Autumn Conference 2023

Motion #14

Pathfinder Motion

Motion not debated

Synopsis

This motion is proposed as a result of the work undertaken by the Party Structure Working Group and seeks to coalesce consensus from conference around a desired end state that will inform a series of motion to be bought to the next two conferences. The proposals seek to balance a bottom up led movement with political agility.

Motion

Conference instructs that the Green Party Executive (GPEx) and the Green Party Regional Council (GPRC) work together to bring a series of motions to the next two conferences that will change the party’s constitution and structure to deliver the following changes:

  1. Legal Form: The central office, the regions and Wales will become one company limited by shares. The shareholders will be the party members with the shares held on their behalf by nominees. The nominees will be the Green Party Regional Council members. The Green Party of England and Wales will then be the existing association of local parties combined with the new incorporated company.
  2. Membership. Individuals would join their local party and through that also become a shareholder in the limited company, where their membership rights can be exercised either directly or through the Council – their nominees.
  3. Cooperative Principles. The company will not register as a cooperative, but cooperative principles will be woven into the Memorandum and Association of Incorporation of the company.
  4. Local Parties. Local parties will remain unaffected by the changes, though the Regional Council working with the regional/Wales offices will work to ensure there is a consistent and robust constitution for all local parties. There will be a short list of requirements for local parties in order to be recognised as such, thereafter local parties will have freedom to act as they wish. The rights and responsibilities of local parties would be codified more clearly as part of a Party-wide drive for improved clarity and conformity, though local parties would ultimately remain responsible for their own constitutions.
  5. Regions / Wales will be formally constituted as geographic hubs of activity, specifically focussed on delivering the political strategy. Their relationship to the central governance structures of the party would be to provide essential feedback on the achievability and resource and support needed to deliver on the political strategy, and they will in turn receive support, guidance and strategic direction from the central governance of the party to ensure that there is a coordinated approach to delivering the party strategy. Regions/Wales would continue to be run by a committee made up of a members voted by the regional / Welsh membership. Regions will have a local support fund that they are allowed to use to support local parties at the discretion of the local committee. They will also provide training and share best practice among the local parties within their area; and will run for a to encourage political debate. Wales will retain its autonomy to create local policy.
  6. Board. The new company will be managed by a Board elected by the party members. The board will consist of 9 people – the Chair, Party Treasurer and 7 others plus the CEO and one other senior staff member as voting members. The Leadership team, the Leader of Wales, the Co-chairs of Council and the Co-chairs of the Young Greens will all be non-voting members of the Board. The Board will be responsible for the operational running of the party turning the political strategy into action through the staff team and out to the regional/Wales parties, and will be the employer of all staff. The Chair and Treasurer will each be elected separately by instant run off; the seven ordinary members in one single election using single transferable vote. The elections for the leadership team (the (co) leader (s) and deputy leader (s) ); the Chair and Treasurer; and the ordinary members will take place in different years. The term of Board members will be three years. Any member of the party, except for employed staff, will be eligible to stand but the Council will also provide a list of members who they have assessed as being competent to be a Board member for the company. Change in Standing Orders (Articles) needs to be signed off by Council
  7. Council. Council will be increased to 36 people. Each council member’s term will be for 3 years and 12 people will be elected every year, using single transferable vote. Any member will be eligible to stand. The leadership team, the leader of Wales, and the co-chairs of the Young Greens will all be voting members of the Council. The Chair and Treasurer of the Board, plus the CEO will be non-voting members of the Council. The Council will be responsible for the political direction of the party and will have oversight of the Board. The co-chairs of the Council will be elected annually by the Council. Change in Standing Orders needs to be signed off by Conference
  8. Accountability and Transparency The council and the board will both separately report to the AGM/Conference on their activities in the past year, specifically identifying:
  • Their achievements against the current political strategy
  • The actions they took to deliver the previous year’s plan approved by conference and against the motions which tasked them with taking actions from either conference
  • Any petitions which have been made to them in the interim. The council and the board will propose plans of work which they will oversee and provide an overview of the plans for the next year’s work at every Autumn Conference. There will be a petition mechanism to require the board or council to either provide an explanation, to change direction or start taking a specific action on an issue. This will have a number of built in trigger points to be considered based on the number of people engaging with the petition. The meetings of the council will be open to all party members, there will be regular online dialogues with party members by representatives of both the council and the board. There will be clear lines of communication in order to lobby members of the council with issues of concern. All members of the council and board will be able to be recalled and replaced via a petition with a reasonable and achievable level of support as well as the technical platform in order to do so.

  1. Standing Orders Committee. The two major constituent roles of SOC are split into two. There will be a Standing Orders Committee tasked with interpreting the constitution and relevant standing orders created under it. This will report to the council on its decisions as they are made for their dissemination, send all rulings to the CEO, and be accountable to conference for them in a specific report. This will be made up of at least 5 people elected in a single block for a 2 year term through single transferable vote in addition to a non-voting member of the council. There will be a Conference Resolution Board which takes on the stewarding of the agenda process for each conference. The committee is made up of at least 5 people who have attended at least 2 conferences in the last 3 years, elected in a single block for a 1 year term using Single Transferable Vote.

    Amendment #1

    Amendment tbd

    Replace the above paragraph with: Standing Orders Committee. SOC will be increased in size. This committee will report to the council on its decisions as they are made for their dissemination, send all rulings to the CEO, and be accountable to conference for them in a specific report. This will be made up of at least 7 people elected at Conference in a single block for a 1 year term through single transferable vote in addition to a non-voting member of the council. Members of SOC will have their ticket, travel and accommodation for Conference provided/reimbursed by the party, and will have access to staff support consisting of no less than 0.3 FTE and ideally at least 0.4 FTE, unless there are severe budget constraints preventing this. Standing Orders Committee will delegate the choosing of Conference Plenary chairs to Conferences Committee, who will pick from a list of Chairs drawn up by and approved by Standing Orders Committee. Standing Orders Committee will produce a codified criteria for becoming part of this list (i.e, having chaired workshops, having attended sufficient conferences, etc). The final rota of Plenary chairs will be approved by Standing Orders Committee. There will be a named member (or members) of Standing Orders Committee who will liaise with Conferences Committee at all times. There will be at least three named members of Standing Orders Committee who will take on stewarding the agenda process for each conference, including liaising with staff members and other party members throughout the agenda process for each Conference. Policy. There are no proposals to change the policy process as part of this motion. However, Policy Development Committee (PDC) will become a joint committee of the board and council – with the board managing the maintenance of our policy library and the policy process, with Council indicating policy priorities. As at present the Council will be able to make interim policy statement, subject to agreement from the relevant policy working group, for subsequent ratification at conference, e.g. statements on specific issues arising in contemporary politics or the publication of the manifesto. Political Committee will become a sub-committee of the Council. Policy Development Committee would still authorise and monitor policy working groups, though as with 75 other groups of common interest, the rights and responsibilities of Policy Working Groups (PWG) would vary by size and governance of the relevant PWG. Standing Committees – there will be a number of standing committees with membership directly elected, as at present, however, they will be subcommittees of the following governing bodies: • Equalities Equity Diversity and Inclusion – Joint Board and Council • International – Council • Policy Development Committee – Joint Board and Council • Finance and HR Committee – Board • Campaigns Committee – Joint Board and Council Disciplinary Committee and Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee will remain independent bodies reporting directly to conference Groups of Common Interest. The recognition of such groups will be dealt with via a specific subcommittee of the Council, and as the groups grow in their representation and organisational capacity, they will be afforded increased rights and responsibilities according to a defined system. As an example – all recognised groups, no matter how small, would be able to request space to meet at conference, but only groups with a certain level of engagement from members would be afforded the ability to propose motions as a group. This would provide an opportunity to build capacity in these groups as well as supporting them to target their efforts towards the strategic goals of the party at that time. The Young Greens would be recognised as the official youth wing of the Party. Political Deals. We would remain a principles led party, and any political deals will be agreed at the most appropriate level, with all Westminster agreements being overseen by the Council in dialogue with the relevant stakeholders in the local and regional / national parties. The wording of the documentation should be designed to make it accessible to all members and encourage good governance. There will also be a requirement for the company to look at Directors and Officers Insurance and to progress this if financially viable. Where the intent of the motion cannot be met due to current legislation practical amends that deliver the same intent will be acceptable

  2. Policy. There are no proposals to change the policy process as part of this motion.

    However, Policy Development Committee (PDC) will become a joint committee of the board and council – with the board managing the maintenance of our policy library and the policy process, with Council indicating policy priorities. As at present the Council will be able to make interim policy statement, subject to agreement from the relevant policy working group, for subsequent ratification at conference, e.g. statements on specific issues arising in contemporary politics or the publication of the manifesto. Political Committee will become a sub-committee of the Council. Policy Development Committee would still authorise and monitor policy working groups, though as with other groups of common interest, the rights and responsibilities of Policy Working Groups (PWG) would vary by size and governance of the relevant PWG.

  3. Standing Committees – there will be a number of standing committees with membership directly elected, as at present, however, they will be subcommittees of the following governing bodies: • Equalities Equity Diversity and Inclusion – Joint Board and Council • International – Council • Policy Development Committee – Joint Board and Council • Finance and HR Committee – Board • Campaigns Committee – Joint Board and Council Disciplinary Committee and Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee will remain independent bodies reporting directly to conference.
  4. Groups of Common Interest. The recognition of such groups will be dealt with via a specific subcommittee of the Council, and as the groups grow in their representation and organisational capacity, they will be afforded increased rights and responsibilities according to a defined system. As an example – all recognised groups, no matter how small, would be able to request space to meet at conference, but only groups with a certain level of engagement from members would be afforded the ability to propose motions as a group. This would provide an opportunity to build capacity in these groups as well as supporting them to target their efforts towards the strategic goals of the party at that time. The Young Greens would be recognised as the official youth wing of the Party.
  5. Political Deals. We would remain a principles led party, and any political deals will be agreed at the most appropriate level, with all Westminster agreements being overseen by the Council in dialogue with the relevant stakeholders in the local and regional / national parties.

The wording of the documentation should be designed to make it accessible to all members and encourage good governance. There will also be a requirement for the company to look at Directors and Officers Insurance and to progress this if financially viable. Where the intent of the motion cannot be met due to current legislation practical amends that deliver the same intent will be acceptable.

Last updated on 2023-10-21 at 11:41