Reports to Conference Spring Conference 2018 Contents Federal Conference Committee 2 Federal Policy Committee 7 Federal Board Report to Conference 14 Federal Finance and Resources Committee 17 Federal Communications and Elections Committee 19 Federal People Development Committee 22 Federal International Relations Committee 24 Leadership Election Regulations 26 Presidential Election Regulations 34 Committee Election Regulations 42 Liberal Democrat Data Protection Rules 50 Parliamentary Party (Commons) Report 61 Parliamentary Party (Lords) Report 65 Parliamentary Party (Europe) Report 70 Federal Conference Committee Bournemouth 2017 Last autumn we went back to Bournemouth for our conference. The online feedback questionnaire continues to be a useful tool for us to understand your views of a venue and a conference. As well as a snapshot in time it enables us to carry out year on year comparisons. For Bournemouth some 28% of the responses came from first time attendees. Most attendees (new and regular) found the Agenda, Directory, Conference Extra and Conference Daily useful and easy to use, with the app becoming more important year-on-year. As it stands, more than half of members find the Conference App more useful as a source of information than the printed Agenda and Directory. Over half of attendees downloaded the app. The improvements we recently made to the App seemed to be popular with 78% agreeing that it is an improvement on previous iterations. Bournemouth once again came out as a popular venue. The overwhelming majority thought that it was excellently suited for an Autumn Conference and thought that the balance between debate and non-debate items was about right. The balance between debates and fringe meetings was generally thought to be correct. Most people thought the fringe was satisfactory, good or excellent, with a majority now opting for good. For those that attended the fringe, the average number was they attended was between three and six. The majority of people travelled to conference by train or in a car-share. For most, the journey was 1-3 hours. In terms of accommodation, most people stayed in an independent hotel or B&B. There was a good spread of accommodation from £20 per night right up to £200 per night. Half of attendees spent less than £75 per night. Only a relatively small minority thought their accommodation poor value for money. Overall, the vast majority of people rated their experience at conference as excellent or good. Just a tiny handful of people rated it as poor. Again, the vast majority said that it made them more motivated to support the party or to campaign for it and that it made them feel more involved in the democratic process and proud to be a member. Southport 2018 As always, items on the agenda are still open to amendment. The deadline for submitting amendments – and also emergency motions and questions to reports – is 13.00 on 6th March. We continue to provide a drafting advisory service, and I would encourage all emergency motion and amendment submitters to make use of it – those who have used it in the past have had a much higher chance of having theirs accepted. The deadline for the advisory service for amendments and emergency motions is 13.00 on 20th February, so please do use the service. Amendments and drafts can be submitted via the website: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_submissions When setting the agenda we have tried to achieve a good balance of topics and motions. This includes important subjects such as the party strategy, our internal disciplinary process, rural and education policy papers from the Federal Policy Committee and motions on Hosing as well as Brexit. Autumn 2018 This autumn we return to Brighton. The conference takes place from 15th to 18th September. The deadlines are: Drafting advice deadline (motions) 13.00 13th June 2017 Motions deadline 13.00 27th June 2016 Drafting advice deadline 13.00 20st August 2016 (amendments, emergency motions) Deadline for amendments to motions, 13.00 3th September 2016 The committee considered whether we should continue the trial of running conference for four days. Usually, Autumn Conference lasts for five days, opening on Saturday afternoon and finishing on Wednesday. In Bournemouth, conference opened at 9am on the Saturday and closed at 3pm on the Tuesday. We managed with only a very small loss of debate time. It had the benefit of saving money although it was initially triggered by a review of the Parliamentary recess normally allowed for Autumn Conferences. The committee overwhelmingly voted to carry on with the four-day conference for 2018 as well. We felt that that that was in accordance with what members wanted and it had other important benefits. Stewards As always, conference can only take place due to the massive contribution and efforts of the volunteer stewarding team, who look after the exhibition, fringe, information desk, stage and auditorium, to ensure that we all get the most out of conference. We are always on the look out for new stewards. Please do contact me if you would like to join the team. Federal Conference Committee FCC members are here to help you make the most of conference – do feel free to ask us any questions you may have relating to the agenda and how to speak in debates. As well as finding a member of the committee at the FCC Helpdesk you can identify us by the badges we wear, with ‘FCC’ prominently displayed. FCC members are assigned to state and English regional parties, and SAOs. The idea is that they provide advice and assistance on submitting motions and when requested attend conferences to answer your questions. Thanks The vast bulk of the hard work of organising conference throughout the year falls on the professional staff in the Conference Office at HQ: the new head of conferences, Michael Smith, and his team Emma Price, Jack Everitt and Laura Brody. I would also like to express my grateful thanks to all the others who make conference possible: to all my colleagues on the Conference Committee; to all the staff at HQ, in particular the Policy Team, of Christian Moon and Jonathan Everett, who process the motions and prepare much of the agenda material; and of course to the stewards’ team. Conference is a fantastic event to be involved in I look forward to seeing you in Southport. Andrew Wiseman - andrewdwiseman@gmail.com Chair, Federal Conference Committee January 2018 Federal Policy Committee The Federal Policy Committee is responsible for researching and developing policy and overseeing the Federal Party’s policy-making process. This includes producing policy papers for debate at Conference and drawing up (in consultation with the parliamentary party) the Federal election manifestos for Westminster and European elections. The FPC has 29 voting members: the Party Leader, fifteen members directly elected by conference reps, six Parliamentarians, the Party President, two councillors, three state party reps and one rep from the Federal Campaigns and Elections Committee. It is chaired by the Leader. FPC Work Programme Because of the disruption to our normal schedule of policy development caused by the snap general election, we had to put back all the policy working groups from their original schedule. The current schedule of consultation and policy papers is set out below: Working Group Consultation Session Policy Paper Education Already Done (Spring 2017) Spring 2018 Rural Communities Already Done (Spring 2017) Spring 2018 21st Century Economy Already Done (Spring 2017) Autumn 2018 Britain in the World Already Done (Spring 2017) Autumn 2018 Immigration and Identity Spring 2018 Autumn 2018 Power to People and Communities Spring 2018 Autumn 2018 Race Equality Autumn 2018 Spring 2019 In accordance with this, policy papers drafted by the Education and Rural Communities Working Groups are presented for debate at Southport. There are also two consultation papers from the Immigration and Identity and Power to People and Communities working groups, which inform the consultation sessions on the Friday afternoon. FPC has recently established a new working group on Race Equality, chaired by Merlene Emerson, with Issan Ghazni as vice-chair. FPC has also decided to set up four further working groups in due course this summer: Health, Tax, Crime and Policing and Climate Change/Energy. As these are unlikely to find a slot for debate at Conference before Autumn 2019, they will not be recruited until after the Southport Conference. Last autumn I asked David Howarth to carry out some work on options for developing policy on Higher Education Tuition Fees. Following discussion between David and the FPC, we have produced a paper for consultation at this conference and more widely throughout the party. It is planned to come back to the Autumn Conference with a policy motion following feedback to the consultation. Comments on all consultation papers can be sent by email to policy.consultations@libdems.org.uk by the end of March. The FPC is very grateful to all those who give up a great deal of time to serve on our working groups. This is not the most glamorous role in the party, but it is absolutely vital to our democratic policy-making process. Key policy themes In addition to its regular policy working groups, the FPC also plans to draft a short overarching policy themes paper to be debated at the Autumn Conference. This will be done in conjunction with the Federal Board in the context of their work on the party’s strategy and the role of our policy within that and will include my personal policy agenda as set out during last year’s leadership election. It will aim to describe our key Liberal Democrat policy priorities in the current situation facing the country, and to give the wider party the opportunity to debate them. It will also be an opportunity to allow the membership to shape our thinking in the event of having to draft another snap election manifesto in 2018-19. Member Engagement The FPC is always seeking to improve our processes to widen and deepen members’ involvement in our policy development, and to improve communication of party policy, and we established last year a Membership Engagement group to take this work forward. So far this group has: * Run sessions in various regions introducing the party’s policy, policy-making and how members can contribute to it * Produced and circulated materials to support discussions by local parties and others to contribute to party policy-making * Produced summaries and introductions to motions being debated at conference * Produced short summary pocket guides to Party policy and our philosophy, available from www.libdemimage.co.uk * Updated and improved information available on the party’s website about the FPC and current policy working groups and their progress, at www.libdems.org.uk/federal_policy_committee and www.libdems.org.uk/policy-working-groups respectively * Commenced a pilot of an online forum for members to develop policy proposals We will continue many of these initiatives and are exploring further mechanisms for making information about existing Party policy as easily and simply available as possible.  We report on each FPC meeting on Lib Dem Voice and FPC’s own Facebook page, www.facebook.com/groups/federalpolicycommittee which is a good mechanism for keeping up with the work of the committee and asking questions to us. If you would like to suggest ways of improving how we make policy, please feel free to email on policy.consultations@libdems.org.uk with “Member Engagement” in the header. FPC Links To encourage policy debate across the party FPC representatives take responsibility for promoting policy debate within the regions of England, including attending regional conferences where appropriate. To contact your representative, please email policy.consultations@libdems.org.uk with “FPC Contact” in the header. Region FPC contact Devon & Cornwall Jim Williams East of England Geoff Payne East Midlands To be confirmed London Duncan Brack Northern To be confirmed North West Lizzie Jewkes South Central Catherine Royce South East Anthony Hook West Midlands Chris White Western Counties Richard Cole Yorkshire & the Humber Kamran Hussein The FPC has also appointed representatives to liaise with Party SAOs: SAO FPC contact ALDES Richard Cole ALDC Chris White LGBT+ Alisdair McGregor WLD Belinda Brooks-Gordon Liberal Youth Jim Williams PCA To be confirmed Liberal Democrat Lawyers Geoff Payne EMLD Marisha Ray LDDA Belinda Brooks-Gordon In addition, the FPC has decided to co-opt as non-voting members of the committee a representative from Young Liberals and from EMLD. Policy Staffing and Volunteers The Policy Unit currently consists of Christian Moon (Head of Policy) and Dr Jonathan Everett (Deputy Head of Policy). The Policy Unit has also benefitted from the efforts of volunteers including Andrea Howell. The FPC is grateful for the hard work of all the staff. Sir Vince Cable MP Chair, Federal Policy Committee Federal Board Report to Conference It’s been a busy few months since Autumn Conference, and the Federal Board has had its hands full with three reviews and continued work to shape the Party’s strategy going forward. Party Strategy Following a consultation at Autumn Conference and a large amount of work both before and after the election last June, Federal Board has now presented the motion on Party Strategy to Spring Conference. This motion is designed to help every member of the Party understand what our priorities are, and how each of us can help deliver our unified objectives. It is part of a wider body of work which the Federal Board has undertaken to ensure the work of our Federal Committees are properly co-ordinated and works in tandem with the work undertaken by our staff at Headquarters, in Parliament and across the country. I would encourage every member to get actively involved in trying to make our vision for the Party a reality on the ground. Help us to be the movement for change that this country needs. Macdonald Review & Sexual Harassment Allegations In October, news began to break of the horrendous extent of sexual harassment in Hollywood, and soon followed by equally troubling allegations in Westminster. The Federal Board very quickly met and took the decision to accelerate the Macdonald Review, which had been delayed until Autumn conference 2018 as a result of the election in June. Following specific public reports relating to the handling of allegations of sexual impropriety in the Lib Dems, the Federal Board also commissioned barrister Isabelle Parasram to undertake an investigation into the processes and make specific recommendations to the Macdonald Review, almost all of which I am pleased to say have been automatically incorporated by both Ken Macdonald and the Federal Board. Recommendations are now coming to Spring Conference. Alderdice Review In the meantime the Alderdice Review into Race, Ethnic Minorities and the Culture of the Liberal Democrats has also reported. This valuable piece of work was commissioned in response to concerns raised about the accessibility of the Party for people from ethnic minorities. John Alderdice has made a number of very helpful, practical suggestions which would help us improve our culture as a Party, and these will be a focus of the Federal People Development Committee to implement over the coming months and years. I would encourage everyone to read the report and find out what you could be doing in your area to make people from BAME communities feel welcome and to improve our Party’s diversity. General Election Review The review of the snap general election has also been undertaken over the course of the autumn, and its report was received by the Federal Board. The Federal Board took the decision to refer the recommendations to the relevant Party Committees for consideration and to feed into their respective workplans. Preparations are underway by all committees for a possible further snap or mid-term election, and the Chief Executive has now advertised for the post of General Election Planning Manager to ensure a co-ordinated plan implementing recommendations from both the 2015 and 2017 election reviews. Committee on Standards in Public Life – Intimidation of Parliamentary Candidates Finally, as Party President I gave evidence to the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s inquiry into the Intimidation of Parliamentary Candidates at the 2017 election. I’d like to thank every one of our candidates who responded to the inquiry and came forward to explain their experiences to me. The work that has been undertaken is invaluable and there are a number of recommendations in the recently published report which we will be taking very seriously. I have also extended an invitation to my respective counterparts in the Labour and Conservative Parties to meet and discuss how we can work together to take the committee’s recommendations forward. Sal Brinton Party President, Jan 2018 Federal Finance and Resources Committee 2017 Financial Outturn and 2018 forecast outturn A budget deficit had been forecast for 2017 due to the timing of major donor income and its corresponding expenditure following a £600,000 surplus in 2016. The General Election obviously impacted massive on both income and expenditure. The fundraising team did an excellent job in raising additional funds of £5,000,000 and these were expended during the campaign. Additional costs included higher rates and rent for HQ due to an expected review in 2016. The Party has been seeking to assign the HQ lease (which is due to run until 2021) in order to secure better value and more appropriate accommodation but this has proven difficult due to the cost of the lease, general market conditions the likely conversion of the offices to residential after 2021. Another higher cost was software priced in US dollars due to the weakness of the Pound. Fundraising generally falls sharply immediately after General Elections and 2017 was no exception and this has caused the deficit for 2017 to be higher than forecast. Additional membership income has been almost entirely channelled to local parties though this will unwind in 2018 creating higher income for the Federal Party. 2018 is budgeted to be a breakeven. Total staffing levels at Party HQ have fallen as expected within the electoral cycle and some heads of department have taken the opportunity to move on. Additional hires have been made within the compliance field. Compliance Thank you to all local party treasurers for assisting with PPERA requirements. Full national returns have of course been required in 3 consecutive years with 2 General Elections and the Referendum. We believe processes for the 2017 Return were much improved from the 2015 and Referendum returns where missing information from local accounting units resulted in Electoral Commission fines. All donations are checked thoroughly for permissibility, initially by the Party’s compliance officers, quarterly by the Chair of FFRC and also, depending on the donation size by the FFRC Chair, the Chair of Liberal Democrats Limited and the Party Leader. These checks become weekly during General Election periods. The declarations of donations made, statement of accounts submitted and campaign expenditure made by the Party can be viewed on the Electoral Commission's website at: pefonline.electoralcommission.org.uk/search/searchintro.aspx GDPR The Party has been working hard to prepare for GDPR implementation with dedicated staff hired in HQ, training and briefings and the formation of a task group which utilises the skills and experience of volunteers with relevant expertise. Peter Dunphy Chair, Federal Finance & Resources Committee and Registered Treasurer, Jan 2018 Federal Communications and Elections Committee Rather than dedicate extremely scarce resources to preparing for a second ‘snap’ election, FCEC took a strategic decision after Autumn conference 2017 to focus on the forthcoming 2018 local elections.  This does not mean that no preparations for a General Election (snap or otherwise) are taking place.  Once again herculean efforts have been dedicated by the State Candidates Committees and their Regional Chairs in England to ensure that candidates are identified, selected and ready to go should a General Election be called. FCEC recognises that a similar task must now be considered to do likewise with trained Agents and is seeking to identify funds for this. A ‘watch list’ of potential by-elections is regularly reviewed by FCEC with input from Scotland and Wales and the new Leader of the Party in Wales, Jane Dodds, set out the priorities and expectations for the Assembly by-election in Alyn & Deeside. The Review of the 2017 Election has now been concluded by Gerald Vernon-Jackson and his volunteer team who, having been appointed later than they would have liked, have provided an incisive overview of the election with many useful learnings for any future snap election.  The FCEC will work through the Review, identify relevant learnings and importantly cross reference against any outstanding actions from the 2015 Election Review. In line with the Strategy set out by the Federal Board and the motion for discussion at this Conference, FCEC is developing a future work plan which will address the strategic requirements to communicate our values effectively, further digitise the Party, and focus on and build local campaigning capacity – not just where it coincides with our Parliamentary objectives but as part of building a sustainable growth.  This will be informed by the deliberations of an independent team, commissioned by the Leader and Chaired by Mark Pack, which has been tasked with identifying core messaging.  We will combine these ambitions in the knowledge that the Party’s meagre resources have rarely before been so slight and thinly spread.  In the current Party budget, there is no allocation of funds for Parliamentary by-elections.  Every election we face will need to be funded afresh by donations from you.  This presents our campaigning chiefs, Shaun Roberts and his deputy Dave McCobb, with huge planning constrictions. ALDC faces similar challenges and has established a Fighting Fund https://www.aldc.org/donate/ to help address ‘black-hole’ wards. Your generosity will be appreciated, and will be guaranteed to be put to good campaigning use.  Don’t leave donating to someone else, they will almost certainly be hoping to leave it to you. Thursday 3rd of May sees elections in all English Metropolitan councils, London Boroughs, and many English Districts and Unitaries who elect by thirds.  In all, 4,418 seats are up for election of which 459 are defences.  In addition we are also defending the Liberal Democrat Elected Mayorality in Watford following the decision of our long standing incumbent, Dorothy Thornhill, not to re-stand.  The ‘Kick-Start’ campaign weekends continue to be extremely popular and ALDC Chief Exec Tim Pickstone reported that last November’s event was the largest ever with over 230 active participants.  In addition to ‘G8’ funding it was possible, through the generosity of the English Party to maintain the ‘Future Campaign Leaders’ initiative of funded places targeted at young and BAME campaigners.  As per the 2017 Election, HQ Campaigns and ALDC have together agreed how and where their resource will be best targeted to avoid overlap.  ‘G8’ funding has this year been allocated in slightly larger portions covering strategically important Councils, in London Region and, for the first time, a Mayoral campaign.  It has also been used to establish a programme to facilitate production of direct mail in agreed identified wards. Finally, we are pleased to welcome Sam Barratt as the Party’s new Director of Communications.  Sam has previously served the Party in a variety of communications functions since 2013 and is in the process of hiring new team members to the function. His predecessor, Phil Reilly, moved to take a role as Director of Marketing and External Relations for the National Film & Television School. We wish him all the best. James Gurling Chair, Federal Communications and Elections Committee, Jan 2018 Federal People Development Committee Since Autumn, our work has progressed in several important ways. Firstly, we have agreed an ambitious workplan for the year. This was a difficult process as there is so much to be done within our three remit areas of Training, Membership (engagement, recruitment and retention) and Diversity. As you are likely aware, there are two hugely important Party reviews reporting this year – the MacDonald Review into the Party’s complaints process and the Alderdice Review into the experience of our Ethnic Minority members. We anticipate that both of these Reviews are likely to call for a lot of work within our committee remit. Implementing the recommendations of these Reviews will take a lot of work, but will be instrumental in building a more inclusive and diverse culture within our Party. We have also agreed in our workplan to try to re-energise the training provision for members. The snap General Election interrupted the normal flow of training that runs through a Westminster Parliamentary cycle. As a committee, we felt that it was important to address this quickly and try to increase the amount of training that is being run outside of the Federal Conference provision. We will of course work closely with our key partners here, the State Parties, Regions, Local Parties and SAO’s, as well as the HQ staff teams. We are now acting as the political oversight body for the new organisation “Your Liberal Britain”. We are working with Jim Williams and his team to schedule a reporting timetable to the committee and negotiating how the relationship can work so that they get the support they need, and the Party can also be reassured that scrutiny is also being conducted. I feel we have started off on a positive foot and hope that this will be an exciting area of growth. We have worked closely with Elaine Bagshaw in the design of a new Innovation Framework. This would allow Party members to bid for seed funding for innovative ideas that seek to further the Party’s strategic aims. Elaine now has a design in place and a pilot of the Framework will hopefully be completed this autumn. Expect to hear more soon! Lastly, we are slightly adjusting our subcommittee structures. The Governance Review, approved by Federal Conference, allowed our Training and Membership subcommittees to only have six full members (two from each State Party) and then to co-opt up to three people. One year in, and it is clear that this structure is not quite working. So we are amending our Standing Orders to increase the number of permissible co-options to these two subcommittees. Hopefully this will then allow them to function as was intended. With such a heavy workload ahead of us, we really do need full-strength teams working on these areas. Miranda Roberts Chair of Federal People Development Committee, Jan 2018 Federal International Relations Committee FIRC has prepared a work plan to brand the Party as THE Internationalist Party. We work with others to achieve Exit from Brexit, both at home and abroad. We are in constant contact with sister parties in the EU to ensure that they understand our commitment to remain as EU members, urging the eight countries with Liberal Prime Ministers to encourage their colleagues to help the UK to realise the benefits of staying in a reformed EU. We are working with the ALDE Party to this end, and welcome their assistance to us. We have created Lib Dems Abroad, with subsections Lib Dems in Europe and Lib Dems Overseas. Between them they have over 2000 members. We are assisting them to develop their networks and encourage the millions of British citizens living outside the UK to help us all to remain in the EU. Our Manifesto commitment to “Votes for Life” is an important selling point. We hope to create a special unit within the International Office at HQ to provide specific services to these Groups. Liberal International has a new Secretary General with whom we are working to implement the 2017 Liberal International Manifesto to combat populism, and promote human rights, as well as to assist liberals all over the World to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. At home, we aim to work closely with members of sister parties resident in the UK to help in our campaigns and to keep them in touch with their own parties.  We are working on encouraging Commonwealth diasporas to believe that our Party is their true home, and to make EU citizens threatened by the unfair policies of the Tory Brexit Government understand that while they can still vote in local elections they should support LibDem candidates. Our International Office continues to assist with the development of liberalism on programmes funded by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, working closely with FIRC. Robert Woodthorpe-Browne Chair, Federal International Relations Committee, Jan 2018 Leadership Election Regulations 1. The Chair of the Federal Appeals Panel shall be the Returning Officer. The rules of the Federal Appeals Panel shall make provision for a process to replace the Chair in this role if necessary. The Chief Executive shall be the Acting Returning Officer. A Deputy Acting Returning Officer shall be appointed from the Compliance Department. Other Deputy Acting Returning Officers may be appointed if required by the Acting Returning Officer. 2. The electorate for the purpose of the election shall be those members with current membership of the Liberal Democrats on the closing date for nominations, including those members whose subscriptions were due not more than three months before the closing date. 3. The sections of the membership register containing the names, addresses and telephone numbers of members will be released in electronic version to each candidate subject to the candidate signing a data protection statement agreeing to abide by the party’s data protection polices under article 3 of the Federal Party Constitution. Any candidate or supporter of a candidate facilitating a breach of this clause will be deemed to be in breach of the Party’s Data Protection Policy. Candidates should also have due regard to their own data protection responsibilities when collecting and using any data of their own in a Party Election. 4. (a) The timetable for the election shall be no shorter than 9 weeks and no longer than 13 weeks. It shall contain a minimum of 15 days for nominations to be collected which must be on the official forms provided by the Acting Returning Officer for the specific election and available from the day following the setting of the timetable by the Federal Board. It shall provide for at least 21 days between the close of nominations and the despatch of ballot papers and at least 21 days for the return of ballot papers. (b) A leadership election due to be completed three days after a general election polling day would best be postponed. 5. (a) The Acting Returning Officer shall co-ordinate arrangements for official party member hustings events via the states and regions with a view to balancing the competing demands for media coverage of the campaign, parliamentary and other duties and the desirability of party members to have a chance to attend a hustings. Any of the official hustings may take place partly or wholly online and at least one shall be wholly online. Other party bodies may only hold hustings-type events if they invite all candidates to attend, but they do not require the agreement of all candidates to attend or send a representative in order to proceed. Events designated as official hustings by the Acting Returning Officer shall take precedence over any other arrangements a candidate may have made. (b) Official party communications channels may only be used to promote hustings events organized in accordance with 5a and approved by the Acting Returning Officer. Responsibility for organising and paying for any hustings event shall lie with the hosting organisation, but the Acting Returning Officer will assist in publicising official hustings events via the party’s website, social media channels and email communications. 6. (a) Nominations must be of a Member of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons, who must be proposed by at least ten percent of other members of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons and supported by 200 members in aggregate in not less than 20 Local Parties (including, for this purpose, the Specified Associated Organisations representing youth and/or students). (b) Nominations from the Parliamentary Party shall not include the candidate themselves. (c) A nominator may not subscribe to more nomination papers than there are vacancies in the election being held. (d) Nominations must be accompanied by the written consent of the candidate. (e) All the forms set out in this regulation may be submitted via email. (f) After acquiring the necessary nominations for candidacy, each candidate may nominate an agent for their campaign. A candidate who fails to nominate an agent will be deemed their own agent. 7. Federal Party employees shall maintain strict neutrality from the opening date for declaration of candidacy. It is recommended that employees of state parties, SAOs, AOs and any other relevant employing bodies shall also maintain such neutrality. 8. Party Officers, acting in their capacity as officers at federal, state, regional and local level, are expected, as far as possible, to give equal opportunities and fair balance to all candidates. 9. Treating is not allowed but the reasonable provision of food and drink to campaign helpers or event attendees is permissible. 10. The Federal Board shall set a spending limit for election expenses, not including travel or subsistence, for each leadership candidate, when they set the timetable for the election. No candidate, or their agent, shall exceed this limit in the production of publicity material and all other expenditures connected with the campaign. This shall include any expenditure (or the relevant proportion of any expenditure) incurred before an individual becomes a candidate if the property, services or facilities are used for the purposes of the candidate’s election. All donations above £500 must comply with the provisions of Schedule 7 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. 11. (a) All publicity material produced in paper or electronic form for or on behalf of a candidate shall bear their agent’s imprint including a full postal address. Any email messages sent out for or on behalf of a candidate for the purposes of publicising their candidacy shall also include a standard form of words provided by the Returning Officer specifying how the recipient of the message may opt out of future messages. (b) Each candidate shall be responsible for supplying material that verifies, to the satisfaction of the Acting Returning Officer, any statement in their personal election address claiming that he or she is endorsed by any individual or organisation. Such material must accompany the candidate’s personal election address artwork. (c) Each candidate shall be entitled to include in the mailing of ballot papers a personal election address covering up to two sides of A4 paper, or A5 in the event of there being more than three candidates, printed by and to be displayed electronically at the expense of the Federal Party. Election address artwork in camera ready form and matching the artwork specification determined by the Returning Officer must reach the Acting Returning Officer at an address and by a date to be notified. (d) The Returning Officer may make provision for voters to view the candidates’ election addresses electronically as well as, or instead of, through the postal mailing. (e) The published personal election address may be reproduced in whatever format is decided by the Returning Officer so long as the minimum coverage provided for in regulation 12(b) is met. (f) The Returning Officer may carry out electronic communications to facilitate the election, including to raise turnout, and send out electronic communications on behalf of the candidates in the election. 12. No material published or circulated in paper or electronic form by or on behalf of any candidate or the Returning Officer or the Acting Returning Officer shall defame by name or implication any candidate and no candidate shall so defame any other candidate in the course of personal canvassing. 13. Any party publication whether in paper or electronic form shall give, as far as possible, equal coverage and a fair balance to all candidates. 14. The election shall be conducted by secret ballot and the single transferable vote. Counts shall be conducted in accordance with the current edition of the Electoral Reform Society’s publication ‘How to conduct an election by the single transferable vote’. The election count may be scrutinised by the candidate, their agents and one other personal representative and shall be open to any party member, subject to capacity of the venue. 15. The election will be conducted electronically. The Returning Officer may make provision for voters who cannot vote electronically to vote by post upon a request in writing. Any such request shall only be valid for the specific election being conducted at the time of the request. 16. Each candidate and their agent shall complete and lodge with the Acting Returning Officer an election expenses return form. The form must have attached receipts or invoices for all expenditure and must be lodged with the Acting Returning Officer by midday on the 35th day after the declaration of the election result. The Acting Returning Officer will hold the expenses returns of each candidate on file and these may be examined by any party member. The expenses form shall also contain the necessary information to prove compliance with schedule 7 of the PPERA 2000. 17. Any candidate who needs to make a report to the Electoral Commission shall do so in consultation with the Party’s Compliance Department in order to ensure they meet the statutory deadlines. 18. The Returning Officer shall have the power to disqualify before declaration of the result, or unseat if declared elected, any candidate who: (a) has brought the party into disrepute during the campaign or where the Returning Officer has clear evidence of this happening in the near future; or (b) is found to be in breach of any of these regulations. 19. Any party member may lodge, in writing, a formal complaint of infringement of election regulations at any time up to 21 days after the declaration. The written complaint should be addressed to the Acting Returning Officer and specify in detail the nature of the infringement. The Returning Officer shall then decide, in full consultation with the Acting Returning Officer, whether there is sufficient evidence and grounds to uphold the complaint. 20. Appeals against decisions of the Returning Officer must be referred to the Federal Appeals Panel within 14 days of the decision. For the purposes of Appeals under these regulations one of the Panel Vice Chair’s shall act as the Chair of the Federal Appeals Panel, unless they are not available in which case the other Panel members shall appoint one of their number as Acting Chair. 21. These regulations will be reviewed by the Federal Board no later than six months after the completion of the elections. Before conducting the review, the Federal Board shall first ask the Returning Officer and Acting Returning Officer to submit a report to it on the conduct of the elections. The report must include a report on any diversity measures taken as a result of any requirement under the Federal Party Constitution, potential data protection breaches and any changes or clarifications required by rulings made by the Returning Officer or the Federal Appeals Panel. Amended Jan. 2018. Presidential Election Regulations 1. The Chair of the Federal Appeals Panel shall be the Returning Officer. The rules of the Federal Appeals Panel shall make provision for a process to replace the Chair in this role if necessary. The Chief Executive shall be the Acting Returning Officer. A Deputy Acting Returning Officer shall be appointed from the Compliance Department. Other Deputy Acting Returning Officers may be appointed if required by the Acting Returning Officer. 2. The electorate for the purpose of the election shall be those members with current membership of the Liberal Democrats on the closing date for nominations, including those members whose subscriptions were due not more than three months before the closing date. 3. The sections of the membership register containing the names, addresses and telephone numbers of members will be released in electronic version to each candidate subject to the candidate signing a data protection statement agreeing to abide by the party’s data protection polices under article 3 of the Federal Party Constitution. Any candidate or supporter of a candidate facilitating a breach of this clause will be deemed to be in breach of the Party’s Data Protection Policy. Candidates should also have due regard to their own data protection responsibilities when collecting and using any data of their own in a Party Election. 4. (a) The timetable for the election shall be no shorter than 8 weeks and no longer than 13 weeks. It shall contain a minimum of 15 days for nominations to be collected and at least 14 days between the close of nominations and the despatch of ballot papers and at least 14 days for the return of ballot papers. (b) The Returning Officer may postpone or suspend these elections if it would conflict with a Parliamentary General Election or a Referendum covering England, Scotland, Wales or any combination thereof. 5. (a) The Acting Returning Officer shall co-ordinate arrangements for official party member hustings events via the states and regions with a view to balancing the competing demands for media coverage of the campaign, parliamentary and other duties and the desirability of party members to have a chance to attend a hustings. One or more of the official hustings may take place partly or wholly online and at least one shall be wholly online. Other party bodies may only hold hustings-type events if they invite all candidates to attend, but they do not require the agreement of all candidates to attend or send a representative in order to proceed. Events designated as official hustings by the Acting Returning Officer shall take precedence over any other arrangements a candidate may have made. (b) Official party communications channels may only be used to promote hustings events organized in accordance with 5(a) and approved by the Acting Returning Officer. Responsibility for organising and paying for any hustings event shall lie with the hosting organisation, but the Acting Returning Officer will assist in publicising official hustings events via the party’s website, social media channels and email communications. 6. (a) A candidate for the office of President shall require the nomination of not less than 200 members in not less than 20 Local Parties (including, for this purpose, the Specified Associated Organisations representing youth and/or students). (b) A nominator may not subscribe to more nomination papers than there are vacancies in the election being held. (c) Nominations must be accompanied by the written consent of the candidate. (d) All the forms set out in this regulation may be submitted via email. (e) After acquiring the necessary nominations for candidacy, each candidate may nominate an agent for their campaign. A candidate who fails to nominate an agent will be deemed their own agent. 7. Federal Party employees shall maintain strict neutrality from the opening date for declaration of candidacy. It is recommended that employees of state parties, SAOs, AOs and any other relevant employing bodies shall also maintain such neutrality. 8. Party Officers, acting in their capacity as officers at federal, state, regional and local level, are expected, as far as possible, to give equal opportunities and fair balance to all candidates. 9. Treating is not allowed but the reasonable provision of food and drink to campaign helpers or event attendees is permissible. 10. The Federal Board shall set a spending limit for election expenses, not including travel or subsistence, for each presidential candidate, when they set the timetable for the election. No candidate, or their agent, shall exceed this limit in the production of publicity material and all other expenditures connected with the campaign. This shall include any expenditure (or the relevant proportion of any expenditure) incurred before an individual becomes a candidate if the property, services or facilities are used for the purposes of the candidate’s election. All donations above £500 must comply with the provisions of Schedule 7 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. 11. (a) All publicity material produced in paper or electronic form for or on behalf of a candidate shall bear their agent’s imprint including a full postal address. Any email messages sent out for or on behalf of a candidate for the purposes of publicising their candidacy shall also include a standard form of words provided by the Returning Officer specifying how the recipient of the message may opt out of future messages. (b) Each candidate shall be responsible for supplying material that verifies, to the satisfaction of the Acting Returning Officer, any statement in their personal election address claiming that he or she is endorsed by any individual or organisation. Such material must accompany the candidate’s personal election address artwork. (c) Each candidate shall be entitled to include in the mailing of ballot papers a personal election address covering up to two sides of A4 paper, or A5 in the event of there being more than three candidates, printed by and to be displayed electronically at the expense of the Federal Party. Election address artwork in camera ready form and matching the artwork specification determined by the Returning Officer must reach the Acting Returning Officer at an address and by a date to be notified. (d) The Returning Officer may make provision for voters to view the candidates’ election addresses electronically as well as, or instead of, through the postal mailing. (e) The published personal election address may be reproduced in whatever format is decided by the Returning Officer so long as the minimum coverage provided in regulation 11(c) is met. (f) The Returning Officer may carry out electronic communications to facilitate the election, including to raise turnout, and send out electronic communications on behalf of the candidates in the election. 12. No material published or circulated in paper or electronic form by or on behalf of any candidate or the Returning Officer or the Acting Returning Officer shall defame by name or implication any candidate and no candidate shall so defame any other candidate in the course of personal canvassing. 13. Any party publication whether in paper or electronic form shall give, as far as possible, equal coverage and a fair balance to all candidates. 14. The election shall be conducted by secret ballot and the single transferable vote. Counts shall be conducted in accordance with the current edition of the Electoral Reform Society’s publication ‘How to conduct an election by the single transferable vote’. The election count may be scrutinised by the candidate, their agents and one other personal representative and shall be open to any party member, subject to capacity of the venue. 15. The election will be conducted electronically. The Returning Officer may make provision for voters who cannot vote electronically to vote by post upon a request in writing. Any such request shall only be valid for the specific election being conducted at the time of the request. 16. Each candidate and their agent shall complete and lodge with the Acting Returning Officer an election expenses return form. The form must have attached receipts or invoices for all expenditure and must be lodged with the Acting Returning Officer by midday on the 35th day after the declaration of the election result. The Acting Returning Officer will hold the expenses returns of each candidate on file and these may be examined by any party member. The expenses form shall also contain the necessary information to prove compliance with schedule 7 of the PPERA 2000. 17. Any candidate who needs to make a report to the Electoral Commission shall do so in consultation with the Party’s Compliance Department in order to ensure they meet the statutory deadlines. 18. The Returning Officer shall have the power to disqualify before declaration of the result, or unseat if declared elected, any candidate who: (a) has brought the party into disrepute during the campaign or where the Returning Officer has clear evidence of this happening in the near future; or (b) is found to be in breach of any of these regulations. 19. Any party member may lodge, in writing, a formal complaint of infringement of election regulations at any time up to 21 days after the declaration. The written complaint should be addressed to the Acting Returning Officer and specify in detail the nature of the infringement. The Returning Officer shall then decide, in full consultation with the Acting Returning Officer, whether there is sufficient evidence and grounds to uphold the complaint. 20. Appeals against decisions of the Returning Officer must be referred to the Federal Appeals Panel within 14 days of the decision. For the purposes of Appeals under these regulations one of the Panel Vice Chair’s shall act as the Chair of the Federal Appeals Panel, unless they are not available in which case the other Panel members shall appoint one of their number as Acting Chair. 21. These regulations will be reviewed by the Federal Board no later than six months after the completion of the elections. Before conducting the review, the Federal Board shall first ask the Returning Officer and Acting Returning Officer to submit a report to it on the conduct of the elections. The report must include a report on any diversity measures taken as a result of any requirement under the Federal Party Constitution, potential data protection breaches and any changes or clarifications required by rulings made by the Returning Officer or the Federal Appeals Panel. Amended Jan. 2018 Committee Election Regulations 1. The Chair of the Federal Appeals Panel shall be the Returning Officer. The rules of the Federal Appeals Panel shall make provision for a process to replace the Chair in this role if necessary. The Chief Executive shall be the Acting Returning Officer. A Deputy Acting Returning Officer shall be appointed from the Compliance Department. Other Deputy Acting Returning Officers may be appointed if required by the Acting Returning Officer. 2. (a) The Federal Board shall draw up a timetable for each year’s elections, including publication of notice of elections, deadline to be used for determining right to vote in election, receipts of nominations, dispatch and return of ballot papers, and the counting of the votes for each election covered by these regulations. (b) The Returning Officer may postpone or suspend these elections if it would conflict with a Parliamentary General Election or a Referendum covering England, Scotland, Wales or any combination thereof. (c) The Returning Officer may make provision for voters who wish to do so to cast their ballots electronically, and to view the candidates’ election addresses electronically. (d) The Returning Officer may carry out electronic communications with the electorate to facilitate the election, including to raise turnout. 3. Nominations may be submitted by: (a) Any Local Party; (b) Any Regional Party; (c) Any State Party; (d) Any Specified Associated Organisations; or (e) Subject to Regulation 15(b), nominations may be submitted by any ten party members and must be accompanied by the written consent of the candidate. However, for the election of Councillor Reps see regulation 15(b). (f) A nominator may not subscribe to more nomination papers than there are vacancies in the election being held. (g) In order to be covered by one of the minimum representation requirements under Article 7 of the constitution, a candidate should submit information as to which of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act apply to themselves with their nomination paper. (h) All forms set out in this regulation may be submitted via email. 4. (a) Each candidate shall be entitled to a personal election address to be displayed electronically at the expense of the Federal Party. Election address artwork in camera ready form and matching the artwork specification determined by the Returning Officer must reach the Acting Returning Officer at an address and by a date to be notified. There will be an attendance list published with each committee’s manifestos and that shall also include a report of the consecutive number of years the candidate has served on that committee (regardless of the route by which they have become a member of the committee). (b) The Returning Officer may make provision for voters to view the candidates’ election addresses along with the attendance list and terms of service electronically as well as, or instead of, through the postal mailing. (c) Each candidate shall be responsible for supplying material that verifies, to the satisfaction of the Acting Returning Officer, any statement in their personal election address claiming that they are endorsed by any individual or organisation. Such material must accompany the candidate’s personal election address artwork. (d) No candidate may incur, or directly or indirectly authorize or cause to be incurred any further expenses on campaigning at any time before or after the close of nominations. (e) Candidates must not carry out any activities during the election period which may be viewed as treating. 5. The election will be conducted electronically. The Returning Officer may make provision for voters who cannot vote electronically to vote by post upon a request in writing. Any such request shall only be valid for the specific election being conducted at the time of the request. Any online voting system shall prompt members to look at candidates’ manifestos prior to voting and for randomisation of the names on the ballot paper. 6. The names and addresses of party members are confidential and shall not be released for the purposes of the election. Any candidate or supporter of a candidate facilitating a breach of this clause will be deemed to be in breach of the Party’s Data Protection Policy. Candidates should have due regard to their data protection responsibilities when collecting and using any data of their own in a Party Election. 7. (a) No official party publication may accept advertisements in support of or in opposition to candidates. (b) Candidates may not use official party publications to specifically promote their candidacy but all other articles are permissible. 8. No material published or circulated by or on behalf of a candidate shall defame by name or implication any other candidate and no candidate shall so defame any other candidate in the course of personal canvassing. 9. The Returning Officer shall have the power to disqualify before declaration of the result, or unseat if declared elected, any candidate who is found to be in breach of regulations 4, 6, 7(b) or 8, but shall not exercise such power without first offering any such candidate the right to make representation, and having regard thereto. 10. (a) All contested elections shall be conducted by secret ballot and the single transferable vote. Counts shall be conducted in accordance with the current edition of the Electoral Reform Society’s publication How to Conduct an Election by the Single Transferable Vote. If the Specified Proportions of candidates with protected characteristics in Article 7 of the Federal Party Constitution are not elected by the operation of the above rules, the Returning Officer shall conduct such further counts as they consider necessary and declare elected those members of the underrepresented characteristics and declare not elected those members of the over-represented characteristics who would or would not have been elected to committees with such larger and smaller numbers of members as would cause the correct number of that characteristic to be elected. (b) As required by the September 1992 conference motion elections to the ALDE Council delegation shall include a minimum of one person from each State Party and one person under the age of 26 at the time of election. (c) The committees shall be counted in the order they are specified in the Federal Party Constitution. (d) Once a candidate has been elected to a committee if section 7.2 of the Federal Constitution applies then they will be withdrawn from all subsequent elections they were nominated for. (e) The Returning Officer or the Acting Returning Officer shall have the power to make rulings to facilitate the completion of the count subject to rule 13. 11. Casual vacancies occurring shall be filled by recounting the original ballot papers in the election, passing over any preferences for any candidate causing a vacancy. If necessary, further counts shall be conducted using the principles set out in regulation 10 to ensure that all candidates originally elected so remain and that the Specified Proportions of protected characteristics are maintained. 12. Any party member may lodge, in writing, a formal complaint of infringement of election regulations forthwith upon becoming aware of any alleged infringement and not more than 21 days after the declaration. The written complaint should be addressed to the Acting Returning Officer and specify in detail the nature of the infringement. The Returning Officer shall then decide, in full consultation with the Acting Returning Officer, whether there is sufficient evidence and grounds to uphold the complaint, but shall not do so without offering any candidate concerned the right to make representations, and having regard thereto. 13. Appeals against decisions of the Returning Officer must be referred to the Federal Appeals Panel within 14 days of the decision. For the purposes of appeals under these regulations one of the Panel Vice Chair’s shall act as the Chair of the Federal Appeals Panel, unless they are not available in which case the other Panel members shall appoint one of their number as Acting Chair. 14. (a) If a complaint is made prior to the declaration of the result, the Returning Officer shall have the power to postpone such declaration until the determination of such complaint or, where an appeal is made against their decision, until the determination of such appeal. (b) The Returning Officer shall have the discretion to use this power to suspend individual candidates from serving on a committee they are elected too whilst any such complaint is investigated and/or subject to Appeal. (c) Complaints about conduct in party elections shall be maintained in the register of complaints held by the Pastoral Care Officer 15. (a) These Regulations shall be used for the triennial elections to the Federal Board, Federal Conference Committee, Federal Policy Committee, International Relations Committee, ELDR Delegation and other such elections as may be specified in the various other levels of the Constitution referring to rules made under section 6.6 (c) of the Federal Constitution. (b) They shall also be used for the election of Principal Councillor Representatives on the Federal Board and the Federal Policy Committee except that Regulation 3 shall be replaced by: “Nominations shall be submitted by any two Principal Councillors with valid membership and must be accompanied by the written consent of the candidate”. 16. These regulations will be reviewed by the Federal Board in a report from the Returning Officer no later than six months after the completion of the biennial elections. The report must include a report on any diversity measures taken as a result of any requirement under the Federal Party Constitution, potential data protection breaches and any changes or clarifications required by rulings made by the Returning Officer or the Federal Appeals Panel. Amended Jan 2018 A separate set of regulations apply for Interim Peer Elections. Liberal Democrat Data Protection Rules Version Control Version Date of Issue Author Summary of Changes V0.1 15/1/2018 Darren Briddock Initial Revision V0.2 1/2/2018 Sanjay Samani Incorporate Feedback from GDPR Working Group V0.3 2/2/2018 Darren Briddock Further changes V1.0 2/2/2018 anjay Samani Finalise for submission to Federal Board Report © The Liberal Democrats January 2018 Contents 1. Prerequisites 2. Data Security 3. Data Collection 4. Data Use 5. Data Subjects Rights 6. Definitions 1 Prerequisites 1.1 The Federal Party is the Data Controller (6.7) of Personal Data (6.4) collected by all areas of the party which is used for the function of the Party and used in pursuance of the Party aims and objectives. This includes Specified Associated Organisations specified in the Federal Party Constitution. 1.2 Elected Members who have been elected to public office, at any level should have due regard to keeping proper separation between that Personal Data (6.4) that is Controlled (6.7) by the Federal Party and that Personal Data (6.4) that is collected by them in their capacity as an elected member rather than as a member of the Liberal Democrats. 1.3 Personal Data (6.4) that is collected by an elected member in their capacity as an elected member rather than as a member of the Liberal Democrat is deemed to be data that they personally will be the Data Controller (6.7) of. 1.4 Personal Data (6.4) that is provided to the party by other Data Controllers (6.7) must only be processed (6.5) by the party if – a) There is a legal right under other legislation, or b) There is provided by the supplying Data Controller (6.7) adequate consent under relevant legislation that the party has the right to process the data in the pursuance of its aims and objectives. 1.5 In the event of Personal Data (6.4) being supplied in accordance with 1.4 above then it will be deemed Third Party (6.9) data. 1.6 The Party Data Protection Officer (6.12) will maintain – a) a suite of Fair Processing Notices (6.2). b) a register of approved suppliers who are approved to Process (6.5) Personal Data (6.4) on behalf of the Party. c) a register of software which must be used for Processing (6.5) operations. 2 Data Security 2.1 Personal Data (6.4) must not be Processed (6.5) on computers not owned by the party unless that device or the data in question is encrypted (6.3). 2.2 Passwords for encrypted data must be transmitted via a different method than the encrypted data. 2.3 Personal Data (6.4) must not be Processed (6.5) on devices that belong to non-party members, unless the processing is being undertaken by a person or company that is on the register of approved suppliers who are approved to Process (6.5) Personal Data (6.4) which will be maintained by the Data Protection Officer (1.6b) above. 2.4 Personal Data (6.4) must not be Processed (6.5) for longer than the maximum stated in the party privacy policy (http://www.libdems.org.uk/privacy) for the type of data in question. 2.5 Personal Data (6.4) must only be stored on cloud based or other types of off premises systems that are specified in either- a) The software register (1.6c) above b) The approved supplier register (1.6b) above 2.6 On premises servers owned by party organisations and storing Personal Data (6.4) must be encrypted (6.3). 2.7 Breaches of these rules must be reported in writing to the Party Data Protection Officer within 24 hours of the breach being discovered. 2.8 Unintended permanent loss or destruction of data must be reported in writing to the Party Data Protection Officer within 24 hours of the loss being discovered. 2.9 Personal Data (6.4) in physical form, for example, printouts and paper forms, will be processed and stored with due regard to the security of that Personal Data(6.4). 3 Data Collection 3.1 Personal Data (6.4) will be collected in accordance with the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK Data Protection Bill (UKDPB). 3.2 When collecting Personal Data (6.4) – a) via a web form, there must always be displayed a current Fair Processing Notice (6.2) that is clearly legible in close proximity to the web form where the data is collected. b) via a paper form, there must always be displayed a current Fair Processing Notice (6.2) that is clearly legible in close proximity to the section of the form where the data is collected. c) via a telephone call, it must be ensured that the person giving the data is asked to consent to the recording of the data and that they are informed of how their data will be used and how long the party will keep it. d) by way of a face to face conversation, it must be ensured that the person who is giving the data is handed a leaflet on which the current Fair Processing Notice (6.2) is clearly legible and that the person is asked to consent to the party recording the data. 3.3 Personal Data (6.4) about a Data Subject (6.1) that is collected from a Third Party (6.9) must not be recorded or processed (6.5) unless there is specific written explicit Consent (6.10) from the Data Subject (6.1) in question. 3.4 When Personal Data (6.4) is collected all relevant Consents (6.10) as required by the Fair Processing Notice (6.2) will be accurately recorded in the database designated in the software register (1.6c) above) and evidence of the Consent (6.10) kept for future reference. 3.5 A member of the party who collects data in contravention of these rules will be subject to the relevant state party disciplinary procedure. 4 Data Use 4.1 Personal Data (6.4) must not be Processed (6.5) unless there is a lawful reason for the processing. 4.2 Lawful Reasons for Processing (6.5) – a) The Data Subject (6.1) has given consent to the processing of their personal data for one or more specific purposes; b) If the Data Subject (6.1) is a party member and Processing (6.5) is necessary for the performance of the contract between the Data Subject (6.1) and the Party. c) Processing (6.5) is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject. d) Where Processing (6.5) is allowed by an applicable exemption stated in a schedule of the UK Data Protection Bill. e) Where Processing is allowed by other law or statute. 4.3 When relying on Consent (6.10) as a reason for Processing (6.5) it must be ensured that any Consent (6.10) that was obtained prior to the implementation of these rules is adequate. 4.4 Members of the public may only be contacted by – a) Unaddressed leaflets or mail. b) Addressed mail providing the data subject is on the electoral register, unless they have requested not to be contacted by mail. c) Addressed mail, where they have specifically, voluntarily and in full knowledge of how they will be contacted, Consented (6.10) to be opted into receiving mail. d) In person on the doorstep. 4.5 In addition to contact methods in 4.4 above, members of the party may be contacted by mail, email, telephone, text, and apps unless they have requested not to be contacted. 4.6 Individual members of the public who are not Party Members must not be contacted by – a) Email, unless they have specifically, voluntarily and in full knowledge of how they will be contacted, Consented (6.10) to be opted into receiving emails. b) Telephone, unless they have specifically, voluntarily and in full knowledge of how they will be contacted, Consented (6.10) to be opted into receiving Telephone Calls. c) Text, unless they have specifically, voluntarily and in full knowledge of how they will be contacted, Consented (6.10) to be opted into receiving Text Messages. d) Social Media and Apps, unless they have specifically, voluntarily and in full knowledge of how they will be contacted, Consented (6.10) to be opted into receiving messages or advertisements by social media and apps. 4.7 All Consents (6.10) must be accurately recorded in the database designated in the software register (c) above1.6c) above and evidence of the Consent (6.10) kept for future reference. 4.8 Withdrawal of Consent (6.10) must be accurately recorded in the database designated in the software register (1.6c) above. 4.9 When relying on Consent (6.10) as the lawful reason for Processing (6.5) that Consent (6.10) will only be lawful if the Consent (6.10) was freely given and presented in a manner which is clearly distinguishable from the other matters, in an intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language. 4.10 Personal Data (6.4) may only be given to suppliers that are on the a register of approved suppliers who are approved to Process (6.5) Personal Data (6.4) as maintained by the Data Protection Officer (1.6b) above. 4.11 Notwithstanding any of the above, Personal Data (6.4) must not be Processed (6.5) if the Data Subject (6.1) has instructed that they do not wish to have their data processed. 5 Data Subjects Rights 5.1 Any communication from a Data Subject (6.1) making a request or claim under any of the individuals rights such as – a) Right to be forgotten (6.13) b) Right to restriction of processing (6.6) c) Right to Access (6.14), also known as a Subject access request d) Any other right under the GDPR or UKDPB Must be forwarded to the Party Data Protection Officer within 24 hours of becoming aware of the request or claim. 6 Definitions 6.1 ‘Data subject’ means an individual who is the subject of the personal data. 6.2 ‘Fair Processing Notice’ means the statement of how the party will use data and what if any consent the data subject (6.4) gives the party to process their data. 6.3 ‘Encrypted’ means converted into a coded form that cannot be interpreted without knowing the secret method for interpretation, called the key. 6.4 ‘Personal Data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person; 6.5 ‘Processing’ means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction; 6.6 ‘Restriction of Processing’ means the marking of stored personal data with the aim of limiting their processing in the future; 6.7 ‘controller’ means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law; 6.8 ‘processor’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller; 6.9 ‘third party’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or body other than the data subject, controller, processor and persons who, under the direct authority of the controller or processor, are authorised to process personal data; 6.10 ‘consent’ of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her; 6.11 ‘personal data breach’ means a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed; 6.12 ‘Data Protection Officer’ means the person appointed as required by Articles 37 - 39 of the GDPR. 6.13 ‘Right to be forgotten’ means the new right that data subjects have to have all Personal Data that is controlled by the Data Controller removed from their systems unless the controller has a legal reason to keep it. 6.14 ‘Right of Access’ means the data subject shall have the right to obtain from the controller confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning them is being processed, and, where that is the case, access to a copy of that personal data. Parliamentary Party (Commons) Report Since we met last September, we have seen several Bills (of varying degrees of significance) pass through the House of Commons and have been active in their scrutiny in the House of Commons. This has included the first significant Government defeat in the Commons for quite some time (in relation to a meaningful vote in Parliament on the final Brexit deal). The EU Withdrawal Bill has dominated the legislative agenda for the past six months. It is worth reflecting on the Bill’s passage, in particular the historic victory over the Government on Amendment 7 - a result in which Lib Dem votes were decisive, with a victory margin of just 4 votes. Although Government suffered only one defeat over the 12 days of debate, criticism of the Bill from both benches illustrated the deep division among Labour and Tory MPs on this issue. Jeremy Corbyn’s reluctance to oppose a hard Brexit highlights the importance of our opposition and we stand out as the party leading from the front on this issue. Tom Brake, our Brexit Spokesperson, has worked tirelessly to pursue amendments to the Bill which would have prevented Henry VIII powers being handed over to Ministers and protected our rights as enshrined in EU law. We also tabled an amendment to guarantee voters a final say on the deal. Despite not winning these votes, we should be proud of our record in tackling the Government on Brexit. Beyond Brexit, our MPs have spoken powerfully on a huge number of issues. As well as chairing the Science and Technology Select Committee, Norman Lamb has continued to raise concerns about healthcare injustices, sponsoring a debate on the Valproate scandal and championing a cross-party funding settlement for the NHS. Ed Davey’s Ten Minute Rule Bill on End-of-Life care for the Homeless raised the profile of an issue that could all-too-easily be overlooked. In Westminster Hall our Members have sponsored debates on issues as diverse as the impact of universal credit on the private rented sector (Stephen Lloyd), ethics and artificial intelligence (Jo Swinson) and patient travel times for cancer care (Tim Farron). We have challenged the government on its cruel refusal to lift the pay cap on Public Sector jobs and made sound propositions to improve a lacklustre Finance Bill. We have also seen promises from the Liberal Democrat manifesto picked up by Government, recently in attempts to tackle the plastic tide engulfing the world’s oceans with the so-called ‘latte levy’. Vince Cable continues to lead the party with great energy and purpose. Since September he has visited many parts of the UK in addition to his work in Westminster and in his constituency. Vince has brought gravitas to debate on all things, not least on matters relating to business and enterprise, from the collapse of Carillion to the Paradise Papers and offshore tax havens. Having a leader so active in the Commons has certainly boosted our profile. Our new MPs have well and truly found their feet in Westminster. Layla Moran has grabbed headlines at PMQs and led on issues as diverse as Period Poverty and Nuclear Safeguards. She has also been an active member of the Public Account Committee. Christine Jardine, who sits on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, has been guardian of Scotland’s interests in the Chamber, as well as a strong advocate for Women and Equalities. Wera has been busy on the Brexit Select Committee in addition to her work as Spokesperson for Housing, Communities and Local Government, an area requiring close scrutiny in the wake of the Grenfell Fire tragedy. Jamie Stone has worked hard in getting on top of the defence brief – one of the most complex and challenging areas of policy and continues to speak with passion on the subject, highlighting issues faced by those in the Armed Forces. This is just a small snapshot of the work our MPs have undertaken in the Commons. Although we remain relatively few in number, there is no doubt that we are punching above our weight in the Chamber. One frustration over the past few months has been the Government’s refusal to take Opposition Motions seriously. In fact, they have studiously ignored these since September. I led the way in challenging this, through a Standing Order 24 Application which secured an emergency debate on the Government’s decision to ignore legitimate opposition. This episode culminated in the Opposition forcing votes on their own Motions, not least to prove a point and to ensure that the Commons Chamber is not reduced to a talking shop. Our work in the House of Commons is very much a team effort and I would like to thank all of our MPs for their efforts over the past six months. I would also like to thank all of those who work with such determination and dedication to support them in their parliamentary and constituency roles. Without their teams, our MPs would be lost – quite literally at times – and our Party’s voice would be greatly diminished. Finally, I would like to thank all of our party members for their support through thick and thin. I look forward to further success through 2018, as Vince leads the party onwards and upwards. POLD Jack Fletcher continues to ensure the smooth running of the Whips Office in the Commons, supported by his deputy, Lucy Kay. Andrew Burrell, Sophie Lyddon and Vicky Nevin form the Parliamentary Support Team. They have all settled in speedily and provide invaluable day-to-day support to parliamentary staff, our MPs and Peers. We continue to benefit from the sound advice and judgment of our Parliamentary Advisor Unit, made up of Vinous Ali, Rosy Cobb, Claire Mathys, Rosie Shimell, Fionna Tod and Max von Thun. Their efforts are essential in ensuring that our parliamentarians speak with authority in the House and beyond. I would like to thank all of our staff for their efforts over the past six months, and in the months to come. The Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MP Chief Whip (Commons) Parliamentary Party (Lords) Report Leadership Dick Newby and Ben Stoneham continue to serve as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the Lords and Lords Chief Whip respectively. The end of the year saw the election of Joan Walmsley, who joins Navnit Dholakia as the group’s other deputy leader. We thank Joan’s predecessor, Kate Parminter, for her service to the group, and were sad to see her step down. We have a strong team of party whips who support the leadership team – Diana Maddock, Chris Humphreys, Brian Paddick, John Shipley, Mike Storey, Qurban Hussain, and Barbara Janke. Our thanks are extended to Meral Hussein Ece, who stood down as whip at the end of the year. Legislation We continued to provide the real scrutiny of the Government in the House of Lords. We have taken the lead in challenging the Conservative Government, resulting in the Liberal Democrats providing effective opposition to the Government’s legislative programme. Given Labour’s weak stance on Brexit, we provide the only real challenge to the Government’s shocking handling of the withdrawal process. * The Data Protection Bill provided the bill team, consisting of Tim Clement-Jones, Brian Paddick, Tom McNally and Sally Hamwee, an opportunity to get stuck into the well-established liberal values of privacy and data protection. The Liberal Democrats contributed to significant Government defeats on Leveson part II, press standards and anti-doping, as well as championing stricter protections for personal data. * Jenny Randerson has been a tireless campaigner on Lib Dem issues, in the multitude of transport bills she has led for us on. In the Air Travel Organisers’ Licencing Bill we argued for stronger consumer protection and clarity surrounding package holidays. In the Laser Misuse (Vehicles) Bill, Jenny has been fighting for stronger protections against lasers and the danger they pose to the public, while criticising the Government’s inaction. Tom McNally and Chris Fox joined the team for the Space Industry Bill, where our victories included taking the age-old Lib Dem issue of fly tipping into space! * John Sharkey and Susan Kramer led the team on the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill, where we defeated the Government a good handful of times, and won significant victories for consumer protection and mandatory pensions guidance, as well as the using the bill to lead the fight against cold-calling. * In the Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Bill Judith Jolly and Lorely Burt highlighted wider issues of concern faced by personnel wanting to work more flexibly, including service family or single living accommodation. We also pushed the Government to report on how the measures in the bill would affect recruitment and retention, as well as diversity. * The Secure Tenancies (Victims of Domestic Abuse) Bill was an important opportunity to show the Lords’ conciliatory nature, with John Shipley, Sally Hamwee and Lorely Burt working cross party to improve the access of survivors of domestic abuse to new secure tenancies in association housing. * In the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Relief from Non-Domestic Rates) Bill, Kath Pinnock led the fight for improved access to fast broadband in rural and other hard-to-reach areas. Europe and Brexit * The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill made its way from the Commons to the Lords at the end of January. The team was led by Dick Newby and Sarah Ludford, and scores of Lib Dems with all areas of expertise spoke during its Second reading, demonstrating just how many sectors and areas of policy will be affected by Brexit. As Committee Stage of the bill continues, we are carrying on our fight to give the British people the last word on the deal, whether or not the Labour party are behind us. * Alongside the Withdrawal Bill, we also saw the first of the 8 Brexit Bills arrive in the Lords in the form of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill. Lindsay Northover, Sharon Bowles and Susan Kramer were on hand to ensure that we have a functioning sanctions regime should Brexit go ahead, but also to combat the massive overstep of Government power the Bill attempts to implement, using Henry VIII powers and the efforts to create offences through secondary legislation. Private Members’ Bills 17 Liberal Democrat Peers tabled Private Members’ Bills this session. Those likely to get time for debate in the next few months include Jenny Randerson’s bill to encourage membership of the Open Skies Agreement should Brexit go ahead, Jonathan Marks’ bill to offer protection to cohabiting couples and Sal Brinton’s bill to expand the rights of victims of crimes. Campaigns and Visits The group continues to be very active around the country. The General Election has not tired us out, and the last few months have seen scores of Peers travel all over the country to speak at AGMs, ‘Pizza and politics’ and Christmas events. The Peers remain active local campaigners, and like the rest of the Party are gearing up for local elections in May. Peers Jonny Oates took leave of absence from the Lords towards the end of 2017 – we thank him for all his work for the group in the Lords so far and we look forward to welcoming him back in due course. We were also sad to hear of the death of the great liberal stalwart and Liberal Democrat Peer, Jeremy Hutchinson, who died in November 2017 at the grand age of 102. Staff I would like to extend my thanks to the staff of the Leader’s Office and the Whips’ Office in the Lords who support us in all our work – Humphrey Amos, Elizabeth Plummer, Sarah Pughe and Dave Shaw, as well as our invaluable new additions Meadhbh Keating Fitzpatrick and Jameela Khan. We are also very grateful to the staff in the Parliamentary Adviser Unit – Fionna Tod, Vinous Ali, Rosie Shimell, Rosy Cobb, Claire Mathys and Max von Thun - and the Parliamentary Support Team – Vicky Nevin, Sophie Lyddon and Andrew Burrell for their excellent work in advising and supporting our group in the Lords. We said goodbye to Jenny Steinitz from the PST at the end of last year, and we thank her for her work. I am also very grateful to the party’s press office who give support to so many of the peers who do media work. Lord Ben Stoneham Chief Whip (Lords) Parliamentary Party (Europe) Report Being a Brit in the European Parliament means the main topic of conversation every day is Brexit. But that conceals the fact the EU is still busy with its legislative agenda and, while it is important, Brexit is not the only thing on everyone’s lips. Migration, climate change, completing the digital single market, reviewing and refining legislation takes up most people’s time. However, I am constantly asked about Brexit on both sides of the Channel. While it appears this Conservative Government are somehow cobbling these negotiations together, I want to use this report to remind everyone we haven’t given up on the aim we are all campaigning for - to remain in the EU and to halt Brexit. Polls show opinion is moving in favour of a vote on the deal and, with even Farage backing this position, there is still every hope the Government will be pushed into giving us that vote. The Brexit debates and outcomes reflect Lib Dem issues – namely citizens’ rights, freedom and environmental protection. This has meant that I have been occupied with these on the Environment committee, the Citizens’ Rights Task Force and through my work as convener of the group of pro-European MEPs from other political parties. European Parliament Brexit Resolution At the end of last year the European Parliament voted on its opinion on the deal at the end of the negotiations on Britain’s future relationship with the EU. This was a tough vote for me. On one hand I was dismayed that this round of negotiations still hadn’t brought full certainty for EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens elsewhere in the EU: some enshrined rights have been protected but are time-restricted. What’s more, it’s still not clear who the lesser rights will apply to and it also makes no provision for future partners. Additionally, UK nationals living elsewhere haven’t been guaranteed freedom of movement, which is already causing them problems. On the other hand, I knew Guy Verhofstadt had brought together a Resolution that was pragmatic: it made clear the parliament’s concerns and resolve on citizens rights as well as the issue of Ireland, it set recommendations for the future, while also allowing the talks to progress to the trade stage. This, crucially took the UK one step further away from a catastrophic “no deal” situation. For this reason I had to vote for the Resolution. Environment In the autumn I called for the Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee to host a hearing on Brexit to look at how the UK's decision to leave the EU will impact the Union's ongoing work. We heard from a fascinating range of speakers from the British Medical Association, Arla Foods and the Northern Ireland Environmental Link. The EU wants to ensure that a hard Brexit, where the UK walks away from the jurisdiction of the EU's court and the main climate change and biodiversity schemes, does not damage their efforts to meet demanding environmental targets. I will continue to scrutinise the Brexit negotiations over the coming year to make sure the UK does not again become the 'dirty man of Europe'. The EU's Plastic Strategy was launched in January 2018. The EU is targeting single-use plastics in an urgent clean-up plan that aims to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030. This has implications for UK traders who sell up to £5.6bn worth of plastic goods to the EU every year. They will need to abide by these new packaging standards if they want to continue to trade into this market if we leave the EU. Cross-party MEP Meeting For just over a year now I have been convening a cross-party group of pro-European UK MEPs. It's mostly a catch-up where we discuss the latest Brexit developments. We also meet with Guy Verhofstadt MEP who updates us on his work as the European Parliament's Brexit Coordinator. Citizens’ Rights In February we held our second citizens’ rights hearing where we invited the citizens campaign groups the ‘3 Million’ and ‘British in Europe’ to update MEPs on their current and future status. The December agreement stated that “sufficient progress” had been made but MEPs are still deeply concerned that the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and Brits in the EU are not secure. There are still unsolved problems regarding family reunification, future spouses and freedom of movement rights for Brits in the EU which have been kicked into phase 2 of the negotiation. I will monitor the situation closely and ensure that MEPs continue to champion the rights of these citizens who mostly did not have a vote in the referendum.  Quaestor As one of five Quaestors of the European Parliament I am the only British MEP to sit on the Bureau of the Parliament, where I represent the interests of fellow MEPs. I continue with the same portfolio of overseeing artworks (many of them from Britain) and exhibitions, and I am member of the Bureau’s ICT Working Group and the High-Level Group on Gender Equality and Diversity for the parliament and its staff. I am a board member of the Former Members Association and the Pension Fund. I am also a member of the Advisory Committee dealing with harassment cases between MEPs and their assistants. This work has increased with the media highlight on this issue. We had already been active in shaping the EP’s rules towards reducing the incidents, reporting and handling these cases in a more effective and supportive way. We have created brochures for the MEPs and assistants about the prevention and (if needed) the internal procedures and developing a roadmap of further measures to be taken by the Parliament. UK Office As many of you will be aware, I run a UK office now operating out of HQ. Their focus is on feeding information in from what’s going on in Brussels to the various party bodies, working on the Exit from Brexit campaign and liaising with MPs’ and Lords’ Whips Offices. We also assist MPs’ offices with European casework and help with information on the effect of Brexit for other groups and local parties in my constituency I would like to thank my teams, both in the UK and Brussels who work beyond the call of duty to help me and my constituents to challenge Brexit and present a good representation on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. Please do remember we are here to help – so whether you’re an MP, PPC, Councillor, activist or member with a query about my work or other EU issue please contact my office on catherine@bearder.eu Catherine Bearder MEP Campaign for Gender Balance Report The Campaign for Gender Balance has had a busy six months since Federal Conference. We have worked hard with the help of the LDHQ Diversity team and the Candidates Office to support women applying for both selection and approval. We now have recruited a team of over 30 people willing commit significant time and effort to mentoring and supporting women candidates in the Lib Dems. We are looking for more mentors at the moment, and people willing and able able to design selection artwork. The rush for target seat selections is on. And our selection Mentors are already working hard. We try to provide individual mentors for any woman applying for a target seat, who is shortlisted. CGB is renowned within the Party for the quality of training we offer to women. However, we only ran ran seven training modules at Federal Conference because of a lack of training slots - a massive drop since 2007 when we ran 32 workshops. Half of the 2007 workshops were open to all comers and were a vital part of our mission to improve the culture of the Party in order to make it more open and welcoming to women. Sadly we no longer have access to as many training rooms at Conference. However we do have six training slots at this Conference we are glad to say - a better proportion than last Autumn. Our thanks to Dan Purchese and Rachel-Palma Randall for helping us get these slots. We are working with the Diversity Team and the FPDC to make our CGB Training material available to help other under represented groups in the Lib Dems. The Morrissey Report highlighted the need for more training for women. However we have gone backwards in this respect with regard to Conference. We have also gone backwards in terms of budget. We had a budget of around £30,000 pa when we were first set up. Things are very different now. We have no dedicated budget from the Party. We have limited staff support from the excellent and hard working Natalie Chindipha as part of her Diversity remit. And we can bid for limited funds from the Diversity Team budget. The Diversity team were able to give us sufficient funds and staff time to run a Future Women MPs Weekend training workshop in Feb 2018. They were only able to financially support 17 delegate places on a corse designed for 25. When applications closed we had 76 applications. So CGB Chair Candy Piercy launched an appeal which to date has raised £3,000. This is enough to pay for eight extra places for the February FWMPs Weekend and fund a second weekend in May. We recognise that the admin for that weekend will need to be done by CGB volunteers as Natalie will have other priorities. If more money comes in we hope to run a third FWMP Weekend in the Autumn. We also hope to work with Scotland, Wales and the English Regions to offer CGB Inspiration Days as widely as possible. The Inspiration Days are aimed at new members and encourage women to stand for council as well as for Parliament. We would like to thank all the donors who have made this possible. And to thank Rachel Palma Randell, director of People, Darren Briddock from the Compliance Department and Tope Famaks, Head of Finance for their swift help to make sure we were legal in the way we handled donations. We know that Federal funds are always tight after a General Election year. But the CGB was set up with a commitment that it should be properly resourced. We intend to campaign for appropriate financial support from the Part in the future. For the moment we are more grateful to our donors than the words in this report can say. Our hope is that we can again help women as talented as Jo Swinson and Layla Moran set out on their journey to electoral success and winning a seat in Parliament. Candy Piercy, CGB Chair Julia Cambridge, CGB Vice Chair Helena Cole, CGB Vice Chair