

will have a similar right.References above and belowto regions will apply toScotland, Wales and NorthernIreland so long as they chooseto remain in the UnitedKingdom.

Regional Government inEngland

PA410. Many Governmentfunctions are alreadyorganised on a regional basisthrough the RegionalGovernment Offices (GRO),the Regional DevelopmentAgencies (RDA), the RegionalChambers (RCh) andnumerous other regionalQUANGOs. Public acceptanceof these agencies, and theirsubsequent usefulness, variesfrom region to region,depending on how closely theregions correlate to naturaland cultural areas whichpeople identify themselves asliving within. Any suchregion should be able todecide, via a referendum ofthe citizens living within it,to create a directly electedregional assembly as anadditional tier ofgovernment.

PA411. These regionalassemblies would take overthe powers of the GRO, RDA,the existing RegionalChamber and other existingQUANGOs, and adapt theirexisting bureaucracies toserve the new Assembly.Funding would, in the initialstages, come from divertingthe existing block grantregional funding allocated bycentral Government.

PA412. The particular formand structure of theseregional assemblies set upunder PA410 will vary fromregion to region according toregional circumstances. Theyshould be elected by a systemof proportionalrepresentation. The


appropriate form andstructure will be determinedby regional constitutionalconventions drawn from allsectors of society, similar tothe Scottish ConstitutionalConvention.

PA413. The powers of theregional assembly should betaken from those functionscurrently carried out bynational and EuropeanGovernment, and should nottake powers from localauthorities, except where thelocal authorities within theregion agree to pool some oftheir powers for strategicpurposes.

PA414. In due course, theregional assemblies should beable to assume regional tax-raising powers to replace theproportion of nationaltaxation being allocated toregional block grant andother funding. They will alsodraw down more powersfrom national and EuropeanGovernment in accordancewith the principle ofsubsidiarity. (see PA100)

PA415. In line with the GreenParty's policy of allowingCitizen's Initiatives (PA253), aregional assembly or aregional government officecould be abolished by areferendum of all allelectorates covered by thebody in question. In each casethe powers would pass toindividual county councilsand/or unitary authorities.

PA416. Where regionalassemblies, the ScottishParliament, or the Welsh orNorthern Irish Assembly havetaken decision makingpowers from centralgovernment, so that citizenswithin those areas are nolonger subject to centralgovernment decisions onparticular issues, MPs fromthose areas should be

excluded from voting onthose issues in the House ofCommons. Such a provision isconsistent with the conceptof subsidiarity.

The Structure of CentralGovernment

PA450. In a Green society, theUK central government willhave less power than itcurrently has - with many ofits functions being taken overby local authorities or theregions. The centralParliament's powers will belimited to those matters thathave been delegated upwardsto it, and which it in turn hasnot delegated onwards to theEuropean Parliament.

PA451. Central Governmentcurrently revolves around thePrime Minister and theCabinet, with the role ofParliament greatlydiminished. The mostimportant reform needed toredress this imbalance is themove to proportionalrepresentation. This will helpto bring an end to thetraditional dominance of twopolitical parties in Britain.The central Parliament(House of Commons), electedunder the AMS system (seePA305), will be far morerepresentative of thediversity of opinion withinthe UK. There will be far lesschance of an overallParliamentary majority forone party, and, even withoutfurther reform, the resultingnecessity for coalitiongovernments would makegovernments and PrimeMinisters much moreaccountable to Parliament.

PA452. In the longer-term, theGreen Party would wish tointroduce further reforms toincrease the representativenature of centralgovernment. In order tocreate true cross-party

working, and weaken thehold of political ideologies(see PA102), a different formof parliamentary decision-making would be required.Replacing the current systemwith one in which partiesform coalitions in order togain Parliamentarymajorities, and thereforeform a government, may stillresult in thedisenfranchisement of largesections of the electorate,whilst minority partners insuch coalitions may holddisproportionate influence.

PA452. Over the years thepower of the Prime Ministerin particular has greatlyincreased. Not only does thePrime Minister exercise theremaining elements of theroyal prerogative in makingvital decisions like war andpeace and having effectivecontrol of the armed forces,but his or her powers ofpatronage - in particularchoosing the members of thegovernment - give the PrimeMinister overwhelmingcontrol of both the overalldirection and the minutiae ofgovernment. Reflecting thepowers of Prime Ministers,general elections have cometo resemble presidentialcontests, with the charactersof the leaders of the mainpolitical parties comingunder more intense scrutinythan their policies.

PA453. We do not believethat it is either healthy ordemocratic to concentrate somuch power in the hands ofone person. We believe toothat power, executive as wellas legislative, is moreproperly exercised by ademocratically elected bodythan by a cabinet appointedby theprime minister (see PB443).

PA454. Accordingly, theGreen Party would want the


central Parliament itself tobecome the principal decisionmaking body of centralgovernment. To do so thecentral Parliament wouldelect committees coveringeach of the major areas ofgovernment, and eachcommittee would have itsown convenor elected byParliament, who would takethe place of the Secretary ofState in the current system ofgovernment. The committee,assisted by a departmentstaffed by civil servantsresponsible to the committeeas a whole, would beresponsible for day to daydecisions in its area ofresponsibility. Majordecisions, and newlegislation, would need to beratified by Parliament as awhole.

PA455. A First Ministerwould also be elected by thecentral Parliament as awhole, who would beresponsible for chairing acommittee, theCoordination Committee, ofall the convenors ofparliamentary committees. This body would beresponsible for coordinatingthe work of the differentcommittees, and for dealingwith matters that affect themall, such as the allocation ofpublic expenditure. The FirstMinister would act as Head ofGovernment, in particular indealings with other states. The central Parliament wouldalso elect, as at present, anapolitical Speaker, whowould act as Head of State(see PA600c).

PA456. All committeemeetings, including those ofthe Coordination Committee,should be open to membersof the public and media asobservers, except whendiscussing issues which dealwith confidentialinformation or matters with

security implications.

PA457. The First Minister andany of the convenors could berecalled by a no-confidencevote in the central Parliamentat any time. There would betime limits as to how longany individual could hold anyparticular post, so as todiminish the corrosive effectof personal politicalambition, a major fault of thepresent system.

AmendmentDelete PA 454-457

Mark HillCOSIGNEDPeter CranieRob SmithHoward JagoPA458. In order to ensure thatthe business of Parliamentbetter reflected the range ofopinion in the country, timeshould be allocated fairlyacross the political groups forthe submission of proposedBills. Aside from theParliamentary time whichneeds to be allocated to theessential functions ofGovernment, the remainingtime should be allocated toeach political group inproportion to itsrepresentation within thecentral Parliamentarychamber.

PA459. We believe that sucharrangements, combinedwith the introduction ofproportional representation,would bring to an end thesterile two party jousting ofcurrent politics. Proposalswould need to gain supporton their own merit within theParliamentary chamber inorder to beapproved, and the real policydebates will be open for all tohear. In particular, we wouldexpect there to be much moregenuine multi-partycooperation and working inthe committees. Under such

a system decisions are morelikely to have the support ofthe overwhelming majorityof the population than theyare as at present when theyare forced through byminority governments. Inthe longer run we wouldexpect such arrangements todiminish the power ofpolitical parties as such, withindividuals standing forelection feeling freer toexpress their own views andto take an independent lineonce elected.

PA460. The House of Lords, aspresently constituted, has nolegitimate mandate becauseit is not elected. It should beabolished and replaced by asecond chamber directlyelected by proportionalrepresentation. In order toprovide independence fromthe House of Commons, theelectoral method shouldideally be different for eachchamber. With a Parliamentelected by AMS, as above, theGreen Party favours a secondchamber elected by SingleTransferrable Vote in multi-member constituencies. Itsfunction would be toscrutinise legislation devisedby the central Parliament,and to propose amendmentswhere it felt necessary. Thefinal decisions would,however, rest with thecentral Parliament.

PA461. Members of thesecond chamber would beelected to serve for a period often years. In order to ensurethat the chamber was able tomake independent andobjective assessments ofproposed legislation, nomember of the secondchamber should be allowed tosit on it for more than oneterm of office - thereforemeaning that they don't feelbound to follow the wishes oftheir party leaders to preservetheir careers. Accountability


to the electorate would bemaintained by the option ofrecall (see PA254). In order tomaintain some continuity,elections would be held everyfive years - with half thechamber being selected ateach election.

Finance

PA500. In setting up orextending democraticpractices, it is important torecognise that the financeavailable is not infinite. Weneed a system of governmentand administration whichbest fulfils the needs andaspirations of citizens and thechallenges of the future,within the limits of theresources society is preparedto devote to it. A balancealways needs to be struck.The majority of thoseresources will always bedirected towards theprovision of public services,rather than towards themaintenance of democraticprocedures.

PA501. As the economybecomes more decentralised,more public expendituredecisions will be made at alocal level. To facilitateaccountability, and to ensurethe gradual reduction in thescale of central spending, anindependent commissionshould negotiate a rationalallocation of taxationbetween different levels ofGovernment, as well as anyredistribution of wealthbetween different areaswhich is considerednecessary (see EC550-551). PA502. Discussion will beheld with other countrieswithin the EuropeanCommunity to encourageconcurrent devolution ofthose functions and powersover finance, moreappropriately held at theregional level. (see EU227,

228)

PA503. Within a list agreed bythe ConstitutionalCommission, councils willhave discretion over which (ifany) revenue raising powersthey wish to use (see EC550).Levels of taxation will thus beset by the personsanswerable to the electoratefrom whom such funding isto be raised, and for whomsuch services are to beprovided. There will be nolimits set on the revenue acouncil can raise to carry outits mandate.

Monarchy and the Church

PA600. The Green Partybelieves that the hereditaryprinciple should have noplace in government.Therefore the Green Partyadvocates that: a) No person shall acquirethe right to any office ofgovernment by inheritance. b) An hereditary peerageshall confer no right to sit inParliament (see PA455). c) The monarchy shall ceaseto be an office of government.The legislative, executive andjudicial roles of the monarchshall cease. d) Peers and members of theroyal family shall have thesame civil rights and fiscalobligations as other citizens. e) A settlement of propertyheld by the current royalfamily shall be made, todivide it between thatrequired for the private life ofcurrent members of thefamily and that to be publicproperty.

PA601. There shall be acomplete separation ofchurch and state. Societyshall not interfere with theindividual's freedom of belief,but it may by law regulateconduct arising out of thatbelief. In a multiculturalsociety, a privileged position

for the Church of England isinappropriate.

PA602. The Church of Englandshall be disestablished. Itshall become self-governing,and the government shallcease to have any powers andresponsibilities peculiar tothat church. No person shallhold office in the state, or beexcluded from any suchoffice, by virtue of their ortheir spouse's membership ornon-membership of anyreligion or denomination ofreligion.

The Civil Service

PA700. The functions of civilservants working within aministry will be to supportthe Parliamentary sub-committee in its capacity as acoordinator of the nationalaffairs which fall within thescope of the ministry, andenact decisions made byParliament as directed by itssub-committees.

PA701. SeniorCouncil/Governmentemployees in a limitedcategory of jobs shall nothave the right to stand ascandidates for theinstitutions in which theywork. In all other respectsthey should enjoy fullpolitical rights. There will bea limited range of restrictionson the political and businessactivities of certain types ofcivil servants, members of thearmed forces, the policeservice and people employedin certain public or privateinstitutions.

Provision of Watch-dogFacilities

PA800. The remit of thevarious commissioners forpublic administration will bestrengthened. There will be aCommission for Citizen'sRights, which will be


empowered to receivecomplaints ofmaladministration in anypublic body, to investigatethem and to recommendredress. The Commissionshall be empowered to acceptcomplaints from any citizenor group of citizens. Where acomplaint raises a significantquestion of law, theCommission shall beempowered to provide allassistance necessary toenable the complainant(s) topursue the case at law.

PA801. The function of theOmbudsman will be elevatedand enlarged so that it willcomprise a major part ofGovernmental practice. Thepowers of the Ombudsmanand the Commission for LocalAdministration will bestrengthened as follows: i) The Ombudsman will begiven power to investigatecomplaints which affect all ormost of the citizens of a localGovernment area; ii) The Commission will begiven power in appropriatecases to fund, or underwritethe costs of, legal test casesinvolving matters ofimportance concerning theactions of local Government.

PA802. Democraticparticipation requires theavailability of independentinformation on which peoplecan form an opinion. TheGreen Party would thereforeintroduce an independentbody to audit nationalstatistics, to avoid theirmanipulation by governmentdepartments.

Identity, Privacy andFreedom of Information

PA850. The Green Partybelieves that there must be abalance between the need ofgovernment on behalf of thecommunity to obtain andhold information to identify

individual citizens and thecivil rights of individuals,particularly that of privacy.The individual's civil rightsshould prevail, unless waivedby specific agreement oroverridden by a specificpublic interest stipulated bylaw as overriding privacy.Information on individualidentity so obtained shouldbe held confidential, unlessthat confidentiality is waivedby specific agreement oroverridden by a specificpublic interest stipulated bylaw as overridingconfidentiality.

PA851. Such informationmust be obtained and heldonly by government servantssubject to appropriateregulations on privacy andconfidentiality; the task mustnot be given to commercialorganisations. In accordancewith the Green Party's policyon a `Freedom of InformationAct' (RR401), informationacquired by governmentagencies and otherorganisations for specifiedpurposes must not be givento other such organisations orused for other purposes.

PA852. The need for the stateand other organisations toobtain information onindividuals for specificpurposes must not entitlethem to access unrelatedinformation at other timesfor any other purpose. Thiswould undermine the civilliberties of individuals. Itwould enable those in chargeof government and otherorganisations to obtain anduse the information to attackthe legitimate rights andactivities of those opposed tothem.

PA853. Information obtainedand held by the state or otherorganisations must not beused to subvert and attackthe legitimate rights and

activities of those opposed tothem.

PA854. The Green Partyopposes the introduction of ageneral identity card,whether on a compulsorybasis or on a "voluntary" basistantamount to compulsion,and would seek to abolishsuch identity cards ifintroduced.

PA855. "Identity" in thiscontext means a name bywhich a person may beknown, and where necessaryan address through whichthey can be contacted. For thepurposes of the Electoral Roll,a location for the purposes ofqualification may berequired.

PA856. The Green Partybelieves that citizens shouldbe entitled to access toinformation held by all levelsof government and publicauthorities and by bodiesacting on their behalf.Information should beavailable except wherespecifically restricted, andquickly and at reasonablecost. Restrictions shall belimited to those necessary toprotect the privacy ofindividual citizens, nationalsecurity, certain internationalrelations, and informationproperly provided inconfidence. Information onpolicy formulation, theconduct of public affairs, theenvironment and health andsafety should be freelyavailable. In addition,restrictions should only applywhere the government canshow they are required toprevent real harm to thepublic interest. Provisionshall be made for anindependent commission totest the latter contention andrequire access if thatcontention is not sustained.

PA857. The circumstances in


which access to councilmeetings and documents andfiles may be withheld fromthe public shall be clearlydefined. In particular theLocal Government (Access toInformation) Act 1985 will betightened up in a number ofways, for example: i) The creation by localauthorities of 'workingparties', 'panels' or other suchbodies, which are not coveredby the Act, will be ended. Allsuch bodies will be defined ascommittees or sub-committees, to ensure thatthe Act applies to them; ii) The use of validexemptions to public accessto documents pursuant to the1985 Act, to restrict publicaccess to matters notintended to be covered bythose exemptions, will beended; for instance thepractice of excluding thepublic from decisions aboutgrants given to organisations- as distinct from individualswhere genuine personalprivacy may apply; iii) Steps will be taken tocurtail decision-making insecret party group meetingsas this practice makes thesubsequent meetings of thecouncil or its committees orsub-committees meaninglessas the decisions ostensiblytaken in public will inpractice have been madebeforehand. We would alsowish to end the practice inwhich all members of a partyare required to follow a whipimposed in secret, withpenalties if they fail to do so.

Greening Local Government

The Current Situation

PA900. Local governmentexists in a permanent state ofcrisis, with neither theresources nor the sovereigntyto implement effective Greenpolicies.

PA901. Even within thecurrent restraints, there aremany things the Green Partywill do to promote thedecentralisation of power inour society and build a senseof real community within theareas in which we live.

The Work of Elected GreenCouncillors

PA910. One solution is to gooutside the conventions ofpolitical office to mobilise theresources of the community.A priority for Green Partycouncillors is therefore to actas people who can co-ordinate initiatives comingfrom below, tapping andencouraging the ideas andpotential that are latenteverywhere. (see EC512,620s)

PA911. Parish andCommunity Councils can beset up where they do notalready exist, encouraged totake more responsibilitiesand empowered by theDistrict Council to takedecisions and action.Similarly, there is thepotential for theestablishment oftown/community meetings,empowered whereappropriate to take decisions.

PA912. Access to the Councils'records and informationshould be made more open.Also, the creation of specialcommunity forums tooversee the work of particulardepartments and committeesmay increase involvement.Where elected, therefore,Green Councillors will try topersuade their localauthorities to write suchprovisions into their ownstanding orders, particularlyas regards PA857(i) and (ii),thus committing the localauthority to implement themimmediately.

PA913. The council canfacilitate and make itselfaccountable to referenda andcitizen's initiatives. Whereelected, Green councillors willurge their local authorities tothemselves, in advance ofany changes in the law, setup the machinery for citizenreferenda and citizeninitiative as described inPA252 and PA253 above; topublicise this, to implementthis and, subject to theexisting law, to accept theresults of such referenda andinitiatives as binding. In suchcases the prescribed numberof signatures required on acitizen petition for either areferendum or an initiativeshall be 20% of the electorate.

PA914. Individual Councillorscan make themselvesavailable for recall whenpetitioned to do so (seePA254). The Green Partyrecommends that all of itsprospective councillors atfuture elections shouldvoluntarily subjectthemselves to recall. Wherethe prescribed percentage of40% of any councillor'selectors petition for recall theparty will (a) either organisea recall ballot of all thecouncillors' electors, (whichwill be supervised byindependent persons ofknown integrity), and thenencourage the councillors tocomply with the result of anysuch ballot, or (b) urge itscouncillors to resign and fighta by-election.

PA915. Regular publicmeetings for neighbourhoodand community councils andopen agenda sections for allmeetings give people achance to make their voicesheard.

PA916. Training of peoplewithin local authorityprofessions with the help oftrade unions and use of


alternative technology canhelp increase environmentalsensitivity, resourceefficiency, and the self-reliance of the community.

PA917. Councils can carry outcommunity audits and drawup alternative indicators ofwell-being or quality-of-lifeas a basis for the council'sservice provision and forpublic information.

PA918. To make councilsmore responsive andeffective, it will be necessaryto encourage cross-party co-operation, and weaken thehold of dogmatic ideologiesand factions. The Green Partywill not operate a system ofwhipping councillors intoline, and Green Councillorswill call upon other parties todo the same. (see PA857iii)

ENDS

Jonathan Dixon and PolicyCommittee

Section C – Policy Motions

C01. Climate ChangeTargets

Synopsis: This motionupdates the party’sclimate change targetswith current thinking.

Motion In CC section ofthe MfSS

_a) In section B add afterCC110_CC111 Theprimary aim of suchtargets is to significantlyreduce the likelihood ofcatastrophic climatechange by keepingatmospheric temperaturerise below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. . Climateresearch at the Swiss ETHInstitute has shown that

this requires stabilisinggreenhouse gasconcentrations at orbelow 450ppm CO2equivalent

b) In CC201_Delete_"Simple climate modelsconsistent with IPCCfindings suggest thatglobal average emissionsneed to be reduced by 65-80% by 2030."_Andreplace by_"Climateresearch from thePotsdam Institute suggestthat average globalemissions will need to bereduced by at least 60% ofthe 1990 baseline by 2030.This equates on averageto a 90% reduction inemissions by developedcountries by 2030"__

c) Change CC203 from_"UK emissions in 2003were 7.5% below the 1990baseline. We should aimsteadily to reduce CO2emissions from fossilfuels to 10% of their 1990levels by 2030. To achievethis, we will introduce anannual reduction target ofat least 9% and establisheffective mechanisms forgetting back on trackshould an annual targetbe missed."_to_"UKemissions in 2005 werejust below the 1990baseline and rising. Weshould aim steadily toreduce all greenhouse gasemissions to 10% of their1990 levels by 2030. If thispolicy is adopted in 2007,the required annual rateis 9% per annum. Ifadoption is delayed, therequired rate issignificantly greater,rising for the next fewyears by about 0.5percentage points foreach year of delay instarting. _We will alsoestablish effectivemechanisms for getting

back on track should anannual target be missed.New and persuasivescientific evidence mayarise that shows a needfor deeper cuts inemissions and Greenparty publicannouncements shouldreflect the current natureof climate changescience.”

d) add "CC208 The UNshould modify the waythe effects of differentgreenhouse gases arecombined to focus on theimpacts over a twenty-year time period.Currently 100 years isused and this makes a bigdifference to thecalculated effects ofmethane, resulting inserious understressing ofthe importance ofmethane emissionsreductions in the crucialnext few decades."

- Deepak Rughani, AdrianOliver, Duncan Law,Andrew Boswell and 3others

C02. MINIMUM WAGE

This motion states that theGreen party calls for anational minimum wage ofat least £7.20 per hr.

"The Green party calls for anational minimum wage ofat least £7.20 per hr."

Peter Murray, Keith Baker,Noel Lynch, Farid Bakht and 2others

C03. Early Replacementof Kyoto Protocol

Synopsis This motionurges adoption of a post-Kyoto way forward

Motion Change CC210from " The Green Party


supports the ratificationof the Kyoto Protocol; andwill campaign for thenon-use of its loopholeswherever possible. A GPPolicy statementdescribes the KP and ourviews of it in more detail"to" The Green Party calls forurgent replacement of theKyoto Protocol with a newprotocol which meets therequirement for reducinggreenhouse gas emissionsin line with prevailingscience and which has anequal focus onsafeguarding carbonsinks. It is dangerous towait until the expirationof the Kyoto Protocol in2012."

Add new sections afterCC210 and renumber

CC 211 Globalconcentrations are nowincreasing at significantlyover 2 ppm CO2 each yearand have been risingsteadily since 1990. This isin part because targets forAnnex 1 countries are notbased on science, in partbecause the Protocol hasnot been ratified by theUS and Australia, and inpart because it excludesdeveloping economies(notably China and India).It also not only lacks anymeaningful ecosystemprotection mechanismbut actively facilitatesecosystem destruction viaits Clean DevelopmentMethod (see CC217).CC212 Measurescontained in a newclimate changeagreement must takeprecedence over anyinternational trade rules.Any international tradeagreements, includingregional or bilateralagreements must be fullycompliant with the new

protocol and not the otherway around.

Add subheading"Contraction andConvergence" after newCC212

Add subheading " EUEmissions TradingScheme" before CC216Add extra sentence " Itneeds completerestructuring in line withContraction andConvergence principles."At the end of CC216

Add subheading " TheClean DevelopmentMechanism" before CC217

Add subheading"Biofuels" before CC218

Move Word "Rainforests"from being the first wordof CC219 to a subheadingbefore CC219

Add subheading"Peatlands" before CC221

Add new paragraphs afterCC221 and renumber

CC222 To achieve thenecessary emissionsreductions (see section C1)a new protocol will haveto make ecosystemdestruction anddegradation a priorityfocus. Simply reducingthe rate of deforestationwill not be sufficient.Only a moratoriumfollowed by a ban onindustrial logging andland conversion of all oldgrowth forest will allowus to achieve this goal; seeCC219-CC221. Such a banshould be binding on allnations, including nationswhich currently importwood products oragricultural commoditiesproduced at the expenseof old growth forests and

ecosystems.

CC223 The Green Partyconsiders the use ofmarket-basedmechanisms as analternative to amoratorium to be whollyinadequate.Commodifying natureand including it inemissions trading isunlikely to slowecosystem degradationand may even accelerateit. Further, marketmechanisms are likely toincrease social andeconomic injustice and todispossess indigenousand local communitieswho have a vestedinterest in protectingforests and otherecosystems, and are mostcapable of doing so.

CC224 Ecologicalrestoration must be anessential part of a climatechange agreement, inorder to reverse some ofthe damage done toecosystems and tostrengthen their ability tosurvive the nowunavoidable levels ofglobal warming.Ecosystem restorationmust be based onscientific evidence andmust be implemented inways which are sociallyjust and respect the rightsand needs of localcommunities. Prioritiesfor ecological restorationwould include the re-flooding of peatlands,particularly the peatlandsof South-east Asia whichhave been drained formonoculture plantations,the protection ofselectively logged or‘degraded’ primary forestsfrom land-conversion andfurther industrial logging,and measures to reducethe fragmentation of


essential ecosystems bymonoculture plantations.Biodiversity will be a keymeasure of the success ofecological restoration.

CC225 Sufficient fundingfor ecosystem protectionand ecological restorationmust be made availablethrough the North-Southtransfer of funding whichis an essential componentof Contraction andConvergence. Fundingwill be required forenforcement of loggingand land conversion bans,for fire protection and forcommunity forestry andsocial incentives,including education,public awareness raisingand fostering thetraditional valuessystems of indigenouspeoples and localcommunities, measuresshown to be effective forensuring forestprotection.

CC226 A new climatechange agreement mustinclude clear mechanismsto reverse the trendtowards low-biodiversity,high-chemical inputmonocultures, and tosupport mixed high-biodiversity agriculturalsystems based onpermaculture principleswhich retain soil carbon.This necessitatesregulatory and rights-based mechanisms,supporting the land rightsof small farmers and localcommunities andregulating against agri-businesses which rely ondestructive agriculturalmethods that result inecosystem destructionand high greenhouse gasemissions.

- Deepak Rughani, AdrianOliver, Duncan Law,Andrew Boswell and 3

others

C04. Enabling Motion onNorthern Ireland

Synopsis In the light of recentdevelopments, the currentMfSS section on NorthernIreland, last amended in1997, is very out of date. Thisenabling motion instructsPolicy Committee inconsultation with theNorthern Irish, Irish andScottish Green Parties toreview the policy and bring itup to date. Motion This Conference instructsPolicy Committee inconsultation withInternational Committee toinitiate a review of GreenParty policy on NorthernIreland. The policy is verymuch out-of-date,particularly given recentdevelopments. The review process shouldinclude consultation with theGreen Parties of NorthernIreland, the Irish Republic(Comhaontas Glas) andScotland, and should result ina proposal coming back toConference to either:a) replace the existingNorthern Ireland policysection in the MfSS with anew one, orb) delete the policy sectionentirely, if it is no longer felt aseparate section is warranted,with proposed additions toother policy sections to coverspecific issues whereconsidered necessary. In bringing these newproposals forward, PolicyCommittee may choose toseek to invoke the procedurein C9(f) of the StandingOrders for the Conduct ofConference and submit the

proposals to a futureConference as a Voting Paper,without the need to havepreviously submitted a DraftVoting Paper to a previousConference, if it feels that thisis appropriate. In the meantime the currentNorthern Ireland section ofthe MfSS should be precededby the following sentence:"This policy dates from 1997.In the light of recentdevelopments in NorthernIreland, the Green Party iscurrently reviewing thepolicy with help from theGreen Parties in NorthernIreland the Irish Republic andScotland, and an updatedpolicy will replace the currentone in due course." Policy Committee

C05 End of Life Care

Synopsis:There is increasing discussionon end of life care and thisamendment seeks toestablish a Green Partyposition in this highlyemotive area. Theamendment has beenconstructed from examples ofend of life policies across theEU and seeks to establish asafe and fair framework forpeople to have an assisteddeath.

Motion:Insert new section, after"Abortion", titled: "End of LifeCare" and renumber

H324 The Green Partyrecognises that medicaldecisions taken towards theend of a person's life shouldnever be undertaken lightly.We believe that when thequality of life is poor (e.g. dueto severe dementia) lifeprolonging treatments suchas influenza vaccines andantibiotics should not begiven routinely withoutconsideration of the whole


situation including thewishes of the patient andrelatives.

H325 Many medicalinterventions provided at theend of a person's life will bothrelieve suffering and hastendeath. We recognise that thiscan cause concern amounthealth professionals and thepublic and will introduceclear guidance to protect allparties.

H326 Assisted death presentsmoral and legal concerns tohealth care professionals andthe public. We believe thatpeople have a right to anassisted death within thefollowing framework:* The appointment of anindependent advocate mustbe made when eitherdiagnosis of terminal illnessis made or the personreceiving care expresses thedesire to end their life* Counselling must always beoffered to every patientconsidering an assisted death* Alternatives, such aspalliative care must bediscussed with the patient* The patient's ability to makethe decision must beestablished by jointassessment of twoindependent doctors, one ofwhom should ordinarily bethe patient's GP, unlessimpractical in thecircumstances, in which caseit may be the patient'smedical consultant, one ofwhich must be a psychiatristand a third independentregistered health or socialcare professional who hasundertaken approvedtraining in this area and whohas no prior knowledge of thepatient.* This decision must take intoaccount evidence provided bythe independent advocate.* Treatable illnesses that mayimpinge of the decisionmaking ability, e.g.

depression, must be treatedand excluded from therationale for requesting anassisted death* The patient has the right toappoint individuals eitherduring or prior to the processwho will have access to theirmedical and other recordsand whom they wish to beinvolved in discussions* The patient's informedconsent must be clearlydocumented, full discussionof the outcomes of both theillness and the assisted deathmust also be provided in alanguage and formunderstandable to the patient* The patient's close familyshould be involved in alldiscussions* There should normally be awaiting period of at least 7days, set by local policy, forthe patient to reflect on theirdecision.* Patients could orally revokethe request at any point* Healthcare professionalscan refuse to be party to anystage of assisted deaths fortheir own moral reasons* Assisted death will benotifiable

We will introduce legislationbased on this framework toensure the protection of allparties.

Stuart Jeffery, NatalieBennett, Payam Torabi, JohnHunt,

C06. Missile Bases

Motion: We call upon GPExand our representatives inthe European Green Party todo everything possible tooppose the siting of anti-missile bases in the CzechRepublic and Poland and tosupport the peace movementin those countries andthroughout Europe incampaigning for their

removal. We further call uponGPEx and our representativesin the European Green Partyto do everything possible topersuade the Czech GreenParty, currently a memberparty in the Czechgovernment, to demand theirdismantling and removalfrom the territory of theCzech Republic

Joseph Healy, PayamTorbabi, James Caspell,Peter Murray

C07. Climate Change-Biofuels

Synopsis This motiontakes a stance against thewidespread production ofbiofuels.

Add new sections afterCC218 and renumber

CC219 The Green Partycalls for animmediate moratoriumon agrofuels from large-scale monoculturesAgrofuels is the termcoined to describe liquidfuels from biomass, whichconsists of crops and treesgrown specifically for thatpurpose on a large-scale,or derived fromagricultural and forestresidues that should bereturned to the naturalcycle because they playan important role inmaintaining soil fertilityand biodiversity.The majority of biofuelsare made from large-scalemonocultures of oilpalms, sugar cane, soya,maize, sugar beet, oilseedrape and jatropha. Theycontribute substantiallymore to to greenhousegas emissions by nitrousoxide emissions fromfertiliser use and by landconversion , , than aresaved by burning slightlyless fossil fuels. As such


agrofuels are set tosignificantly accelerateclimate change. Otherproblems include bio-diversity losses, waterand soil degradation,human rights abuses(including theimpoverishment anddispossession of localpopulations) and the lossof food sovereignty andfood security. The impactsseen today result from aless than 1% marketpenetration of biofuels inEurope yet the EU targetis 10% by 2020 and the UKare aiming for 5% by2010. The Europeandemand for biofuels ispushing up commodityprices and thusencouraging multi-billiondollar investment ininfrastructure andrefineries linked to large-scale deforestation. Theimpacts of thisinvestment could beirreversible and will openup tens of millions ofhectares of virgin forestto land conversion andlogging. An immediatemoratorium is the onlyway to put the breaks onsuch disastrousinvestment decisions.

Amendment 1 In new CC219 change the firstparagraph from…

“The Green Party calls for animmediate moratorium onagrofuels from large-scalemonocultures” To… " In line with party policyon applying theprecautionary principle,the Green Party calls foranimmediate moratoriumon agrofuels from large-

scale monocultures – aperiod for scientists andpolicy makers in the EUand western nations togain a greaterunderstanding of the trueimpacts on the social,human rights, land rights,climate impact, andbiodiversity impactissues. The Green Partysupports the AgrofuelsMoratorium Calllaunched in July 2007 inBrussels (supported byover 100 organisations inits first week).”

Amendment 2 In new CC219 delete secondhalf of sentence in secondparagraph after words ‘large-scale’ from… “Agrofuels is the term coinedto describe liquid fuels frombiomass, which consists ofcrops and trees grownspecifically for that purposeon a large-scale or derivedfrom agricultural and forestresidues that should bereturned to the natural cyclebecause they play animportant role inmaintaining soil fertility andbiodiversity.” To… “Agrofuels is the term coinedto describe liquid fuels frombiomass, which consists ofcrops and trees grownspecifically for that purposeon a large-scale.” CC221 Included in theauspices of a moratoriumis an end to biofueltargets, subsidies andother incentives. In theUK, this means and animmediate suspension ofthe RTFO and in Europe ofthe EU Biofuel Directive. Internationally the GreenParty calls for a

moratorium on fundingfor agro-biofuelsincluding carbon marketmechanisms such as theCDM and JI underUNFCCC.

Amendment 3 In new CC221 replace textentirely from… “Included in the auspices of amoratorium is an end tobiofuel targets, subsidies andother incentives. In the UK,this means and an immediatesuspension of the RTFO andin Europe of the EU BiofuelDirective. Internationally theGreen Party calls for amoratorium on funding foragro-biofuels includingcarbon market mechanismssuch as the CDM and JI underUNFCCC.” To…

“The moratorium wouldapply to European andBritish public sectorincentives for agrofuelsand agroenergy fromlarge-scale monocultures,including treeplantations, and amoratorium on EUimports of such agrofuels. This includes theimmediate suspension ofall targets, incentivessuch as tax breaks andsubsidies which benefitagrofuels from large-scalemonocultures, includingfinancing through carbontrading mechanisms,internationaldevelopment aid or loansfrom internationalfinance organisationssuch as the World Bank. The moratorium called forby the signatories willapply only to agrofuelsfrom large-scalemonocultures (and GMbiofuels) and their trade.


It does not includebiofuels from waste, suchas waste vegetable oil orbiogas from manure orsewage, or biomassgrown and harvestedsustainably by and for thebenefit of localcommunities, rather thanon large-scalemonocultures.”CC222 The Green Partyalso calls for amoratorium on the useand development ofgenetically engineeredcrops and trees, microbesand fungi for theproduction of any biofuelsincluding agrofuels, dueto the highenvironmental risksinvolved in GMtechnology.

- Deepak Rughani, AdrianOliver, Duncan Law,Andrew Boswell and 3others

Amendments 1,2 3 proposedby Deepak Rughani, RupertRead, Howard Jago, JulianBriggs and one other

Amendment 4 – falls ifAmendments 1, 2 or 3 arepassed

In synopsis insert ‘liquid’ inbetween ‘of and ‘biofuels.Add at end of synopsis: ‘fromdedicated crops whilesupporting more sustainableuse of biofuels such as locallygrown crops and energy fromanaerobic digestion of farmand industrial wasteproducts.’ CC219 1st line insert ‘liquid’in between ‘on’ and‘agrofuels’ and insert‘dedicated biofuel’ inbetween ‘large-scale’ and‘monocultures’. In secondsentence delete ‘or derivedfrom agricultural and forestresidues that should bereturned to the natural cycle

because they play animportant role inmaintaining soil fertility andbiodiversity.’ CC221 At end of first sentenceinsert ‘for liquid biofuelsproduced from dedicatedbiofuel crops’. In thirdsentence insert ‘liquid’ inbetween ‘for’ and ‘agro-biofuels’. Add new CC223: ‘Incentivesshould be offered for biomassschemes in the UK such asschemes involving localfarmers growing crops suchas elephant grass for localboilers, CHP plant and mini-power stations and alsoenergy production fromanaerobic digestion facilitiesthat utilize farm andindustrial wastes.’ David Toke, Jon HooperNatalie BennettCandida SpillardGareth Ellis and 5 others

C08. RACISM AND HOUSING

Synopsis: this motioncondemns statements onprioritisation of housing for“established British families”and calls for Green partyresponse.

Motion"The Green Party condemnsMargaret Hodge's statementson prioritization of housingfor 'established Britishfamilies' as it encouragesracism and divisiveness. Weendorse Sian Berry'sstatement advocating asensible housing policy as areal solution to the problemsof homelessness andextortionate home prices andthat there shall be animmediate response from theGreen Party to suchstatements"

Peter Murray, Keith Baker,

Noel Lynch, Farid Bakht and 2others

C09. Care for the Elderly

Synopsis: Current GreenParty policy states that ifresidential care is neededthen it will be provided freeand house owners would notbe required to sell their hometo pay for such care. However,there is no indication of howthis care is to be paid for. Thefollowing policy would go along way towards addressingthat problem in a fair andequitable way.

Motion:Following SW406 insert newpolicy SW407 as follows:

“Personal care for the elderly,whether living intheir own home or in aresidential care home, wouldbefunded from a combinationof inheritance tax receiptsand a new ‘care tax’. This newtax would be set at 15%of lifetime transfers and ofestates between £10,000and the inheritance taxthreshold.”

Ann Were, Sam Coates, KeithRoss and John Matthews

C10. Climate Change -adaptation andleadership

Synopsis: This motioncondemns “adaptation”as a primary response toclimate change, calls forclear leadership fromcitizens and the UKgovernment.

_In CC section B, add newsubsections after CC100as follows__CC101 The GPvigorously challenges‘adaptation’ as a primary


response to climatechange. Without targetscommensurate with thescale of the problem,‘adaptation’ becomes a‘get-out clause’ to be usedby any governmentcommitted to doing lessthan is required tostabilise temperatures ator below 2C warming.Beyond 2C warming,‘adaptation’ becomesincreasingly unlikely aspositive feedbacksthreaten to speed climatechange much faster thanour capacity to adapt, andwith no identifiablestabilisation point insight.

However beyond a criticalexamination of the ethicsof ‘adaptation’ as aprimary response,funding will be requiredfor adaptation andresettlement by UNFCCCand is a key demand ofmany developing nations.It will be essential to ring-fence part of the North-South transfer of fundsfrom Contraction andConvergence for this.

_CC102 Leadership at alllevels.It is clear that so far wehave not been able to relyon strong leadership fromthe UK government, theEU or from the UN. Ifhuman civilization is tosurvive this period in ourhistory, the demand formeaningful action willhave to come fromcitizens at every level.Governments can berelied upon to respondmore fully when societalpressure leaves no otheroption. In short, there isnow a moral obligationfor each of us as citizensto show climateleadership in our ownsphere of influence. _

CC103 On a political levelthe Green Party advocatesdecisive leadership by theUK government, activelyseeing revisions of thecurrent climateframework with the EUand the UN ahead of the2012 Kyoto Protocol enddate.

Deepak Rughani, AdrianOliver, Duncan Law,Andrew Boswell and 3others

C11. Amendments to EUpolicy

SynopsisThe following areamendments which arenecessary because the policyhas not been updated in lightof events. For example, theCoal and Steel Community nolonger exists yet we still havepolicy on it. The policy stillrefers to Central and EasternEuropean States which arenow members or applicants. Conference motionEU423Currently reads: “The GreenParty would prefer that theproject does not go ahead andwe do not want our countryto join it” Replace with “The GreenParty is opposed to the UKjoining EMU. EU425 vi) Delete “and theEuropean Steel and CoalCommunity” Delete EU466 – 472However, EU470 on changingthe mission of the EBRDshould be retained andmoved to after current EU555on the European Social Fund. EU502 Delete “along with theCoal and Steel Treaty”.Change reference to“Maastricht Treaty” to

“Treaty of European Union.” Delete EU510 – 513 on Coaland Steel Hazel Dawe, Steve Dawe,Stuart Jeffery, Geoff Meaden

C12. Reforming theabortion law to promotesocial equity and reflectmedical advances

While retaining the Party'semphasis on supporting sexeducation, assistance forparents and family planning,this motion reflects medicaldevelopments and the needfor equity of access byremoving the requirement fortwo doctors to approve awoman's abortion decisionand unnecessary restrictionson places where abortions canbe carried out.

Motion: To add to the start ofH322 in the MfSS: The GreenParty will support a change inthe law to remove therequirement for two doctorsto approve a woman'sdecision to have an abortion,and will support a change inthe law to allow theprocedure to be carried out byappropriately trained nursesand midwives up to threemonths of pregnancy. It willsupport NHS provision ofsuch nurses and midwivesand will support a wideningof the number of locations atwhich an abortion can becarried out. This shouldreduce delays in serviceprovision and prevent accessbeing obstructed by doctorswith personal anti-abortionviews.

Natalie Bennett, CarolineLucas, Peter Cranie, Sian Berryand 3 others

Amendment 1Delete all after "to have an


abortion"

Amendment proposed byLuke Russell, Claire Nash,Chris Nash and JoanKimberley

Section D – OrganisationalMotions

D01. Compositing

SYNOPSIS:

This will create a formalprocess of compositing. Thiswill allow complex motionswith multiple amendmentsto be considered in a swiftermanner than otherwisepossible using proceduresdrawn from other politicalparties, trades unions andvoluntary bodies. In essencethe proposal is thatamendments that areaccepted by the proposersshall be considered first.

Motion5 a) replace

If SOC considers that thevolume of business rendersits adequateconsideration unlikely, it mayrecommend that a certainnumber of motions andamendments be provisionallyexcluded, Final decision torest with Conference

with 5 a)

If SOC considers that thevolume of business rendersits adequateconsideration unlikely, it mayrecommend that a certainnumber of motions andamendments be provisionallyexcluded. Alternatively SOCmay recommend use ofprocedure 5 g) Compositing.The decision on such arecommendation will takeplace as part of the SOCReport to Conference.

Insert 5g) and renumber:

g) Compositing: SOC may, inits report to conference,propose a compositingprocedure for a specificmotion.

g)-(i) The proposers of themotion shall consider allamendments. They shalladvise SOC which of theseamendments which they arewilling to accept into thesubstantive one week beforethe final conference agenda ispublished. These shall beconsidered the first tier ofamendments.

g-(ii) SOC shall ensure thatthe final conference agendahas the amendmentsnumbered in tiers. This is toallow consideration of theamendments, which areaccepted by the proposers,before any others.

AMENDMENTdelete proposed 5g-(ii) andinsert:g-(v) SOC shall ensure thatthe final conference agendahas the amendmentsnumbered in tiers. This is toallow consideration of theamendments, which areaccepted by the proposers,before any others. Howeverwhere amendments are alsosubject to basketarrangements SOC shall beobliged proposesimultaneous debate of allamendments placed in abasket. Thus SOC shallconsider basketarrangements beforecompositing arrangements.

continued...g-(iii) All amendments placedin the first tier shall beconsidered before all othermatters after the initialproposal of the raw motion.

The amendments in the firsttier shall be takensequentially. There shall be aseries of debates on each ofthe amendments in the firsttier in each case followed by avote on the amendment. TheChair may, at their owndiscretion, call if there areany objections to a specificamendment, and if not, movestraight to a vote.

g-(iv) There shall be nofurther debate on otheramendments in between.

g-(v) Where amendments arealso subject to the basketarrangements of 5h) the chairmay advise the debate thatacceptance of an amendmentwill lead to automaticrejection of the otheramendments placed in thebasket. When the first tier iscomplete the compositemotion will then be subject tothe amendments in a tier andthen voted in substantive.

Insert to the newlyrenumbered 5 h)-(iv) andrenumber.

iv) The principle will be thatthe amendment making themost significant changes tothe raw motion will be votedon first.

Standing Orders Committee

D02. Local Parties andconstituency ballots

Synopsis This motion adjuststhe relationship betweenlocal parties withinconstituency ballots

Motion:In Constitution Bye-Laws,"referred to in Clause 5(xii):Selection of Candidates forthe House of Commons" 3.a)delete "that, where there are


20 or less members in theconstituency the relevantLocal Party/ies may take " andreplace with "where therelevant LocalParty/ies take(s)". 3.a) now reads:"that the prospectivecandidate is democraticallyselected by all Green Partymembers resident in theconstituencyexcept where the relevantLocal Party/ies take(s) aformal decision to ballot theirwhole membership(s). Ifagreement cannot be reachedbetween all the Local Partiesconcerned on who should beballoted then the defaultposition shall be to ballotmembers in the constituencyonly."

Paul Steedman, SimonWilliams, Ben Duncan, AmyKennedy and 2 others

D03. Debate on relationshipbetween local parties andlocal elected members

Synopsis This motion calls for anational debate on therelationship between electedrepresentatives and theirlocal parties. With a growingnumber of Green Partycouncillors the extent towhich they inform andinvolve local party membersin decision making isimportant if we are tomaintain the underlyingdemocratic principles of theGreen Party. Motion "In line with our democraticprinciples, Conference callsfor a national_GP debate tobe held on the accountabilityof elected localgovernment_councillors totheir local GP organisations,

on the specific subjects of:__-entering into coalitionadministrations with otherparties_- supporting otherparties in formingadministrations withoutformal_coalition_- voting foror supporting parties whosefundamental principles arecontradictory to_the GPprinciples. This debate will examine:

- the feasibility of ensuringthat such decisions cannot bemade without afull, inclusive and formaldemocratic process, requiringthe majoritysupport of GP members in thespecific local governmentarea in question.- mechanisms by which thiscan implemented- what monitoring, checksand balances can be put inplace tomanage/maintain this policy

This 'debate' would befacilitated by the InternalCommunicationsCo-ordinator on GPEX, whowould ask all local branchesand regionalparties to raise this topic at arelevant meeting, and wouldcollectfeedback on the issue. Thisinformation would beavailable before thedeadline for the First Agendaof Spring Conference 2008."

Lesley Hedges, RichardMurgatroyd, MelanieGriffiths, Matt Sellwood andtwo others

D04. Regularising eligibilityto stand for executive posts.

Synopsis: This motionenables members to stand forelection to GPEx after oneyear's membership of GPEWwith tougher conditions thanfor those who have been

members for longer.

Motion: Replace 7(v)"Candidates for elected postson the Party Executive shallhave been a member of theParty for two complete yearspreceding the date of close ofnominations, and shall berequired to complete astandard application form.Nominations of candidatesmust be supported by thesignatures of a minimum often members of the Party."with"Candidates for elected postson the Party Executive shallhave been a member of theGreen Party of England andWales for two complete yearspreceding the date of close ofnominations and theirnomination must besupported by the signaturesof a minimum of tenmembers of the Green Partyof England and Wales. Or, ifthey have been a member fora minimum of one completeyear preceding the date ofclose of nominations, theirnomination must besupported by a minimum oftwenty members of the GreenParty of England and Wales,from three different regions.All candidates shall berequired to complete astandard application form."

Sian Berry, Peter Cranie,Natalie Bennett, Jim Killock

D05. Running ConferencePrioritisation Ballot by STV

Synopsis: This requires thesystem for prioritisation ofconference motions (which iscurrently undefined) to be bythe single transferable votesystem, which should takeinto account the priorities ofmembers more fairly.

Motion:In Standing Orders for theConduct of Conference, delete


and replaceD1ii) with "SOC shall arrangea ballot under the singletransferable vote system."

Howard Jago, Samir Jeraj,Lynda Edwards, RobertGledhill, Mark Champion

D06. Making DisputesResolution Committeeinvolvement mandatory forelected bodies

In constitution, insert newsection 15 iv)

While involvement ofindividual members in theresolution process isvoluntary, for elected bodieswithin the Green Partyinvolvement is mandatory.

Owen Clarke, Ronald Watts,Theresa Watts, Ernest Hamer

Contact details for the motions in this agenda

Jonathan Dixon, 69 Wykeham Street, Scarborough, N. Yorks, YO12 7SA. 01723 [email protected]

Roger Creagh-Osborne Colloggett Cottage, Landulph, Saltash, Cornwall, PL12 6ND 07736 [email protected]

Matt Wootton (SOC convenor) 33 Ashfield Ave, Lancaster LA1 5EB 07866 704 [email protected]

Stuart Jeffery, Kent GP [email protected]

Peter Murray, Brent GP [email protected]

Deepak Rughani, Islington GP [email protected]

Hazel Dawe, Kent GP [email protected]

Payam Torabi, Tower Hamlets GP [email protected]

Natalie Bennett Camden Green Party, 18 Bucklebury, Stanhope St, London NW1 3LB [email protected]

Ann Were, Gwent Green Party , 12 Drybridge St. , Monmouth, NP25 5AD, [email protected]

Lesley Hedges Kirklees Green party [email protected]

Sian Berry [email protected]

Paul Steedman, Brighton GP [email protected]

Owen Clarke [email protected]


Section O – Out of Order Motions

Two motions were received that were ruled out of order by SOC. These are printed below.

NEW S/O 2.9 The Green Party Regional Council shall ensure that liaison with other Green parties of theseislands is maintained through the Green Islands Network and otherwise. In particular the Council shallelect two representatives of the English Green Party (who must reside in one of the English regions) inthat network to ensure adequate liaison, and only Regional Councillors from the English regions shall beeligible to vote in such an election. The autonomous Welsh Green Party shall elect its own representativein a manner it sees fit.This is to replace the current constitutional position on electing GIN delegates which is ...GPRCOoO under SOCC 9e: trivial: Standing Orders should be presented to Conference via reports, and GPRC hasbeen informed of this.

i) MIGRANT WORKERS"The Green party agrees to support the 'PAPERS FOR ALL' campaign for migrant workers andendorses its demands:#Regularisation for all migrants. No one is illegal.#The closure of all detention centres, because moving country is not a crime.#An end to all deportations & the externalisation process turning countries on the edges of theEU into holding camps.#Full labour rights for all workers, independently of their migration status. Stop pitchingworkers against each other.#End the apartheid system of benefits, healthcare, housing and legal representation, and the#deliberate policy of destitution for asylum seekers whose cases have been refused.#Official recognition of rape as torture and persecution."Peter Murray

OoO under SOCC 9f substantially changing policy areas, or having complex implications for other areas,without having passed through the agreed process of consultation.


Green Party Conference Proxy Form Autumn 2007

You can bring this to the front desk at Conference, BUT the preferred method – to guarantee the timelyissuing of your proxy - is to mail this form to Aled Fisher, SOC, 10 Pantglas, Pentyrch, Cardiff CF15 9TH

before 11th September or fax it on 07092861453.

This form has been created and approved by SOC in response to worries about the accountability of theProxy Vote process. Although not fail-proof, it creates a better standard of accountability and an informalcontract between the person giving a proxy and the person carrying it.

Name of proxy donor (Caps) …………………………………………………………………

Address……………………………………………………….……………………………………………………

Phone…………………………………………………………

Email…………………………………………………………. I give this proxy vote on the understanding that I shall not be attending the forthcoming conferencemyself. I recognise that no policing of the use of my proxy will occur and I trust my proxy holder toexercise this vote in line with the wishes I have expressed to them. I would like this vote to be exercisedin relation to any card votes (procedural, suspension of S.O.s, amendment or substantive) under thefollowing sections or motions (tick or complete one of either 1 or 2 or 3): 1. All conference business Y/N

2. All conference business under the following sections only: Reports (incl SOC) Y/N Section A motions Y/N Section B motions Y/N Section C motions Y/N Section D motions Y/N Emergency motions Y/N Other Y/N 3. Specific motions only (named below)

Proxy donor’s signature…………………..………………………. Date………………….. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Name of proxy holder (Caps) ………………………………………………………………………………

Address………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Phone…………………………………………………………

Email………………………………………………………… I undertake to the proxy donor to exercise this proxy vote in line with their wishes- Signature……………………………………..…………………… Date……………………………

Bring this form to the front desk at the start of Conference. Each person can hold FIVE proxiesThis proxy form gives the proxy holder an extra card vote to be exercised at the forthcomingAutumn Green Party Conference in Liverpool. Vote holders and givers need to be national Green Partymembers

Final Agenda Autumn 2007 - Green Party

Documents

Transcript of Final Agenda Autumn 2007 - Green Party