East of England Liberal Democrats
Executive Committee
Minutes of the meeting held on Saturday 6 December 2008
Present:
Paul Clark (in the chair), Roy Benford, Chris Butler, David Callaby, Susan
Gaszczak (from 10:45), John Halliday, Lloyd Harris, Theresa Higgins, Ian Horner,
Sal Jarvis, Steve Jarvis, Peter Lee, John Masek, Alex Reid, Stephen Robinson, Kate
Sayer, Chris Walker, Jon Whitehouse (from 10:15)
In attendance: Lorna Spenceley (Administrator)
1
Apologies for absence
Sal Brinton, John Corney, James Joyce, Rupert Moss-Eccardt, Kathy
Pollard, Catherine Smart, Julie Smith, Tim Sutton-Day
The Chair welcomed the new members of the Executive for 2009; and
expressed his thanks to the outgoing members, especially to Ros Scott, to whom
he offered congratulations on her election as Federal Party President.
2
Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed (proposed by Peter
Lee, seconded by Lloyd Harris).
3
Matters arising
It was now technically possible to upload files to the extranet, but practical issues
were ongoing.
EERA’s sponsorship of the regional reception at Federal Conference had been
gratefully received; there would be no regional event at the spring conference in
Harrogate, Lorna to book a regional reception for the Saturday of the autumn
conference in Bournemouth [EX-Dec/08-01].
The English Party had approved an increase in the rebate to 15%.
The Chair to write to local parties to ask what they were doing with the 1m
door challenge packs [EX-Dec/08-02].
Andrew Duff MEP would be billed shortly for his sponsorship of the regional
conference; the hoped-for Anglia Water sponsorship had not come to fruition.
March actions had been completed, with the note that Kate Sayer needs to
know who to liaise with over training matters in Suffolk and Bedfordshire.
September actions: EERA had been billed for their sponsorship; a full list of
selected PPCs had been provided to this meeting; the composition of the
regional committees was being discussed at this meeting.
4
Regional Secretary
The Management Committee recommended to the Executive that Tim SuttonDay should be appointed; proposed by Paul Clark, and seconded by Sal Jarvis,
that this be agreed. Peter Lee proposed an amendment, adding that the Chair
discuss with Tim the Executive’s preference for the present minute-taking and
paperwork arrangements to continue. The amendment was passed with one
abstention; the substantive motion as amended was then defeated.
Steve Jarvis proposed to refer the matter back to the Management Committee
to resolve and bring proposals to the next meeting of the Executive; Peter Lee
seconded the motion, adding that the Management Committee should bear in
mind the strong preference of the Executive as expressed at this meeting. The
motion was agreed, with two abstentions.
5
Executive nominations to regional committees; committee convenors
Candidates Committee
 4 members directly elected: 1, 2, 3, 1 vacancy
 2 members appointed by Executive: Kate Sayer, Barbara Rix, David Jones
 Directly elected chair: Catherine Smart
Conference Committee
 3 members directly elected: Theresa Higgins, Richard Struck, 1 vacancy
 2 members appointed by Executive: Christine McHugh, Chris Walker
 (additional co-options as required during the year)
 Convenor: Rupert Moss-Eccardt to convene wash-up meeting before end
December 2008; Theresa Higgins had volunteered to chair in 2009
Development Committee
 3 members directly elected: Roy Benford, Lloyd Harris, Julie Smith
 2 members appointed by Executive: Steve Jarvis, 1 vacancy
 Convenor: Committee to elect own chair
Policy Committee
 3 members directly elected: Roy Benford, Julie Smith elected, 1vacancy
 2 members appointed by Executive: Paul Burall, 1 vacancy
 Convenor: Julie Smith
Campaigns Committee
 3 members directly elected: John Halliday, James Joyce, Peter Lee elected
 2 members appointed by Executive: John Corney, Jon Whitehouse
 Convenor: Committee to elect own chair
Management Committee
 Composition as per constitution
6
Reports
The Chair’s report was moved to the end of this item.
6(b)
Treasurer’s report
A statement of the Regional Conference income and expenditure was circulated;
Chris Walker to invoice Andrew Duff MEP by 16 December [EX-Dec/08-03].
The EERA contribution towards the regional reception at Federal Conference
had been received; the bills issued by the Marriott Hotel had now been paid.
£5,240 had been received in membership rebates, with £2.14 for Maldon.
Balances were as follows:
(1) HSBC Bank Account Balances as at 30 November 2008
East of England cheque account
£1,059
East of England Business Money Manager
£19,824
East of England 3 month deposit bond (matures 20 Feb 2009) £40,469
Euro cheque account
£5,770
Euro 6 month deposit bond (matures 20 Apr 2009)
£8,423
Total
£75,545
(2) Earmarked funds as at 30 November 2008
Westminster by-election fund
General Campaign Reserve
Euro Campaign Fund
Maldon
Total
£5,000
£34,832
£14,193
£236
£54,261
(3) Unrestricted funds as at 30 November 2008
£21,284
From the Maldon funds of £236 had been paid £145 for EARS; the members’
newsletter would cost £88, leaving the branch out of funds. Newsletter invoices
were still to be issued.
Chris Walker to circulate his reports electronically [EX-Dec/08-04].
The latest PPERA donations update report showed gaps in reports from
Cambridge, Castle Point, Hertford & Stortford, Ipswich, NE Cambridgeshire, NE
Essex, Norwich North, SW Bedfordshire, Stevenage, Suffolk Coastal, Waveney,
and West Suffolk. It was agreed that there should be a standard process without
reference to committee whereby the Treasurer should write to local parties
missing two or more reports, and if they were missing three or more reports
they should receive a letter stating that they ran the risk of the local party being
suspended. Ian Horner reminded the meeting that there is now a power to
suspend individuals from office which should also be considered.
John Masek asked whether the regional conference had made a loss; it was
reported that Andrew Duff MEP’s contribution, plus £30 registration fees
outstanding, plus £180 in earlier registrations still to be banked, meant that this
was not the case. It was agreed that the regional conference should make more
money, and that potential opportunities were being missed.
Roy Benford asked about the EU campaign budget; it was noted that this had
previously been reported as £105,000. £55,000 of current funds were ringfenced for this purpose, and a local party levy had been requested which one
local party (Watford) had already paid in full; conference had been told about the
local party levy. Roy said that Huntingdon local party felt money would be
better spent on county elections. Lloyd Harris felt the letter requesting the levy
could have explained that local parties got something back for their money, such
as the Freepost EU election mailing.
6(c)
Candidates’ Committee
Catherine Smart’s report was circulated, along with a list of selected candidates
to date. Two more were to be selected in Southend imminently. Roy Benford
asked about the list of approved candidates; Sal Jarvis said that all Returning
Officers had access to it, local party selection committee chairs would be given a
copy, local parties should be encouraged to contact people, and that in total
there were enough people actively seeking selection to fill all seats without
licensing anyone. The list had been split into two parts – inactive approved
candidates and those actively seeking selection. Several assessment days were
coming up. Roy felt that those figures should be included in the Candidates’
Committee report.
6(d)
Policy Committee
Julie Smith’s report was circulated and accepted.
6(e)
Campaign Committee
The minutes of the most recent meeting had been circulated; two by-election
gains from the Conservatives in Cambridgeshire were welcomed, and the
Conservative majority had been reduced in a recent by-election in Colchester.
A by-election in Braintree had taken place with no information to the region and
no Liberal Democrat candidate – Tim Huggan should always be informed of
upcoming by-elections. Congratulations were also offered to Watford for their
success in Tudor ward; another Watford by-election was expected in Leggatts
ward but it was hoped to hold this off until June.
The 14 February regional kickstart date had been agreed but a venue had not yet
been booked. Ian Horner reported the untimely death of Neil Trafford. Victoria
Marsom, the new deputy director of Campaigns, had already paid several visits to
the region, including a meeting with key seat organisers.
Broadland was now a Moving Forward seat. Ian would focus on preparing key
seat organisers for organising the Freepost. If a General Election was called for
May 2009, Ian’s view was that the region should seek loans to cover the
campaign expense. Some BME funding was now coming to Luton South; Duncan
Borrowman would be working a day a week for Luton South. Steve Jarvis felt
that if work was worth doing in a particular parliamentary seat, it was worth
doing properly.
The Mailsort account was now up and running. Paid-for Royal Mail deliveries
according to Royal Mail specifications could now be carried out, with the rate as
low as 18.6p – this was being used for pool mailings in Norfolk.
As for European elections, Royal Mail was still the biggest problem, as national
contact Steve Grimley was moving on. At present it was still assumed possible
to mix addressed and unaddressed Freepost across the region. Royal Mail had
not decided to which constituency boundaries, old or new, it would deliver, or
who would approve Freepost literature. Results would be declared by district
council boundary; this would affect delivery decisions in eg Norwich North. 16
seats would receive addressed Freepost; there was currently a problem with
how to match inserts against the leaflet split.
Tim Huggan was handling the Euro candidates’ programme; Paul to ask Tim to
table a written report on their activities for the next meeting. There was some
discussion on the best use of candidates; Steve Jarvis suggested that local parties
should be asked what they were asking their Euro candidates to do. John
Halliday had been pleased to hear from English Council that the party would be
fighting the Euro election on European issues. Stephen Robinson said that the
Candidates’ Committee in each region needed to be supporting candidates. Sal
Jarvis added that this was also a role for Campaigns Committees.
Susan Gaszczak reported HC3 concerns at communication from the region
about the Euro campaign. Ian replied that the CD of material had been given
away at the regional conference, and that the candidates and Ian had met various
county coordinating committees. Roy Benford felt that development seats
needed help and support. Paul Clark to send Hilary Stephenson’s English Council
presentation to the county coordinating committees [EX-Dec/08-05]. Steve Jarvis
suggested putting the material on the regional website in a secure area for local
party officers, but it was felt that not all officers would be able to use this
method of access. Orders had been received for over 300,000 part printed Euro
election leaflets.
6(f)
Management Committee
The minutes of the previous meeting were received. John Halliday queried what
was happening about Maldon: Steve Jarvis replied nothing other than using it as
pilot for any membership initiatives. Stephen Robinson reported that a public
meeting on the European election with Peter Welch had been held, there were
now two people who could be chair and treasurer. It was agreed that the region
should spend Maldon’s money on the General Election if before 4 June or on the
European election if not. It was agreed to sign Maldon up to the members’
newsletter initiative.
6(g)
Development Committee
Steve Jarvis reported that Liberal Youth were interested in opting in to the
members’ newsletter scheme but would require a grant from region and from
Liberal Youth. A grant of £300 was agreed. 8 local parties covering 900
members were now bought in to the scheme. Maldon would be used for a
membership recruitment pilot.
The local party chairs’ network, launched at the regional conference, had been
well received. The region would need to run a training event for new local party
officers at a quality venue on a Saturday in January.
The regional web site had been updated: all on the 2008 Executive should have
received a password to access the site. Access for uploading is more restricted
– anyone who can upload can access and change anything on the site. Steve to
talk to Prater Raines about how this can be changed [EX-Dec/08-06]. John said it
would be good if key seat organisers could upload materials. The e-newsletter
also presented an opportunity to circulate information to members in the region
as often as there was something interesting to say.
6(h)
Conference Committee
Rupert Moss-Eccardt to convene a wash-up telephone conference [EX-Dec/08-07].
A date and venue for the 2009 conference should be set at the earliest
opportunity.
6(a)
Chair’s report
Paul Clark drew attention to the LGA initiative on the Local Parliament – Steve
Jarvis and Roy Benford had already commented, Paul to forward the information
to the County Coordinating Committees so that it could be discussed on a
county basis in the spring [EX-Dec/08-08].
Paul Clark was obtaining copies of other regions’ development plans; the
Management Committee would coordinate production of a development plan for
the region.
Nick Clegg MP had initiated a monthly telephone conference with regional chairs.
7
County Coordinating Committee reports
Cambridgeshire: two recent by-elections had both resulted in gains from the
Conservatives. Target seats had been identified for the county council elections.
Essex: the next meeting of the county coordinating committee would take place
on Saturday 10 January: plans were in hand for a full colour insert in a pool
mailing for the target county seats.
Hertfordshire: the ‘six to fix’ campaign would be launched with viral videos.
Norfolk: a written report was circulated. Ian Horner reported that a decision on
local government reorganisation may not take place until February; if there were
no county elections this would affect European election campaign planning.
Suffolk : a written report was circulated.
John Halliday expressed concern about the lack of a county party structure in
Bedfordshire. Steve Jarvis said the party ought to share information between
counties.
8
English Council report
John Halliday and Stephen Robinson reported on the English Council discussion
on council groups. Hilary Stephenson had given a presentation on the European
election campaign. The English Council had approved the 2009 English Party
budget with a 15% rebate.
9
EERA Group report
A report from the EERA Group was received.
10
Dates of meetings 2009

Saturday 31 January

Saturday 4 April

Saturday 13 June
Date of October 2009 Executive to be set when the date of the regional
conference has been confirmed.
11
Any other business
Roy was concerned that the Regional Candidates’ Chair could self-nominate as
Returning Officer for a constituency. Sal Jarvis advised that the Candidates’
Committee, not the Candidates’ Chair, appoints the returning officer with the
agreement of the local party.
Paul Clark reported that European election candidate expense declarations
should be submitted to the Leader’s Office.
Outstanding actions from September 2008
EX-Sep/08-03
EX-Sep/08-04
EX-Sep/08-06
EX-Sep/08-08
EX-Sep/08-11
EX-Sep/08-12
EX-Sep/08-13
Draft explanation of what various regional posts entail
Allocate tasks to committees for regional development plan
Consider the promotion of the region’s role
Write to Peter Balcombe (Norwich N) and Gordon Dean (NC3)
Work up more detailed proposals on membership
Order shield for membership award
Advise on schedule for conference appeal
Paul Clark
Management Committee
Development Committee
Chris Walker
Development Committee
Lorna Spenceley
Conference Committee
Actions from December 2008
EX-Dec/08-01
EX-Dec/08-02
EX-Dec/08-03
EX-Dec/08-04
EX-Dec/08-05
EX-Dec/08-06
EX-Dec/08-07
EX-Dec/08-08
Book reception for Saturday of autumn federal conference
Write to ask local parties what they are doing with 1m door packs
Invoice Andrew Duff MEP for regional conference sponsorship
Circulate Treasurer’s reports by email
Circulate Hilary Stephenson’s EC presentation to Executive
Ask Prater Raines about permissions for uploading to Extranet
Convene wash-up Conference Committee phone conference
Forward Local Parliament information to Executive
Lorna Spenceley
Paul Clark
Chris Walker
Chris Walker
Paul Clark
Steve Jarvis
Rupert Moss-Eccardt
Paul Clark