Motion #01
To accept the following report (as amended, if amendments are agreed) and fast-tracking recommendations (as amended, if amendments are agreed).
Under Standing Orders, the SOC Report is to include: “(1) The Final Agenda and Ordering of Motions for Conference; (2) a notification of how many motions and amendments have been ruled out of order and where these are published; (3) a report on SOC’s participation in the Agenda process including any motions or amendments that SOC is submitting to conference; (4) timetabling, chairing and other procedural matters affecting conference including elections to be held at conference, with the recommendations of SOC; (5) the report of the RO; (6) a report by SOC of any changes that they have adopted to their Standing Orders; (7) progress on Organisational Statements; (8) any other matters or recommendations that do not affect the running of conference; (9) rulings requested and made since the previous conference.”
Some of these have since been moved to the SOC report required by the Annual General Meeting, and where appropriate reference is made to those papers.
Amendments to motions A01 and A02 can be made from the floor of Conference.
SOC has considered whether or not amendments can be made to the addendum GPEW General Election Manifesto as approved by GPRC (see below), and has concluded that this is not possible: the addendum is not a part of A01 itself, but is rather a policy document which was made available for viewing between the publication of the First and Final Agenda. There are already motions on the Agenda which propose changes to this document having passed through the Agenda process.
SOC notes that this is likewise true for the documents contained as appendices within A02 – the only decision to be made by Conference is whether to pass the motion with these appendices or without them.
The order was determined on past practice and is as in the First Agenda. The Prioritisation Ballot for motions does not apply to Section A. Under Standing Orders, “c) The ballot shall not be used to prioritise items within Section A of the Agenda since these should all be considered.
Of the 6 draft voting papers on the First Agenda, two were recommended by Policy Development Committee for voting on as a B Motion at this Conference, from the Disability Policy Working Group and Europe Policy Working Group respectively. They are ordered alphabetically.
These policy motions were accredited after the First Agenda stage and had been listed as E motions in the Prioritisation Ballot. Accreditation by Policy Development Committee (PDC) does not accredit the policy content. It means that PDC has checked that the motion was adequately researched and consulted on and not in conflict with other policies passed in the last two years. The order of motions was determined by their place in the Prioritisation Ballot.
A total of 9 amendments were proposed for the motions which ultimately became Section C, 8 of which received sufficient co-proposers to be considered.
The order of Section C was based on their placement in the Prioritisation Ballot and is as follows:
First Agenda - Final Agenda
E31 ————– C01
E06 ————– C02
E01 ————– C03
E02 ————– C04
E03 ————– C05
E17 ————– C06
E25 ————– C07
E20 ————– C08
The ranking of these motions is as in the Prioritisation Ballot. SOC has discretion under SOCC F2.6(c) to give special priority to any motion in section D which it considers to be urgent for the functioning of the party or any part of it. For these purposes SOC elected to give priority to First Agenda motions D15 and D19, concerning Extraordinary Conferences for outstanding business and the restoration of Spring Conference respectively.
A total of 113 amendments were proposed for the motions in Section D, 86 of which received sufficient co-proposers to be considered and 18 of which were determined to be Out of Order (see Appendix 8 for details).
First Agenda - Ballot - Final Agenda
D15 ———- 18 ———- D01
D19 ———- 21 ———- D02
D14 ———- 1 ———- D03
D04 ———- 2 ———- D04
D07 ———- 3 ———- D05
D03 ———- 4 ———- D06
D12 ———- 5 ———- D07
D08 ———- 6 ———- D08
D06 ———- 7 ———- D09
D05 ———- 8 ———- D10
D01 ———- 9 ———- D11
D02 ———- 10 ———- D12
D13 ———- 11 ———- D13
D11 ———- 12 ———- D14
D09 ———- 13 ———- D15
D10 ———- 14 ———- D16
D16 ———- 15 ———- D17
D18 ———- 16 ———- D18
D17 ———- 17 ———- D19
D21 ———- 19 ———- D20
D20 ———- 20 ———- D2
We have moved First Agenda motions E01, E02, E03, E06, E17, E20, E25 and E31 to the C section. The remaining motions are ordered according to the Prioritisation Ballot.
Of those amendments presented on the relevant Space in time to be considered, a total of 6 amendments were proposed for the motions in Section E, all of which received sufficient co-proposers and 1 of which was found to be Out of Order.
First Agenda - Ballot - Final Agenda
E19 ———- 1 ———- E01
E10 ———- 2 ———- E02
E05 ———- 5 ———- E03
E08 ———- 7 ———- E04
E22 ———- 10 ———- E05
E07 ———- 11 ———- E06
E09 ———- 12 ———- E07
E11 ———- 13 ———- E08
E12 ———- 14 ———- E09
E04 ———- 15 ———- E10
E23 ———- 16 ———- E11
E21 ———- 17 ———- E12
E14 ———- 18 ———- E13
E13 ———- 19 ———- E14
E18 ———- 20 ———- E15
E15 ———- 22 ———- E16
E30 ———- 23 ———- E17
E16 ———- 26 ———- E18
E29 ———- 27 ———- E19
E26 ———- 28 ———- E20
E24 ———- 29 ———- E21
E27 ———- 31 ———- E22
E28 ———- 32 ———- E23
There are 4 Draft Voting Papers in section F to be given workshops at Conference ready for progression to the B motion stage, concerning the Economy, Health and Wellbeing, Marine and Coastal and Transport chapters of PfSS.
No motions have been suggested for compositing at this Conference.
While there were difficulties in opening a dedicated Late Motions Forum, SOC encouraged submissions of Late Motions on the main Agenda Forum in addition to the Late Motions Forum up to 9th August 2024 for items that could not have been submitted by the 13th July 2024 because they related to events taking place since then. As of the Final Agenda meeting 2 Late Motions had been uploaded. Discussion of them continued online in the final week leading up to publication, though neither were determined to be in order. Standing Orders for the Conduct of Conference does not require late motions to be part of the Final Agenda.
We opened the Emergency Motions Forum before 23rd August 2024, but EMs are not part of the Final Agenda.
SOCC states that all motions must have a synopsis of not more than 50 words, or 300 for a policy paper. In practice we do not reject motions without a synopsis although we reserve the right to do so. We cut overlong synopses at 50 words and note that this has happened.
Where provided, we link to background information below the motion. SOCC requires background information to be in notes, not in the motion itself. Where background information is given in the submitted motion, SOC may remove it to a note, and this has happened. In order to make the best use of space and to prevent the Agenda from becoming unfeasibly large we have sometimes either moved the background to Appendices or else created links to longer papers.
Prior to the First Agenda meeting, SOC did its best to triage the motions which were then being proposed by members in a meeting on 13th July 2024. During that meeting SOC came to an initial view on 41 motions which it considered were in danger of being Out of Order or otherwise invalid as motions for various reasons. SOC then contacted the proposers of these motions to advise them on how to proceed.
Following the First Agenda Meeting, of those motions which had received sufficient co-proposers none were considered to be Out of Order (though SOC did, at its second Final Agenda meeting of 17th August 2024, revisit its decision to rule part of motion C02 Out of Order following consultation with members of the Land Use PWG).
Amendments found to be Out of Order are listed in Appendix 8 with reasons given.
SOC and staff opened the Agenda Forum following the end of Autumn Conference 2023 in Greenspaces here and a calendar of deadlines was posted there.
Attempting to build on the lessons learned from Conferences in 2022 and 2023 and continue what committee members regarded as good practice, SOC continued to try and hold meetings every two weeks wherever possible to manage the throughflow of work, and have continued to take advantage of the ‘Trello’ platform to make deliberating and voting on rulings and advice easier.
The declaration of a General Election on 22nd May 2024 for 4th July the same year was a great opportunity for the party as a whole, but presented considerable challenges for the organisation of Conference. SOC ultimately agreed to adopt a truncated ‘emergency’ timetable using its discretion under SOCC D8. This had the advantage of freeing up space to allows members to assist in conducting the election campaign but meant that SOC itself was subjected to a demanding ‘crunch’ period of work in compiling the Agenda.
Regrettably, this did mean that SOC was not able to utilise the ‘Greencoordinate’ website, previously used for logging motions separately ahead of Conference, to its fullest. SOC also regrets that the pressures of time left us unable to accept co-proposals for motions by an easy-to-use form until the day before the First Agenda deadline, though in the event this does not seem to have been a disproportionate obstacle to members being able to co-propose. This also meant SOC was not able to implement a ‘quality of life’ improvement from previous Conferences, taking advantage of an ambiguity in the Standing Orders for Conduct of Conference (SOCC) to separate out the deadlines for submitting the final wording of a motion and submitting valid co-proposals by one week.
As always, we urge members to place items on the Agenda Forum at an early stage so that they can consult, revise wording, obtain supporting co-proposers or support from a local party or working group. We are happy to note, however, that continuing a trend from previous years members seem to be getting increasingly comfortable with this habit, and are pleased to note the level of engagement we received from motion proposers who then amended their motions in accordance with our advice. All but a handful of motions and amendments were submitted in good time on the relevant Forums. For policy motions, SOC advise that proposers obtain accreditation from Policy Development Committee.
The First Agenda meeting of SOC was held on 24th July 2023. Since the truncated timetable meant that the Prioritisation Ballot had opened with the closing of the First Agenda deadline, this meant that notwithstanding SOC’s efforts at triage there were some motions on which decisions still needed to be made as to their ‘in/out’ status (including several which had changed considerably since we originally noted them as being ‘in order’). Nevertheless, SOC ordered 64 remaining motions ready for the Prioritisation Ballot according to the rules given in Standing Orders for the Conduct of Conference (SOCC).
SOC has previously noted that the sheer quantity of motions proposed by members to Conference, while encouraging from a democratic standpoint, does create a sizeable amount of work for volunteers. That trend appears to have continued in preparation for this Conference, as evidenced by the 105 motions which were originally noted on the Forum and subsequently whittled down. SOC notes again a need to consider how better to manage such a through-flow of motions going forward.
Owing to technical difficulties presented by the opening of a separate Forum for Amendments and Late Motions, SOC asked that members place these items on the same Agenda Forum used for all other Conference business in the time before these forums were eventually opened on 26th July 2024.
There were no C motions for the Prioritisation Ballot. The order of these motions was decided in consultation with PDC leading up to and at the Final Agenda meetings of 10th and 17th August 2024.
The Prioritisation ballot ran from 19th July to 14th August 2024 (extended from the initial deadline of 9th August 2024 by agreement of SOC due to unfortunate delays in the ballot link being emailed to members). We ran the STV results by hand using Excel and a calculator to obtain a Borda count, having passed the names of those submitting to the Membership Team to check their validity.
Since Autumn Conference 2021 the Prioritisation Ballot has also had to make use of a modified Borda count method based on how many times the same motion had been proposed to preceding Conferences but not debated due to lack of time. This means that SOC has to make two determinations:
i) How similar does a motion need to be from one Conference to the next in order for it to qualify? And
ii) Which motions proposed to Autumn Conference 2024 were therefore eligible?
Having deliberated, SOC reaffirmed at its Final Agenda Meetings of 10th and 17th August 2024 that, as with amendments, textual changes to motions whichdo not substantially change the scope or meaning of the motion would be eligible, and this would necessarily need to be decided case-by-case. It was also decided that motions which were debated and referred back were not eligible for the modifier, as the motion that created the modifier explicitly stated that it applies for motions that are not debated due to time constraints.
As of 2023, SOC has also decided that this process does not apply to Late or Emergency Motions, since time constraints are not the primary limiting factor in whether or not these motions reach the floor of Conference – ultimately, whether they are debated at all is a matter for the Chair.
Accordingly, SOC decided to apply the modifiers as follows:\
In order to facilitate faster progress on the Agenda, at each conference SOC recommends motions for fast-tracking if we think they are uncontroversial and if they have no amendments.
Any motions to be fast-tracked are taken to have been proposed and are voted on one by one immediately after the SOC Report has been passed and without any debate. If you have questions about motions proposed for fast-tracking, you should ask them in a workshop.
If any ten members object to fast-tracking during discussion of the SOC Report then the motion is not fast-tracked. The ten objecting members have to be on the floor of conference. This does not include members who are voting remotely. If agreed for fast-tracking then after Conference passes the SOC Report, the vote on the fast-tracked motion will include members who are voting remotely.
The following motions are proposed for fast-tracking:
E08, Enabling Motion for Culture, Media and Sport Policy Rewrite
E09, Enabling Motion for Industry and Jobs Policies
E14, Enabling Motion for Revision of the Public Admin and Government Policy Chapter
E13, Enabling Motion for Crime and Justice Policy Voting Paper
E16, Enabling Motion to Rewrite the Education Chapter
E17, Enabling Motion to Seek Approval for the Work of the International Development Policy Working Group to Proceed
SOC additionally notes that Policy Development Committee (PDC) have proposed as part of their report below (see A02) the ratification of a number of Interim Policy Position statements, the practical effect of passing which would be that the texts of motions E07 and E22 are also ratified by Conference.
Standing Orders for the Conduct of Conference (SOCC) as revised Spring 2021 allowed Out of Order motions to be revised and to be recommended to Conference as being ruled back in order as part of the Final Agenda, though on this occasion there was no need for this (see above).
Members of the Committee held regular meetings with conference staff in the run-up to conference to ensure maximum participation and ease of access for Conference attendees.
The revised Standing Orders Section G5 allows all members to register for remote voting online. This does not grant any rights of participation other than watching the proceedings and voting remotely online. It is currently open to chairs to allow registered members to participate and such participation may be requested by members who have been unable to attend Conference in person.
Following the ‘hybrid’ model of Conference, involving both online and face-to-face participation, used at Autumn Conference 2021, SOC became aware of a great deal of positive feedback from Conference attendees, and as indicated above the levels of participation at this Conference would appear to show that more members are engaging with the process, and more successfully, than at previous Conferences (in spite of some of the challenges and setbacks noted above which affected preparation for Conference this year).
We will accept speaker slips in advance from those who hope to participate from a remote location at the chair’s discretion. We will take procedural motions in advance from remote locations for Reference Back and Taking in Parts and Minor Textual Amendments. We can only accept other procedural motions and speeches on them from the Conference floor at physical conference but remote attendees can vote on them.
The timetable has been set to allow for all A motions, all B motions and all C motions to be taken. In addition we expect to take at least one D motion and one E motion, but this will be dependent on factors such as:
(i) fast-tracking of D and E motions
(ii) the additional time required by online voting processes
(iii) any additional time required by online participation processes
SOC and other Committees and members have previously noted that time given over the Speakers can also have the effect of reducing plenary time which would allow more motions to be debated and more Conference business to be engaged with, something which motions at successive Conferences appear to indicate that there is an appetite for among members. With the greatest of respect to our newly-elected Members of Parliament and the teams who worked to elect them, and while entirely understanding the desire of members to celebrate our Party’s achievements, SOC reiterates that this ought not to come at the disproportionate expense of Conference business.
We will hold hustings and elections for the following posts at Autumn Conference:
Disciplinary Committee (2 members)
Standing Orders Committee (5 members)
Campaigns Committee (5 members)
Conferences Committee (5 members)
International Committee (5 members)
Green World Editorial Board (5 members)
Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (2 members)
Equality and Diversity Committee (5 members)
We advertised any vacancies in good time and we will open online voting from the end of hustings (on Saturday 7th of September in the evening) until 1pm on Sunday 8th September, and in-person voting from 10am to 1pm on Sunday 8th September in the Conference venue. We hope to announce the results at the end of the Sunday plenary. For more information on voting please contact ero@greenparty.org.uk.
[TO BE ADDED]
SOC will include these in its report included as part of the Annual General Meeting 2024.
SOC has proposed two changes to Standing Orders for Conduct of Conference, noting that section M4 of SOCC says that “All corrections made by Standing Orders Committee outside of conference will be published to members as soon as possible and will be reported to the next conference as part of the SOC report”.
Specifically, changes are proposed: to section H9.1(b) (affecting electronic voting at Conference); and to Appendix A section 5(i), giving a new set of procedures for ensuring a Draft Voting Paper can progress to being considered as a Voting Paper in the event of Spring Conference not taking place.
A link to the proposed SOCC is given below:
SOC posted these proposed changes to SOCC on its own Green Space on 22nd January 2024 and now commends those changes to SOCC to Conference. Should this report be passed, SOCC will be changed accordingly.
SOC will include these in its report included as part of the Annual General Meeting 2024.
SOC extends its thanks to Louisa Greenbaum and the teams involved in organising Conference for their continued hard work, particularly in a year where fighting a General Election has made great demands on all of us. We turned it around!
SOC will include these in its report included as part of the Annual General Meeting 2024.
At the request of the Co-Chairs of Green Party Regional Council (GPRC) a link is given below to the 2024 General Election manifesto as approved by that body – as distinguished from the version campaigned on, which is included as part of A02 (see below). The practical effect of ratifying this version of the document would mean that motions C03-C05 would automatically fall away.
Last updated on 2024-09-08 at 15:20