NEC/Minutes/5th June 2011
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Contents |
Attendees
Loz Kaye (LK)
Ed Geraghty (EG)
John Barron (JB)
Andy Halsall AH)
Finlay Archibald (FA) *Until section 5*
Gavin Meredith (GM)
Apologies
Miah Gregory (MG) - Unable to attend via phone Peter Brett (PB) Graeme Lambert (GL)
Minutes of 29th May 2011
Last weeks minutes were approved and are to be uploaded to the wiki.
Actions
AH to ask PB to issue minutes from May
EG to ensure access is granted to GM for the wiki
GM to provide a method to take the minutes consistently and in a timely fashion.
GM to follow up treasury issues wit EC and HMRC. LK To act as backup.
GM to rewrite membership rules within 7 days.
EG to resolve issues with sign up - Ongoing.
AH to speak to BCS for meeting space.
EG prepare ongoing plan for the web Team
EG and AH to provide MCO cover.
LK to define strategy for outbound communications channel
Matters arising from minutes
LK made clear that actions from previous meeting should be brought up in the following meeting and that progress should be reported to the NEC for inclusion in the minutes.
LK also pointed out that whilst appreciated, FA's attendance is not required at present from the perspective of the NEC, FA is free to attend if he has an issue to bring to the attention of the NEC. As per his action from the previous NEC meeting he has spoken to FA to confirm that.
With regard to questions from the board to the NEC regarding the particularities of the issues surrounding the removal of the last Treasurer. The NEC is happy to answer any and all specific questions that the board may have.
GM expressed dismay that the Electoral Commission still did not list him as party treasurer. JB pointed out that this would still take time, however the NEC has provided backing to GM to contact the Electoral Commission to follow up with regard to this delay.
GM also pointed out that the party had a number of outstanding issues with HMRC. John stated that he had taken no action so far and that MG had been in contact with them regarding theses issues. GM agree that he would contact HMRC on behalf of the party to explain or current situation and get a clear understanding of what actions the party needed to do to become fully compliant.
GM was informed that MG would be in contact with him 9 today (5th June 2011)
Membership issues
After last NEC, serious concerns with regard to the rules surrounding party membership. GM reported that he wanted to rewrite rules to ensure that they were appropriate to the party. JB pointed out that he believed donation rules had been used to define the membership rules and that the party trying to be more transparent than it needed to be. GM reported that the Party was legally only required to report on donations of over £500, and was required to report immediately on donations of over £7500. Any payments below £500 were not to be reported or considered as donations.
GM pointed out that legally there was nor requirement to charge for membership, nor for ae limits. The NEC agreed that GM was to look into the matter and present new draft rules to the NEC for approval, LK stated that this was to occur within 7 days.
- At this point in the Meeting FA excused himself and left with thanks for his attendance.*
Web Update.
EG reported on the situation on the forum signup and page related to the Captcha. He made clear to the NEC that the current issues with the captcha was not fixable in a timely or economic manner. The interim solution presented by the head of the web team was that the Captcha would be turned off and the web team would monitor signups manually. This would resolve issues with signup and the NEC agreed that EG's solution was the right action in the interim.
AOB
GM asked for confirmation as to the time for the next meeting and whether he was right in assuming that all of NEC bar MG would be able to attend. He also asked to confirm the location and time of the meeting.
LK informed GM that the formal meeting would be held at between 5-6pm, but that those involved would meet from 10:30am for discussion. The location of the meeting had not been established. AH agreed to ask the BCS for conference space and to liaise with GM and EG to sort out a venue if the BCS were not amenable.
GM also asked whether it would be appropriate for the party to pay for travel for MG so that he could attend meeting. GM felt that this was appropriate due to issues with GM has with access to various party assets. LK suggested that GM speak to MG after the meeting to try to deal with those issues.
AH expressed his thanks to the NEC for allowing him to attend the meeting.
EG reported that the issues with web team were larger than expected. This was confirmed by both GM and AH who had both been briefed more fully by EG in advance. LK wanted confirmation as to what the web team would be in a position to offer to the party and when, he made the point that a number of aspects of web services were suboptimal what 'quick wins' should be identified and made. EG agreed that he would report the status and plan for the next three months to the NEC at the next NEC meeting.
LK announced that he felt encouraged that things were moving forward and his satisfaction at the actions that had been defined and agreed. He expressed his wish that those actions would be carried out and their completion reported, in line with his earlier statements. He added that we could not expect others to act if the NEC didn't.
LK also highlighted that reactions from output from the Party today had been good, that people outside of the party and tech bubble had been talking about the changes to leadership and the Parties future. He made clear that we as a NEC and as a part have to deliver.
GM expressed his thanks for the actions of AH and the team in Sheffield on their party stall and activities at Peace in the park.
Finally GM asked about the situation with Member communications. AH reported that he had spoken to GL and that a temporary situation had been agreed in that AH and EG would cover outgoing communications until a more permanent solution could be agreed. LK also agreed to deal with some elements of the parties various outbound communications channels.