Unlock Democracy Council Meeting

6 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF

12
th
Setem!er 2""9
M#NU$%S
&re'ent( Finola Kelly, Alan Debenham, Stuart Hill, Andrew Pearmain, Vicky Seddon (Chair)
Mark Valladare, !im "illiamon Stuart "eir#
#n attendance( Peter Facey (Director), Ale$ %unwick (De&uty Director) 'ame (raham
(Communication and Cam&ai)n Mana)er)
1) *ologie'
%oemary *echler, Peter Da+idon, ,ina Fihman, Peter Hirt, 'ohn 'ackon, Kelleen
Mc-ntyre, !erry Myer, Mick Pitt#
Vicky Seddon re&orted to Council that ,ina Fihman i makin) a )ood reco+ery .rom her
recent illne and that he e$&ect to be able to attend the A(M in ,o+ember# Council aked
that their )ood wihe be ent to ,F#
2) Minute'
/#0 !he .ollowin) minute were a)reed a a correct record1
Council Meetin) minute o. 00
th
'uly /223#
/#/ !he .ollowin) minute were &ro+ided .or in.ormation1
Mana)ement *oard minute o. 00
th
Au)ut /223#
+) Matter' ari'ing
4#0 !im "illiamon aked about the 45 de)ree cam&ai)n mentioned in the Council
minute# Ale$ %unwick re&lied that it i a new online cam&ai)n imilar to Mo+e6n#or)
in the 7SA that cam&ai)n on a wide +ariety o. iue# She added that 45de)re had
u&&orted the Citi8en Con+ention *ill cam&ai)n#
4#/ VS announced that the dra.t 9ocal (rou& A)reement, which had been amended a
a)reed at the lat Council meetin), would be circulated .or .inal a&&ro+al in the
a.ternoon eion#
,) Director-' .eort
Political overview:
:#0 Peter Facey re&orted that &olitic ha be)un to heat u& a)ain# !here are dicuion
within the 9abour Party about the )o+ernment makin) &ro)re on Houe o. 9ord
re.orm and &oibly alo electoral re.orm#
:#/ PF in.ormed Council that 7D took ad+anta)e o. thee dicuion and held a &ublic
meetin) on Houe o. 9ord re.orm with 'ack Straw a the keynote &eaker# !he
meetin) wa held in aociation with the (uardian and recei+ed i)ni.icant media
co+era)e# At the meetin) 'ack Straw wa remarkably candid about hi role in blockin)
earlier attem&t at contitutional re.orm#
:#4 He added that the (o+ernment ha &ublihed it Contitutional %enewal and
(o+ernance *ill and there are rumour that a dra.t Houe o. 9ord *ill will alo be
&ublihed#
:#: PF re&orted that Da+id Cameron ha )i+en a &eech on the cot o. &olitic and ha
embraced the lan)ua)e o. anti;&olitic# !he Coner+ati+e Party ha already made
announcement on the need .or decentraliation o. &ower thou)h there i little in the
way o. &olicy detail#
:#< He added that Dou)la Carwell, Coner+ati+e MP .or Harwich, i )oin) to table a *ill
on &rimarie and recall# !hi mean that there are cam&ai)n .or &rimarie in both
main &artie
:#= PF commented that he &oke at the (reen Party Con.erence about the cae .or a *ill o.
%i)ht and &oke about the .act that our .ranchie i +ery wide and that we hould
celebrate thi and e+en conider e$tendin) it .urther#
:#> Stuart "eir aked why ome human ri)ht or)aniation are not in .a+our o. a *ill o.
%i)ht and ee it a a threat to the Human %i)ht Act? PF re&lied that there are
concern about a @*ritihA *ill o. %i)ht bein) ued to undermine the uni+erality o.
human ri)ht# !here i alo a counter;culture on the le.t o. &olitic that ee any
re.erence to citi8enhi& a bein) bad and &layin) into the hand o. &olitical e$tremit#
FK added that the )o+ernment ha been able to introduce the conce&t o. earned
citi8enhi& without any &ublic outcry#
:#5 !" commented that many o. thee iue could be addreed with a .air +otin) ytem#
VS added that the motion that will be debated at the !7C con.erence and the &oibility
o. the !7C en)a)in) with thi debate i +ery &oiti+e#
Campaigns update:
:#3 PF re&orted that at the end o. the lat eion 0 in < MP had i)ned the BDM in .a+our
o. the Citi8en Con+ention *ill# 9etter and brie.in) are bein) ent to MP o+er the
Summer to kee& u& the momentum .or thi cam&ai)n#
:#02 PF in.ormed Council that the .irt round o. the Sutainable Communitie Act ha now
cloed and 35 council ha+e ubmitted &ro&oal with another <2 ayin) that they will
do o in the ne$t round# !he 9ocal (o+ernment Aociation, in it role a the Selector,
will meet at the end o. Se&tember to decide which &ro&oal will )o .orward# He added
that 7D i now &romotin) @SCA /A to enure that thi i a continuou &roce and to
e$tend local &endin) re&ort to Cuan)o# He added that 7D i )oin) to hot a erie
o. meetin) on the di..erent attitude o. the main &artie to citi8en em&owerment# !he
.irt will be with 6li+er 9etwin#
Page 2 of 8
:#00 PF re&orted that 7D i or)aniin) a meetin) in Parliament with the Parliamentary A..air
Dournal a they are &ublihin) an edition dedicated to the /2
th
anni+erary o. Charter 55
that wa held at 6$.ord 7ni+erity lat year# He added that he i alo doin) a
&reentation on Parliament en)a)in) with citi8en at the %e.orm o. the Houe o.
Common Committee chaired by !ony "ri)ht MP#
:#0/ PF commented that 7D i in ne)otiation with the 'oe&h %owntree %e.orm !rut about
the &oibility o. runnin) VoteMatch durin) the )eneral election# FK added that Vote
Match i a tron) brand and omethin) +ery &oiti+e .or the or)aniation to be in+ol+ed
with#
:#04 PF reminded Council that 7D would be attendin) the 4 main &arty con.erence and
holdin) roundtable on democracy ri)ht and .reedom at each# -n addition 7D will ha+e
a tall at 9abour a we ha+e been o..ered &ace at a coniderable reduced rate and
there will be a Sutainable Communitie Act rally at the Coner+ati+e Party con.erence
&onored by ,ick Hurd MP#
:#0: !" aked about how member were bein) in+ol+ed in thee acti+itie# He re&orted that
many member in *ath .elt that they hadnAt heard anythin) .rom the o..ice .or ome time
and in &articular had not recei+ed a reminder about renewin) their memberhi&# PF
re&lied that recently 7D ha aked member to write to their MP about the Citi8enA
Con+ention *ill, about Houe o. 9ord re.orm, and on electoral re.orm# "e ha+e alo
ent out a lar)e number o. e;mail akin) &eo&le to take action#
:#0< VS aked about how memberhi& renewal i dealt with# 'ame (raham re&lied that thi
take &lace annually and the mailin) ha Dut )one out#
:#0= PF added that local )rou& are welcome to run cam&ai)n on any iue o. democratic
renewal e+en i. it i not a &riority .or the o..ice# "e will alway do our bet to u&&ort
acti+ity but it need local )rou& to take re&onibility .or their acti+itie#
New organisations:
Vote for a Change
:#0> PF re&orted that the Vote .or a Chan)e (VFAC) cam&ai)n i now u& and runnin) and
that 7D i &layin) an acti+e role# !here are ome tenion a there are ome within the
coalition who ee it a an internal 9abour Party cam&ai)n but 7D i workin) a a critical
.riend within the coalition#
:#05 S" aked .or clari.ication on what the VFAC cam&ai)n want a re.erendum on# PF
re&lied that VFAC i .ormally callin) .or a Citi8enA Aembly &roce to chooe the
electoral ytem that would then be &ut to a re.erendum# Some within the coalition
would like the re.erendum to be on AVE, other are in .a+our o. AV or a &ro&ortional
ytem# S" commented that he .elt it wa ina&&ro&riate .or Com&a and other
internal 9abour Party or)aniation to be in+ol+ed with the cam&ai)n#
POWER2!:
:#03 PF in.ormed Council o. the launch o. P6"B%/202 a &roDect run by both the 'oe&h
%owntree Charitable and re.orm trut# !here are .our broad ta)e to the cam&ai)n1
Page " of 8
i) A litenin) ta)e between now and 6ctober where &eo&le are aked .or
idea
ii) A deliberati+e e+entF&hae that ort throu)h all the di..erent &ro&oal
iii) An online +ote to chooe which are the mot &o&ular < &ro&oal
i+) Cam&ai)nin) to )et all candidate to i)n u& to the < &ro&oal#
:#/2 !hi cam&ai)n ha raied a number o. iue .or 7D which ha+e been raied in
con+eration and meetin) with P6"B%# A letter in re&one to thee iue .rom
Pam (iddy on behal. o. P6"B% ha been tabled# !he reality i that P6"B% i the bet
chance .or ma democracy cam&ai)n in the run u& to the )eneral election# !hi will be
the bi))et cam&ai)n outide the three main &olitical &artie#

:#/0 VS re&orted that at the meetin) with P6"B% PF and VS em&haied the need to take
deciion Cuickly o that o&tion are not e..ecti+ely ruled out becaue o. a lack o. time#
!here were alo dicuion about what would ha&&en to any databae o. u&&orter at
the end o. the cam&ai)n#
:#// PF added that he ha been in+ited to it on the deciion makin) body .or the cam&ai)n
but that deciion will be taken by the !rut a they are .undin) the cam&ai)n# Mark
Valladare aked i. 7D knew the &eo&le ittin) on the !rut board# PF re&lied that we
knew ome o. them but did not ha+e a .ull lit#
:#/4 PF re&orted that the cam&ai)n will be .ormally launched at a ummit ne$t week and that
he will attend on behal. o. 7D#
:#/: Stuart Hill aked about the te$t o. the P6"B%/202 &re releae and drew attention to
the .act that it talked about an o&en &roce but alo lited iue that &eo&le may want
to &ro&oe# PF re&lie that the tartin) &oint .or the cam&ai)n i the recommendation
o. the P6"B% re&ort but that &eo&le are .ree to &ro&oe any idea a lon) a it i to do
with democratic renewal# SH aked that PF re&ort back to P6"B%/202 CouncilA
concern o+er the uneen &re releae#
:#/< A +ote wa taken on whether 7D hould &artici&ate in the P6"B% /202 cam&ai)n#
!here were > +ote in .a+our o. &artici&ation in the cam&ai)n and 0 +ote a)aint#
#t was agreed that $% should participate in POWER2!&
/) 0udget Udate
<#0PF &oke to the u&dated bud)et that had been circulated# He in.ormed Council that 7D
had recei+ed noti.ication o. a G=<,222 le)acy# Howe+er the de.icit ha alo increaed
a the &urity o. election )rant that ha been cancelled by '%%! and the bud)et no
lon)er include monie which are not )uaranteed uch the ,orman Arnold le)acy held
by the ,o+a Scarman )rou&# So while the le)acy remo+e the de.icit, the .inancial
&oition remain di..icult#
<#/PF in.ormed Council that he had met with the new CB6 o. the ,o+a Scarman )rou& to
dicu the le)acy and that they are eekin) le)al ad+ice but it i likely that 7D will
recei+e at leat ome o. thee .und#
Page ' of 8
<#4!here wa wide ran)in) debate about the ,orman Arnold le)acy and Council em&haied
the leon that ha+e been learnt .rom thi e$&erience and in &articular the need to )et
le)al ad+ice hould a imilar ituation arie# Council e$&reed the .irm +iew that
,orman ArnoldA intention ha been to lea+e the money to 7D and that all monie
hould come to 7D# Howe+er they reco)nied that PF needed to be able to ne)otiate
with the ,o+a Scarman )rou&#
(he updated )udget was approved&
6) *1M
%e&one to /225 &olicy motion
(he draft response to the polic* motions passed at the 28 +,- was approved&
+ttendance
=#0 !he &a&er that had been circulated wa dicued# SH commented that there are
member o. Council who ha+e ne+er attended a meetin) and that it wa im&ortant that
they could be remo+ed# He u))eted amendin) the &ro&oal o that any member who
.ailed to attend two conecuti+e meetin) without )i+in) a ati.actory reaon would be
deemed to ha+e rei)ned#
=#/ MV u))eted that the Mana)ement *oard hould decide whether a reaon .or non;
attendance wa ati.actory and that thi rule hould be e$tended to co+er attendance
at Mana)ement *oard meetin)#
=#4 Alan Debenham &oke in .a+our o. the ori)inal motion# !" &ro&oed amendin) the
&ro&oal o that a member o. Council who had not attended a total o. 4 meetin) would
be deemed to ha+e rei)ned but thi wa reDected a Council only meet twice a year
and thi would make it unduly di..icult to remo+e member that did not attend#
=#: A +ote wa taken on the motion a amended by SH# !here were = +ote in .a+our and 0
a)aint#
#t was agreed that an* Council -em.er who fails to attend two consecutive
Council meetings shall .e deemed to have resigned/ unless the* have provided
a satisfactor* e0planation& (he Chair shall write to an* Council -em.er who
fails to attend one meeting/ informing them of this rule&
!hi will now be &ut to the A(M a an amendment to the Contitution#

Council elections 2!
=#< PF &oke to the circulated &a&er and outlined the conte$t .or the dicuion, hi)hli)htin)
that two out o. the three contituencie did not ha+e conteted election .or Council in
/225 and that .or an or)aniation that cam&ai)n .or democracy and &artici&ation thi i
.ar .rom ideal#
Page 1 of 8
=#= S" aked about the relati+e )eo)ra&hical ditribution o. 7D member# '( re&lied that
7D member are &redominantly baed in the South Bat#
=#> SH aked .or additional in.ormation about the current contituencie includin) the
number o. member &er contituency, the )ender balance and &arty a..iliation o.
memberhi& in each contituency# He added that a there ha+e only been one et o.
election ince the contitution wa ado&ted he .elt it wa ina&&ro&riate to tart makin)
chan)e on uch limited e$&erience# !here are imilar &roblem in local )o+ernment
but we eek chan)e the &olitical culture rather than the tructure#
=#5 SH &ro&oed a number o. way o. chan)in) the culture o. &artici&ation within 7D#

a# Each Council mem.er to .e responsi.le for encouraging at least one
more person to stand for the Council
b# Post2dated nomination papers to .e availa.le at the +,- for signing/
together with a discussion on increasing participation&
c# Communications to appropriate Political Parties emphasising our
commitment to pluralistic politics and campaigning and drawing attention
to our forthcoming elections and the importance we attach to their
mem.ers involvement with us&
d# Communications to appropriate women3s organisations and press drawing
attention to the elections and emphasising our gender 4uota and
commitment to involving women&
e# Communications to )lac5 organisations and Press emphasising our
commitment to ethnic diversit* within our structures and see5ing
ma0imum input&
.# Communications to all our partner organisations on similar .asis&
)# $se of email and We.site to identif* an* difficulties individual mem.ers
might have in nominating themselves this time e&g& location of meetings/
financial/ carers responsi.ilities see5ing suggestions on how the
organisation could assist in overcoming them&
=#3 PF reminded Council that thee &ro&oal had been circulated in ad+ance and that no
additional in.ormation had been reCueted be.ore the meetin)# He added that the
contituencie were baed on &o&ulation not memberhi&#
=#02 !" &oke in .a+our o. o&tion 0# He did not .eel that Council member ha+e a &articular
contituency link and that o&tion 0 )a+e all member a ay and wa there.ore more
democratic#
=#00 MV commented that mot cam&ai)nin) or)aniation are 9ondon centric and u))eted
that ha+in) one national contituency would allow member baed in the South Bat to
Page 6 of 8
dominate, while maintainin) the re)ional contituencie would &rotect minority +oice#
He added that more in.ormation hould be &ro+ided about what tandin) .or council
entail o that all candidate undertand the role#
=#0/ Finola Kelly tated that the real iue wa not contituency i8e but the .act there were
only /2 candidate .or 05 &lace on Council# She &ro&oed that Council member and
ta.. hould &roacti+ely a&&roach &eo&le about tandin) .or Council#
=#04 '( u))eted that Council needed to &ro+ide leaderhi& on thee iue# He
welcomed SHA &ro&oal but drew CouncilA attention to o&tion / a thi kee& the
contituencie but alo addree the democratic de.icit o. not ha+in) enou)h
candidate#
=#0: Andrew Pearmain announced that he would not be tandin) .or election to Council
a)ain a he .elt that &olitic in the 7K i too old, male, weary and that the &olitical
ytem i dyin)# S" re&lied that AP may be correct about the nature o. the &olitical
ytem and that it may be dyin) but that 7D tand .or im&ortant +alue that will endure#
PF added that one o. the &roblem with cam&ai)nin) or)aniation i that the &eo&le
who want to be in+ol+ed &re.er to be takin) &olitical action rather ittin) on committee#
=#0< VS commented that SH ha made a number o. im&ortant &ro&oal but that thee
would ha+e to be balanced with 7DA other &rioritie# She u))eted that i.
contituencie were to be retained then there would ha+e to a deciion about whether
contituencie hould be determined by the ditribution o. the )eneral &o&ulation or
member# - ha+in) an election more im&ortant than re)ional re&reentation?
=#0= PF &ro&oed that the &rinci&le o. conteted election hould be debated at the A(M
and then &ro&oal .or contituencie hould be &ut to the A(M on the bai o. that
debate#
#t was agreed that there should .e a de.ate at the +,- a.out whether to retain
the status 4uo or move to a national constituenc*& #f the status 4uo were to .e
retained then proposals a.out the si7e of the constituencies should then .e put
to the +,-&
#t was agreed that 89:s proposals .e adopted/ if the* could .e underta5en
without a.sor.ing a considera.le resource&
Reserved Places
=#0> '( &oke to the &a&er and outlined how the &ro&oed chan)e to the &olicy on reer+ed
&lace would work# !here wa then wide ran)in) debate about the &ro&oal#
#t was agreed that there would .e no change to the polic* on reserved places&
9onorar* Officers
=#05 A% &oke to the &a&er and outlined the conte$t .or the &ro&oal#
(he paper on 9onorar* Officers was approved&
Page ; of 8
2 Local 1rou' *greement
>#0 A% circulated the amended dra.t o. the 9ocal (rou& A)reement and drew CouncilA
attention to the chan)e that had been made at the reCuet o. Council by the meetin)
on 00
th
'uly#

(he <ocal ,roups +greement was approved&
3 &olicy di'cu''ion on .ecall
5#0 A% &oke to the &a&er on recall#
8.2 PF outlined the cae .or recall and it ue in countrie with &ro&ortional electoral
ytem# He ar)ued that recall hould be di..icult o it i not o+erued or abued but
that it hould be &oible a it chan)e the &olitical culture in .a+our o. the +oter# He
alo outlined the dan)er .or the or)aniation o. not en)a)in) with thi debate#
-t wa a)reed that 7nlock Democracy hould u&&ort recall a one mean o.
im&ro+in) the accountability o. the &olitical ytem# Council a)reed that recall
hould not be limited to intance where an MP had been .ound )uilty o.
miconduct but that there hould be a.e)uard to &re+ent it .rom bein) abued
includin) a hi)h threhold and the &etitioner ha+in) to include a &eci.ic reaon
.or the re&reentati+e bein) recalled#
9 &olicy di'cu''ion on &rimarie'
3#0#0 A% &oke to the &a&er on &rimarie and outlined ,P,A &olicy &oition on &rimarie
which linked them to &arty .undin) re.orm# PF commented that &rimarie are about
rein+i)oratin) &olitical &artie rather than &artici&ation in &olitic more )enerally and that
they are an e$&eni+e mean o. doin) thi# !hi wa why ,P,A &olicy ha e$&licitly
linked &rimarie with the need .or wider democratic renewal#
-t wa a)reed that 7nlock Democracy hould ado&t ,P,A &olicy on &rimarie
and make the link to &arty .undin) re.orm#
$he date o4 the ne5t meeting i' Saturday 6
th
March 2"1")
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