Contents Federal Conference Committee 2 Federal Policy Committee 6 Federal Board Report to Conference 10 Federal Finance and Resources Committee 12 Federal Communications and Elections Committee 14 Federal People Development Committee 16 Federal International Relations Committee 18 Federal Audit and Scrutiny Committee 20 Leadership Election Regulations 20 Liberal Democrat Data Protection Rules 27 Parliamentary Party (Commons) Report 35 Parliamentary Party (Lords) Report 38 Parliamentary Party (Europe) Report 44 Federal Appeals Panel 47 Campaign for Gender Balance 50 FEDERAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE Introduction The Federal Conference Committee is responsible for organising conference. It selects the venues, chooses the items for debate, schedules the business in the auditorium and provides the chairs and aides who oversee conference debates. It provides the rooms for the fringe, training sessions and Spokesperson’s Question and Answer sessions although it does not have responsibility for the content of those programmes. The committee is subject to the control of the Federal Board in terms of finance and resources. The Federal Conference Committee This is my first report as the Chair of Federal Conference Committee since taking over from Andrew Wiseman at the start of the summer. Andrew was chair of the committee for nine years, seeing us through the coalition years, the Brexit referendum, the introduction of ‘one member, one vote’ and the membership surge that the party has enjoyed more recently. I would like to thank him for all his work over those years and for the leadership that he provided our committee in that time. Andrew has now resigned from the committee and has been replaced by Jon Ball, who we welcome back. Nick Da Costa has been elected my replacement as Vice-Chair, joining Zoe O’Connell. Autumn Conference 2018: Brighton For this conference, we have returned to Brighton. This has been a popular venue with conference attendees for some time and we are glad to be back. I would like to welcome our members who have attended and to express our gratitude to our exhibitors, fringe organisers and observers. You are all very welcome. We are running conference along the same lines as in 2017. We are therefore continuing with the decision made to run conference over four days and not five. It involves us making better use of the Saturday by commencing at 9am and building in time for consultation sessions on the Monday lunchtime. We will finish conference at around 3:30pm on the Tuesday. We hope that by doing that, and yet making good use of the time we have, we might limit the cost of attending conference for party members. We recognise that that cost can be considerable for members. We have tried to keep it down by keeping registration rates relatively stable, particularly the claimant rate. The four day conference should assist with accommodation costs and the amount of time that has to be taken off work. We also, of course, administer the Conference Access Fund which provides a means by which people can attend conference who might otherwise not be able to. We are constantly impressed by the generosity of members in donating to that fund. The Agenda As ever, we received a large number of high quality motions from all over the party. We have adopted a new system of choosing the agenda this time whereby members of the committee received the submitted motions and amendments in an anonymised form akin to name-blind job applications. We have selected what we hope is an interesting and varied agenda and we look forward to some lively debates. We have covered issues ranging from plastic pollution to animal welfare, from wealth and land taxes to the treatment of the Windrush Generation and from housing to ending discrimination in mental health provision. The Federal Policy Committee has put forward a number of policy papers for discussion including on migration, power to people and communities, Britain in the World and the 21st Century Economy. Every item on the agenda can be amended. The deadline for submitting amendments to the motions listed is 1pm on Monday 3rd September. You can ask questions to those who have submitted reports for consideration by conference (including me!). The deadline for the submission of those questions is the same as for amendments. We have allocated some time for Emergency Motions. Those are short motions on issues that have arisen or where there have been significant developments since the original deadline for motions. Again, the deadline for the submission of Emergency Motions is the same as for amendments. We continue to provide a drafting advice service. Under that scheme, members of the committee review motions and amendments that are submitted to it and provide comments and suggestions on the drafting. We find that people who have used the service have a higher chance of their motions and amendments being selected. The deadline for requests for drafting advice on amendments and emergency motions is 1pm on Monday 20th August. The selected amendments, questions and other information about conference will be listed in Conference Extra, which will be available online shortly before the event commences. You will also be able to access the same information through the Conference App, which can be downloaded from the App Stores relevant to most major devices. We will be trialling, for the first time, a facility to allow Speaker’s Cards to be submitted online before particular debates. We will provide further information about that in due course. If the trial works, we may well extend it. We are here to help you get the most out of Conference. Please feel free to approach any of us at any time during conference with any questions you may have about the agenda, conference sessions or speaking in debates. You will be able to identify us by the badges we wear with the letters ‘FCC’ on them. Spring Conference 2018: Southport We held our Spring Conference at Southport earlier this year. The Southport Theatre and Convention Centre was the venue and the Ramada Plaza acted as conference hotel. As usual, we invited feedback in the form of an online survey after conference. 22% of those who responded were attending their first conference. The remainder had attended before. 78% of those responding rated the conference centre as either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. 75% rated the Ramada Plaza as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. Whilst the majority of people thought that the balance on the agenda between debate and non-debate items was about right, 21% of those responding wanted to see more debates. We hope we have accommodated that this conference because we have a large number of debates on the agenda. We were pleased to see that 89% of people rated their conference experience as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. Spring Conference 2019: York The dates for Spring Conference 2019 will be 15th March to 17th March 2019. I am delighted to report that we will be returning to the York Barbican. Thanks The lion’s share of the work that goes into organising Federal Conference over the course of the year is undertaken by the Conference Office. I would like to express my thanks to the staff who work in that office: Michael Smith, Jack Everitt, Emma Price, Laura Brody (who worked in the office for some time but recently moved on) and Daiva Kisleraviciute. I would also like to express my thanks to Sian Waddington and to all the staff at Party Headquarters. I am also grateful for the huge amount of effort put in to the agenda, particularly by the staff in the Policy Unit, Christian Moon and Jonathan Everett, the team of policy researchers and our designer, Mike Cooper. The Stewards Team do a phenomenal amount of work to keep conference on track and I would like to express my thanks also to them and to Mike Ross and Jodie Frapple, our Chief Steward and Deputy Chief Steward. Finally, Conference would not be possible without the dedication of the members of the Federal Conference Committee and I would like to express my thanks to all of them too. Geoff Payne Chair, Federal Conference Committee 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 In accordance with our established work programme, we are presenting policy papers on Britain in the World, 21st Century Economy, Immigration and Identity, and Power to People and Communities for debate at Brighton. FPC has recently established four new working groups, all to report to the Autumn Conference 2019: • Climate Change and a Low-carbon Economy (Chair: Duncan Brack; Vice Chair: Sian Reid) • Health and Care (Chair: Tamora Langley; Vice Chair: Dr Ian Mack) • Crime and Policing (Chair: Vicki Cardwell; Vice Chair: Vinous Ali) • A Fair Share for All (Chair: Paul Noblet; Vice Chair: to be confirmed) The current schedule of consultation and policy papers is set out below: Working Group Consultation Session Policy Paper 21st Century Economy Already Done (Spring 2017) Autumn 2018 Britain in the World Already Done (Spring 2017) Autumn 2018 Immigration and Identity Already Done (Spring 2018) Autumn 2018 Power to People and Communities Already Done (Spring 2018) Autumn 2018 Race Equality Autumn 2018 Spring 2019 Climate Change Autumn 2018 Autumn 2019 Health and Care Spring 2019 Autumn 2019 Crime and Policing Spring 2019 Autumn 2019 A Fair Share for All Spring 2019 Autumn 2019 This brings us nearly to the end of the programme of policy development set out in our 2016 review Agenda 2020, so over the next few months we will be identifying key future areas for policy working groups for 2020 and beyond. Comments on the two policy consultation papers discussed at Brighton can be sent by email to policy.consultations@libdems.org.uk by the end of September. At the last conference, we ran a consultative session on options for developing policy on Higher Education funding. Given that the government’s own Post-18 education review led by Philip Auger is now expected to publish its interim findings in the Autumn, FPC now plans to wait to see how the existing system is likely to change before coming back with a policy motion on this topic. The FPC is very grateful to all those who give up a great deal of time to serve on our working groups. This is absolutely vital to our democratic policy-making process. Key Policy Themes and Manifesto Development As reported to the Spring Conference, the FPC has produced a short overarching policy themes paper for debate at Brighton. This has been done in conjunction with the Federal Board/Federal Campaigns and Elections Committee in the context of their work on the party’s strategy and messaging. It describes our key Liberal Democrat policy priorities in the current situation facing the country. This paper will set out the overall story of what approach the Liberal Democrats have to tackling the major current challenges, and what we would do in government. The debate will also be an opportunity to allow the membership to shape our thinking in the event of having to draft another election manifesto in 2018-19. Given the frankly shambolic state of the government and the increased likelihood of an early general election, the FPC has established an Interim Manifesto Group who would be responsible for swiftly drafting a manifesto if a general election were to be called later this year or early in 2019. This group consists of: Myself, Dick Newby (Chair), Susan Kramer (Treasury Spokesperson) Duncan Brack (Vice Chair, FPC), Jeremy Hargreaves (Vice Chair, FPC), Sarah Ludford (Vice Chair, FPC), Christine Cheng (FPC), James Gurling (Chair, FCEC), Victoria Marsom (FCEC) FPC will revisit this and set out a fuller programme of manifesto development work and consultation next year, assuming there is not an election in the meantime. 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 introducing the party’s policy, policy-making and how members can contribute to it. • 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. In response to a question on the last FPC report, we are running a pilot of a ‘travel pool’ fares scheme for the Climate Change and Low-Carbon Economy Policy Working Group to make it easier for those who live outside the South East of England to participate. If this pilot proves successful we will consider how it could be expanded. 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. If you would like further information about these initiatives or how to find and use information we have produced, then please contact policy.consultations@libdems.org.uk 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 To be confirmed 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 Rights – Liberties – Justice To be confirmed LDCRE To be confirmed 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 LDCRE. 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 and Elisha Ron. The FPC is grateful for the hard work of all the staff. Sir Vince Cable MP Chair, Federal Policy Committee FEDERAL BOARD REPORT Your Board has been busy since our last report to you, including two away days when we have looked in more detail at implementing the strategy passed at Conference, as well as having updates from Federal Committees on their work, and how it fits into the party’s strategy. An overview of that work being carried out by all Federal Committees other than FPC and FCC can be found below as a part of this report. Disciplinary Processes Review There have been two main focuses to our work since Spring conference. The first has been the MacDonald Discipline Review which came to Spring Conference, where it was debated and referred back to Federal Board principally because speakers wanted to see more detail related to implementation, as well as concerns in a number of specific areas. We listened closely to your comments and we have brought back new proposals to this Conference with both the formal constitutional amendments and a business motion setting out the principles, alongside less formal papers, including a guide for members on the new process, a complaints flow chart and the complaints process which we hope will provide the level of detail to assure members that the new scheme provides an improved and more independent process for members, whether they are making or responding to complaints. You can find the papers here. Alderdice Report and Follow-up Actions The second matter that has been the focus of the Board has been starting to deliver the actions arising out of Lord Alderdice’s report (which can be found here) on improving race equality in the party. Your board has been working with the Federal Committees, the state parties and the main SAOs to ensure we implement the recommendations for each of our areas of responsibility. From the Board, you will see that there is a business motion to create a Vice President Black and Minority Ethnic role within the party (which would sit alongside the three state party chairs who are already Vice Presidents). Whilst we are not required to bring this to conference, the Board believes that if we want to truly ensure that we are the party of equal opportunities, then we believe that the members should have a chance to take part in the debate. The board is also going to set up a Racial Diversity Campaign, or RDC, to match the Campaign for Gender Balance, which will focus on delivering inspiration, mentoring, coaching and training to BaME members who seek elected office. As with CGB, RDC will be reporting back to Federal Conference. People Peter Dunphy, Chair of the Federal Finance and Resources Committee (and also the ‘Registered Treasurer’ for the Electoral Commission a different post to Party Treasurer, which Lord Mike German currently holds) announced in March that he would stand down at the end of June. Following an election Tony Harris from Newbury was elected the new Chair of FFRC and the party’s Registered Treasurer. We also said farewell to Andrew Wiseman who stood down as Chair of the Federal Conference Committee, and welcome Geoff Payne (one of the FCC Vice Chairs) as his successor. My thanks to both Peter and Andrew for fulfilling long and dedicated service to the party. I would like to finish by thanking Chris Adams for all his hard work over the last three years as my Chief of Staff and Party Governance Officer. Chris has been brilliant, helping me and many other officer holders in the party during that time and we wish him the best of luck for the future. His successor is Adam Hanrahan. you can reach Adam and myself at president@libdems.org.uk Sal Brinton Party President, July 2018 FEDERAL FINANCE AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE (FFRC) The snap General Election meant that both income and expenditure in 2017 were very much higher than had been previously budgeted for. Due to the great efforts of the Party fundraising team, led by Lord German as well as the membership team, General election fundraising covered the revised General Election expenditure budget and it is a testament to the team at HQ that they managed to keep within the campaign budget. The timing of the receipt of a very large donation at the end of 2016, spent almost entirely in 2017, meant that a budget deficit was already budgeted for in 2017. Whilst breaking even as a campaign, the Election had a significant impact on major donor income in the second half of the year with some donations being brought forward and the reduction in these revenues led to a higher than budgeted deficit. Cost control and fundraising activities between May 2017 and March 2018 have worked together to bring financial balances close to a pre-election position. A tighter regulatory framework for PPERA, and in 2018 GDPR, has required additional resources and hence there have been significantly higher costs in compliance related costs and legal fees. There was a significant increase in office rent and rates during 2016 and this is reflected in the outturn costs in 2017. An option of the Party in relation to HQ accommodation was to assign the lease on the premises and occupy offices more appropriate for our uses whilst encompassing as much flexibility as possible. This process of looking for other accommodation was put on hold during the snap General Election. Subsequently, it has proven very difficult to assign the lease at the higher rent level and this option has now lost any financial attractiveness due to dilapidation charges and fit out costs associated with a move and demanded by the current lease which lapses in 2021. Whilst membership has grown again, especially during 2017, it is only in 2018 that this new membership income has benefited the Federal Party due to the membership incentive scheme which resulted in a significant part of this new income going to the local parties. The current Federal Levy rate proposed and tabled at conference has been agreed by the Chairs and Treasurers of the Federal, English, Scottish, and Welsh parties as well as the FFRC and Federal Board. This adjusts income between the Federal and English parties and provides support for the additional responsibilities of the Scottish and Welsh parties whilst resolving the anomaly whereby the levy has previously only applied to England. The proposed change has no impact on local party income. The Party’s banker has agreed to extend the current overdraft facility of £500K and Conference is asked to approve this. This overdraft is not currently being utilised but provides a useful backup in times where additional cash might be required for short periods. As part of RBS’ own reorganisation the Party’s bank accounts will in future be branded as Nat West. PPERA 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. 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. Party business Conference is asked to approve the outline budget for 2019, adopt the audited accounts for 2017 and to reappoint the Party’s auditors, Mazars LLP. Conference is further requested to confirm that: 1) The Party renew its overdraft facility of £500,000 with the Royal Bank of Scotland. 2) The President and Chair of the Federal Finance & Resources Committee for the time being, on behalf of the Party and with the specific prior agreement of the FFRC, may agree the terms of the overdraft with the Royal Bank of Scotland, and that such delegation will also extend to the operation of the Party’s bank accounts. 3) The President and Chair of the Federal Finance & Resources Committee are hereby indemnified by the Federal Party of the Liberal Democrats for any personal commitments made to the bank but only insofar as they relate solely to this resolution. Peter Dunphy Chair, Federal Finance and Resources Committee, and Registered Treasurer (to July 1st 2018) Anthony Harris Chair, Federal Finance and Resources Committee, and Registered Treasurer (from July 1st 2018) FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE (FCEC) Local elections took place on 3rd May 2018 across all of London, all English Mets, and many English District and Unitary authorities who elect by thirds or halves. This year’s council elections have been largely positive for the Liberal Democrats, with us seeing an increase in councillors and the best set of results for 15 years. We won 536 seats on principal councils, a net gain of 75. We were elected to run four extra councils – South Cambridgeshire, Richmond upon Thames, Kingston and Three Rivers – and retained Cheltenham, Eastleigh, Sutton, Watford and South Lakeland. We successfully held the Watford Mayoralty as well. We have 267 new councillors and 269 defending councillors who won. To all those elected and those who weren’t, a heartfelt thanks for all your hard work and year round campaigning for your local communities. Coming hard on the heels of the local elections was the by-election in Lewisham East. We had an excellent candidate in Lucy Salek and the overall campaign produced an incredible 19% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats placing us in a strong second place. More importantly, we fought a proud, pro-European campaign seeing former Labour and Conservative voters switching support and rallying behind our campaign. Many thanks for Simon Drage as campaign manager for leading the team in Lewisham East. It is by far our best by-election swing against Labour since 2004 and it is evident that our Exit from Brexit campaign is working. Already we have shifted public opinion in favour of a final say on the deal - 44% up from just 18% at the end of 2017. Our Exit from Brexit campaign has been coordinated by Rhiannon Leaman in addition to the considerable grass roots activity there has been considerable action in Parliament. We inflicted 15 defeats on the Government as the EU Withdrawal Bill went through the Lords, putting huge pressure on Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. With the political position as volatile as it is I am pleased to report the appointment of Audrey Eager as our general election planning manager. It means that we are already one step ahead of where we were before the snap election last year and are getting focused on taking advantage of the results that we are seeing above. The FCEC continues to work through the recommendations of the General Election Reviews for 2015 and 2017 and have in consequence been working with the FPC, Jeremy Hargreaves & Lord Newby in particular, on a programme to deliver a reinvigorated manifesto, and with State Parties to ensure selections and candidate identifications are achieved. Thanks to the work of FCEC members Victoria Marsom & Neil Fawcett, we now have a work programme for the years ahead. We have started with early prioritising for the 2019 local elections and early identification of target seat candidates a priority. This has been assisted considerably by the foresight of FCEC member Gavin Grant who has coordinated with the English Party to achieve additional funding for Kick Start and other initiatives to help bring forward preparations the already excellent work that ALDC and HQ are making for next year’s elections. The task in 2019 is considerable. In this round alone there will be 10,000 seats up for election. Campaigning to win is the priority. But we will also need as many candidates as possible to present as wide an opportunity for people to vote for us as possible. This is the time to consider standing. Every candidate standing gives an opportunity locally for their vote to have an impact on the national percentage. FCEC anticipates that the Parliamentary Boundary Review will be back in the mix again this September and we are already looking at what impacts this will have moving forward. We continue to be committed to addressing Federal Board concerns on representation of BAME and Women candidates. Finally, we also saw the conclusion of our ‘messaging’ programme – culminating in, amongst other things, the strapline for this conference. Thanks should be passed onto the Leader’s Office, Mark Pack’s team, along with staff members Shaun Roberts, Denise Baron and Sam Barratt in bringing this together. James Gurling Chair, Federal Communications and Elections Committee FEDERAL PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (FPDC) All three Sub Committees (Diversity, Membership and Training) are now just about up and running and will hopefully soon settle into their own rhythms. Diversity FPDC have fed into the Alderdice discussions and actions, but as the implementation and actions have been led by the Federal Board, we have acted in a mostly advisory role so far. I anticipate that next year, as proposals start to mature, that we will have a more hands-on role in the Review’s legacy. We have worked with the Candidates and Diversity team in HQ to improve the monitoring that they conduct, so that better statistics are available. For example, we have asked for the broad categories of “BAME” and “LGBT+” to be broken down into subcategories, as we feel there are sub-groups that are struggling, but may be hidden in a broader statistic. Hopefully this can encourage better targeting of resources. We have also started a project to try to raise awareness of transphobic behaviour, particularly online. The first stage of this was an article on Lib Dem Voice (published 22nd July by Miranda Roberts), linking to some FAQ’s and glossaries to help people to become more informed. The next stage of this project includes asking social media groups affiliated to the Party to agree acceptable behaviour policies to promote a more inclusive culture online. This inclusive culture would obviously promote all kinds of diversity, not only addressing transgender issues. I am hopeful that our social media group and page managers will respond positively. Membership There have been two main projects in the membership area – firstly the Boost Guide, which has been written by the committee to encourage member engagement work in local parties. This guide was on the verge of being published in the Spring, but was pulled back to wait for up to date GDPR guidance and to incorporate the work of a volunteer on local party data maintenance and data flow. I very much hope that by the time you read this, the Boost guide will be in circulation. The second project is the idea of creating a “supporter” class of membership. This idea has been introduced and championed by Vince as Leader, and the Federal Board asked FPDC to look into this and make some recommendations. As I type, those recommendations are being finalised, but we are holding a consultation meeting at Brighton conference, so please look for us in the Directory/Conference Extra and come along. There will also be a way for those who cannot attend conference to contribute feedback too. Training We have reconstructed the Trainer database, and from now on we should be able to tell who has volunteered to run training so that we can take them up on that offer. We have changed the way that training providers schedule conference training sessions, for the first time asking them to “bid” for slots and titles. This seems to have worked well, and this conference we will see a record number of collaborations in designing and delivering training. This should lead to better quality training and also a broader set of topics being available, as we reduce duplication. We will be reviewing this after conference to see how to improve the system. We are also working to improve the training offer outside of conferences, as we recognise only a small portion of members can attend Federal conference. Miranda Roberts Chair, Federal People Development Committee FEDERAL INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE The Committee’s work has, as usual, been busy on several fronts. Liberal Democrats have had delegations to the Sofia Council Meeting of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in late April and to the Executive Committee of Liberal International in Berlin in June. We prepared for these by drafting our own resolutions and proposing amendments to those of others, drawing on the extensive expertise of our members, both those directly elected by Conference and those representing other bodies such as Liberal International (British Group), Liberal Democrat European Group, and the Young Liberals. We were successful in almost all interventions and saved the day in some areas. We currently have no representation on the ALDE Bureau, and are unlikely to contest the Bureau elections at the Madrid Congress in November. Lord John Alderdice, as President of Honour, attends LI Bureau meetings and Robert Woodthorpe Browne will seek re-election in Dakar in late November. Liberal International agreed a Manifesto for the 21st Century in Andorra last year as an update to the original Oxford Manifesto of 1947. This is available on the International Section of the Party’s website, and has been translated into all the languages of the United Nations and several more. Dr Phil Bennion represents us on the LI Human Rights Committee and has participated in the Geneva sessions of UNHRC. In Berlin, it was agreed to set up a parallel Climate Justice Committee, which will have strong LibDem representation. Our Secretary, Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett, has prepared a list of the specific expertise of members for the use of Jo Swinson MP and her colleagues on the Parliamentary International Affairs Team. Peter Price and Robert Woodthorpe Browne regularly attend their meetings in Parliament to ensure linkage between the Parliamentary and Party international teams. Our Associated Organisations have been active on social media with LDEG’s new handle @libdemeurope to #exitfrombrexit have built up 1200 followers since its launch in March, and with the recent election of the new Chair for Liberal International (British Group) Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett, this will be one of his objectives for the coming months to gain more visibility on social media with active comment on International issues. We have drawn up an Action Plan to assist in domestic campaigning, largely through involvement with the several diasporas of Commonwealth, EU and other origins. Members of sister parties resident in the UK help in our election efforts, local and national, and sister parties are encouraged to send their own campaigners to help us and learn from our techniques. FIRC members have been engaged with diaspora from China, DR Congo, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Kashmir and Yemen to name but a few. We have taken careful note of the proposals in the Alderdice Report, especially the need to encourage local parties to welcome and give meaningful roles to those of different ethnic origins. We have been greatly assisted in this by the Federal Board Representative, Joyce Onstad, based on her own experiences. FIRC members have been taking specific recommendations of the Alderdice Report on board in their activities, including using knowledge of Commonwealth countries to assist the Windrush Group which has resulted in a policy motion on the 2018 Autumn conference Agenda. Furthermore, following encouragement especially from Chairman and Secretary, FIRC members have been active in writing articles for LibDem Voice on a wide range of topics, including UK foreign policy, conference events, and on LibDems Abroad. In addition, members of the Committee have been out addressing LibDem AGMs and regional meetings on the role of FIRC and of international affairs within the party. We will also ensure that our larger delegations, notably to ALDE, will be representative of Party Membership with gender balance, strong ethnic minorities participation, people with disabilities and youth membership. In this respect we are studying what can be done to defray the costs of those still in full-time study and when funds permit this. The LGBT+ community is well represented at all such meetings. After Federal Board approval one year ago, we are pleased to confirm the launch at this Conference of Liberal Democrats Abroad. Over the past year, three local parties have been established to formalise the organisation for our global membership outside the United Kingdom, They are subdivided into LibDems Overseas – (Outside Europe) (Chair George Cunningham) which has had its recent elections overseen and managed by FIRC secretary Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett and LibDems in Europe (Chair Rob Harrison). Given its large membership, LibDems in France have their own constitution and local Party status and are chaired by Paul Fisher. Without a Regional Party structure, these local parties are represented as a Sub-Committee of FIRC and reports to Federal Board via FIRC. For ease of understanding, any complaints or disciplinary matters are referred to the English Party directly and are not dealt with by FIRC. The current key issues for Lib Dems Abroad are British citizens living abroad losing their right to vote in the UK after 15 years absence, state pension rights and tax liabilities on government pensions which vary for citizens living abroad. These are just examples of key matters of concern upon which this membership is campaigning. Citizens’ rights in Europe are a flagship matter during Brexit and concerns Britons living in the European Union, particularly regarding freedom of movement. We continue to support the work of the International Office, currently headed by Isabelle Pucher, who runs the work of the African Liberal Network which now has some 45 member parties. The funding of the Office, largely through contributions to their work from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, has been a subject of negotiation throughout the year. Their work is considered to be a “Gold Standard” from which the Tories and Labour should learn! The Young Liberals were successful in their bid to host LYMEC in the Autumn of 2019 and publicly announced this on the 11th August at their summer conference, where they will be joined by LYMEC Bureau Chair Pau Castevlli Canet. Our representative from Young Liberals Ben Whitlock, went to the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Europaforum in early July, and they are looking to collaborate more often with YL, FIRC and Liberal Democrats in the coming year ahead. Young Liberals have also sent at least one person to all LYMEC events this year, they had 50 applications for the ALDE summer academy and sent three delegates. We maintain a good relationship with the German FNF who provide political education in Germany and abroad. They are indispensable supporters of Liberal International and we are hoping they would like to do some further work in the UK for which Sir Graham Watson, winner of LI Prize for Liberalism this year, has been recently engaged and are working with some rising stars in the Party who otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to such international work. Unlike their Christian Democratic counterparts, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, they have not had UK representation and propose to remedy this. Their new Board will be installed in late September at a ceremony to be attended by Robert Woodthorpe Browne and will work closely with the Liberal Democrats. Many of us have close relations with the Diplomatic Community who are represented at our Conferences. Our consistent anti-Brexit stance is applauded by them. Robert Woodthorpe Browne MBE Chair, Federal International Relations Committee FEDERAL AUDIT AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE The Federal Audit & Scrutiny Committee has moved forward with their remit this year. We have liaised with the auditors both before and after audit this year. The auditors were pleased with the progress that the Liberal Democrats have made in implementing suggested controls and the audit was a much smoother process for FY18. The Committee continues to work closely the Treasurer to ensure that everything is in order financially. Other than audit work the Committee has concentrated on improving the risk register which had suffered slightly from lack of clear oversight. There is a robust risk register in place and the Committee have picked some risks to look at closely this year to ensure that the risk mitigation is in order. Helena Cole Chair, Federal Audit and Scrutiny Committee 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) 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. 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 July. 2018. 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 2/2/18 Darren Briddock Further changes V1.0 2/2/2018 Sanjay Samani Finalise for submission to Federal Board Report V1.1 08/03/2018 Sanjay Samani Added Heading above, finalised for publication to website V1.2 31/03/2018 Mark Pack Comments by Mark Pack V1.3 24/05/2018 Sanjay Samani Update to reflect current policy and legislation V1.4 18/06/2018 Sanjay Samani, Darren Briddock Updates after review of earlier changes V1.5 09/07/2018 Sanjay Samani Proposed changes to encompass non-member Staff © The Liberal Democrats July 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 any part of the party which is used for the function of the Party and used in pursuance of the Party’s aims and objectives. This includes Specified Associated Organisations and Associated Organisations, as defined by the Federal Party Constitution. 1.2 Elected Members who have been elected to public office at any level must have due regard to keeping proper separation between Personal Data (6.4) that is Controlled (6.7) by the Federal Party and 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 Democrats 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 or other digital devices, such as smartphones, 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 either (i) 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 or (ii) via software or a service that is on the register of approved suppliers for such use or (iii) on a device owned by a member of staff in compliance with the Party’s Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policy. 2.4 Personal Data (6.4) must not be Processed (6.5) for longer than the maximum stated in the party privacy policy (https://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, must 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 UK Data Protection Act 2018 (UKDPA) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 3.2 When collecting Personal Data (6.4) – a) via an electronic form, there must always be displayed a current Fair Processing Notice (6.2) that is clearly legible in close proximity to the 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 where Consent is required to record the data, the Data Subject is asked for that Consent using a current telephone Fair Processing Notice (6.2) .. 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 Unless there is a legal basis for processing Personal Data (6.4) about a Data Subject (6.1) that is collected from a Third Party (6.9) , such data 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. The record will include details of who consented to their data being used, when they consent, what they consented to and reference to the specific Fair Processing Notice they were given at the time. 3.5 A member of staff who collects data in contravention of these rules will be subject to the relevant Staff disciplinary procedure. 3.6 A member of the party who collects data in contravention of these rules will be subject to the relevant 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) If the Data Subject (6.1) is a member of an Associated Organisation (AO)(6.15) or Specified Associated Organisation (SAO)(6.16) and Processing (6.5) is necessary for the performance of the contract between the Data Subject (6.1) and the Associated Organisation or Specific Associated Organisation; d) Processing (6.5) is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject; e) Where Processing (6.5) is allowed by an applicable exemption stated in a schedule of the UK Data Protection Act 2018; or f) 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 be contacted by – a) Unaddressed leaflets or mail; b) Addressed mail providing that either i) the data subject is on the electoral register, unless they have requested not to be contacted by mail, or Ii) where they have specifically, voluntarily and in full knowledge of how they will be contacted, Consented(6.10) to be opted into receiving addressed mail; c) In person on the doorstep. 4.5 Members of the public who are not Party, AO(6.15)or SAO(6.16) 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 if the telephone number is registered with Telephone Preference Services (TPS), 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) Digital adverts, unless the adverts are run in compliance with the terms and conditions of the advertising platform and any personal data used to target the adverts is otherwise used in compliance with these rules and the law. 4.6 In addition to contact methods in 4.4 above, Party, AO(6.15)or SAO(6.16) Members may be contacted by mail, email, telephone, text ,apps and digital adverts unless they have requested not to be contacted. 4.7 All Consents (6.10) must be accurately recorded in the database designated in the software register (1.6c) above. The record will include details of who consented to their data being used, when they consent, what they consented to and reference to the specific Fair Processing Notice they were given at the time. 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, and 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 erasure, commonly known as the Right to be forgotten (6.13) b) Right to restriction of processing (6.6) c) Right of Access (6.14), also known as a Subject Access Request d) Any other right under the UKDPA 2018 or GDPR must be forwarded to the Party Data Protection Officer at data.protection@libdems.org.uk 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 European Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by European 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 erasure’ means the data subjects has the right 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. 6.15 ‘AO’ means Associated Organisation as defined in the Party Constitution. 6.16 ‘SAO’ means Specified Associated Organisation as defined in the Party Constitution. PARLIAMENTARY PARTY (COMMONS) MPs across the Commons have been in an energetic mood since we last met in Southport, despite the Tories’ lacklustre legislative programme (so lacklustre that Government considered bringing Summer Recess forward – truly a sign that they are out of ideas!). Amidst the turmoil created by high-profile Government resignations, Labour divisions and SNP stunts, we have continued to speak truth to power in Parliament, fighting for an exit from Brexit, standing up for our constituents and speaking up for the most vulnerable. As you might expect, Brexit continue to dominate the bulk of our Parliamentary time. The great work done by the Lords in securing no less than 15 victories on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill and – ultimately – forcing concessions from Government really gave us something to go on in the Commons and put us firmly back in the story. Now that the Withdrawal Bill has received Royal Assent, the focus has shifted to legislating for the consequences of Brexit in other forms. Tom, as Brexit Spokesperson, has led from our benches not only on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, but on countless connected Bills, including the Cross-border Trade Bill and the Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill. We have now profited from a second victory in the Commons on Brexit legislation – this time on the Trade Bill. As greater Government details are announced (and then abandoned) there is a growing sense in the House that the only way to square this circle is through a vote on the deal and an exit from Brexit. Vince’s clear and calm leadership cuts through much of the chaos of the Commons. His speeches are met with listening ears in the Chamber as MPs across the House clearly respect what he has to say and the wisdom that informs it. His careful dismantling of the Government’s case for expansion at Heathrow and interventions across a range of issues show what benefit he brings us. Outside of the Commons, Vince has spoken powerfully and impressively on the need to tackle tax abuses from the mega multi-national businesses that are increasingly determining the rules of the game and shaping the economy of the future. He has also launched our Health plan to secure the long-term future of the NHS and outlined the Party’s flagship new Housing policy to increase the housing stock. His vision has ensured that this party stays focused on the key issues affecting people in the UK today. We have also had notable successes in the pursuit of justice for hundreds of families who had relatives taken from them at Gosport Memorial Hospital. Owing to a campaign led by Stephen and action taken by Norman – against civil service protests – whilst in Government, a criminal investigation has begun against those responsible. Ed, our Home Affairs Spokesperson, has been busy scrutinising Home Office Bills on Counter Terrorism and Offensive Weapons, in addition to representing the Party in debate on the Serious Violence Strategy. As the former Minister responsible, he has also led the charge on the Government’s nuclear policy and decision to scrap the Swansea Tidal Lagoon plan. Meanwhile, Tim has called out Chris Grayling’s appalling track record in managing the UK’s rail network, which has seen services cut across the country. The depth of experience we can draw from on our bench has proved of immense value in promoting our Party’s goals, exposing the flaws in Government policy and making legislation better It is almost bizarre to think that the last General Election was only just over a year ago when you see how easily our newest MPs have adapted to Parliament. Wera’s efforts in fighting to criminalise the abhorrent practice of upskirting have been fantastic. First introduced as a Presentation Bill, her legislation hit the headlines when Conservative dinosaur, Christopher Chope objected to its progression in the House. In the 72 hours that followed, the negative headlines for the Government led to them taking the decision to bring the Bill forward as a Government Bill and thereby robbing the likes of Chope, Davies and Bone the chance to object and delay the changes. I’ve never quite understood the logic of their position on this sort of legislation, but Wera’s campaigning is likely to see her achieve legislative change inside her first term – which is frankly remarkable. In addition to his work on Defence, Jamie continues to uphold Scottish interests in Westminster with characteristic flair, such as in his speech on Scotland’s Claim of Right - a document he has the honour of being the sole MP (in office) to have signed. Layla continues to shine and has used Parliament to highlight pitfalls in the National Funding Formula. Christine has done a stellar shift covering for Jo in speaking for us on all things Foreign Affairs. Over a year into their first Parliamentary session, it’s clear that our cohort of elected Members aren’t wasting any time in putting the Government, Labour and the SNP to the sword. Before concluding, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our Deputy Leader, Jo Swinson, on the birth of her second child, Gabriel in June of this year. As many of you will know, Jo has been on maternity leave these past few months – not least because of the disgraceful way the Conservatives have behaved with regards to her pairing arrangements. As Chief Whip I work with other Party Whips to set up pairing arrangements and with one notable exception this has worked. However, aside from proving yet again that the Tories cannot be trusted, the incident has reminded us all that pairing remains a non-ideal solution for managing parental leave in the Commons. Jo’s experience serves to highlight the case for reform and I look forward to seeing real change coming. To conclude, I would like to thank all of our cohort for their hard work and dedication over the course of the Parliamentary term and look forward to continuing to work together to champion our Party Policies when the House returns from Conference Recess. POLD I am pleased to report the appointment of several new members to both the Parliamentary Advisor Unit and Parliamentary Support Team since Spring Conference, ensuring that we are once again at full capacity in both teams. Rosie Shimell has been promoted to head up the Parliamentary Adviser Unit and has effectively led this team through a small period of high turnover. I am pleased to report that we have been able to promote a number of staff up our ranks with both Sophie Lyddon (International Cooperation) and Meadhbh Keating Fitzpatrick (Health) being promoted from the PST and Lords Whips Office, respectively. Ed Molyneux has joined the PAU team from the world of energy and is now our adviser on Environmental issues and Jonathan Jones has also joined the team as Society Adviser. In addition to these new appointments, we continue to benefit from the sage advice of Max von Thun on matters relating to economy and business. Over in Parliament, Jameela Khan has taken up a position in the Parliamentary Support Team, supporting Parliamentarians on matters relating to Brexit, Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs, following another promotion from the Lords Whips Office. Vicky Nevin and Andrew Burrell remain in post in the PST and continue to offer fantastic advice and support across a staggering range of portfolios. Jack Fletcher, Head of the Commons Whips Office and Lucy Kay, Deputy, both remain in role, working to coordinate the efforts of our Parliamentarians in the Commons. Thanks go to all our staff in the PAU, PST, Whips Offices and our Parliamentary and Constituency Offices, without whom we simply could not function effectively as a Parliamentary Party. Alistair Carmichael MP Chief Whip, House of Commons PARLIAMENTARY PARTY (LORDS) Dick Newby and Ben Stoneham continue to serve as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the Lords and Lords Chief Whip respectively. Joan Walmsley and Navnit Dholakia continue to provide tireless support as Co-Deputy Leaders. We continue to have a strong team of party whips who support the leadership team – the two Deputy Whips, Diana Maddock and Chris Humphreys and then John Shipley, Mike Storey and Barbara Janke. We were delighted to add Angie Harris to our ranks earlier this year, and our thanks are extended to Brian Paddick who stood down as a whip earlier this year. Brexit and the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill We continue to provide 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. The vast majority of our work since the Spring Conference focussed on the passages of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill through the Lords. Report Stage of the Bill was where we saw the most political drama. Our priority was to secure cross-party support for the option of a referendum on the final deal. We voted on this cross-party amendment, but unfortunately it was defeated by just 58 votes. The core team working on the Bill worked closely with a number of cross-party colleagues to push 15 key issues: • To make repeal of the European Communities Act 1972 conditional on a Minister laying a report before Parliament outlining the steps taken to negotiate a customs union with the EU. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 348 to 225 • To provide enhanced protection for certain areas of retained EU law, requiring that they can only modified by primary legislation. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 314 to 217 • Retaining the Charter of Fundamental Rights in UK law. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 316 to 245 • To ensure there is proper guidance to courts and tribunals. There was not a vote on this due to a government concession. • Restricting the scope of delegated powers under the bill (Henry VII powers). There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 349 to 221 • Removal of the ability to establish public bodies by SI under the bill. There was not a vote on this due to a government concession. • Removal of the ability to create criminal offences by SI under the bill. There was not a vote on this due to government amendments to put in place extra protections around SIs under the bill. • Removing the ability to increase or make new taxes, fees or charges under the bill. This was not voted on due to government concessions on this (see below) • Removing the ability of the Act to amend itself. This was not vote on due to a government concession. • To put Parliament in the driving seat of the process of approving the outcome of negotiations with the EU – to have a “meaningful vote”. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 355 to 244 • To require Ministers and the devolved authorities to act in a way that is compatible with the 1998 Northern Ireland Act, and to have due regard to the contents of the UK-EU Joint Report of December 2017. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 309 to 241 • To ensure that nothing in the bill will prevent the UK from replicating any EU law made on or after exit day; or from continuing to participate in, or have a formal relationship with, any of the agencies of the EU after exit day. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 298 to 227 • To remove the fixed exit day of 29th March 2019 that was inserted in the Commons and to revert back to the provisions which existed in the original version of the bill. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 311 to 233 • To remove an offending clause relating to transitional provisions. There was not a vote on this due to a government concession. • To ensure that the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice continues to apply during the transition period. This amendment was not voted on, as the Minister reassured the House that “during the implementation period—assuming that that is actually agreed—the CJEU will continue to fulfil the role it currently does with regard to the UK’s legal structure.” The wider frontbench team in the Lords also worked on a cross-party basis to continue to raise issues on a sectoral basis: • To continue coordination of international aid and development policy • To maintain the UK’s membership of the single market • To clarify the status of EU instruments adopted but not implemented before exit day • To maintain the ‘do no harm’ principle for human health protection • To fully retain all rights, powers liabilities, obligations, restrictions, remedies and procedures in domestic law • Allowing the general principles of EU law to remain as a cause of action in court cases pertaining to a failure to comply with these principles. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 280 to 222 • Maintaining family friendly employment rights, gender equality and work-life balance for parents and carers • To maintain the EU Protocol on animal sentience. There was a vote on this amendment, which was lost by 169 to 211 • To provide that the withdrawal agreement cannot be implemented without the approval of both Houses of a mandate for negotiations about the United Kingdom's future relationship with the European Union. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 270 to 233 • To maintain refugee family reunion within Europe. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 205 to 181 • To ensure that there are UK-wide frameworks in place • To ensure that parliamentary committees to “sift” SIs made under the bill have real teeth. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 225 to 194 Other members of the group also tabled amendments on the following issues: • Prevents the government using statutory instruments to provide for grounds to challenge retained EU law – this should be done by primary legislation. There was a vote on this amendment, which was won by 285 to 235 • To continue coordination of foreign and security policy • To continue internal security, justice and police cooperation • Ensuring equality and discrimination protection • To maintain the rights of EU citizens in the UK • To place further restrictions on the government’s position in regards to the devolved authorities • to make arrangements for an independent evaluation on health and social care • To ensure that there is a proper process in place for when SIs under the bill need to be laid urgently • To require a minister to make a statement when laying SIs under the Act that it does not reduce any protection provided under equalities legislation During the passage of the Bill, there were a total of 15 government defeats – the largest number on any piece of legislation for many years. Thanks to our work in the Lords, a large number of Government concessions were achieved. We obviously still hope this Bill will never have to be used, but if it does need to be, it is a better bill than it was, thanks to the work of Liberal Democrat Peers. This was partly achieved through a large amount of cross-party working, the scale of which we have never had in the Lords before. The core bill team, the party whips, the whips’ office, as well as the Chief Whip and Leader all played an important part in this. Thanks to the incredible work of the campaigns team in LDHQ, the Crossbench Peers were subjected to a campaign of persuasion from party members up and down the country to ‘do the right thing’ on the Bill. My thanks to everyone who took part in this – the scale of its success was incredible to see and must now surely be a strategy we use again. I am so grateful to every single member of the group who worked on this Bill and with so many people involved in this particular piece of legislation, it seems invidious to single out one person, but Sarah Ludford, our Brexit spokesperson in the Lords, was there for almost every single minute of debate in the Lords – 150 hours or so – and the group owes her a debt of gratitude for her dedication to the Bill. Another Lib Dem victory Away from Brexit, our team working on the pithily named Rating (Property in Commons Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill secured an important victory ensuring decisive action will be taken on empty housing in the future. The government accepted the principle of an amendment from Kath Pinnock and John Shipley to set in place an escalator of council tax charges. This will mean that the longer a property is left empty, the more council tax will have to be paid, an important step in tackling the housing crisis facing this country. Private Members’ Bills 17 Liberal Democrat Peers tabled Private Members’ Bills this session. Sally Hamwee’s bill to make provision for leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom to be granted to the family members of refugees and to refugees who are family members of British citizens and settled persons has now passed through the Lords and has gone to the Commons for consideration. Those bills likely to get further 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, 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 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 In July, Ronnie Fearn retired from the group after 17 years as a peer, with 9 years as an MP before that and over 50 continuous years’ service as a councillor in Merseyside. The party owes him a huge debt of gratitude and he goes with our good wishes for a happy and long retirement. Also in July, we welcomed Jonny Oates bank to the group after his leave of absence – it is great to have him back. 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, just in the last few weeks, Melissa Lynes and Enya Evans. We said goodbye to Dave Shaw, our press officer, earlier this year and we thank him for his work. We also said goodbye all too soon to Meadhbh Keating Fitzpatrick and Jameela Khan – thankfully neither have gone far and are now part of the Parliamentary Adviser Unit and the Parliamentary Support Team respectively. I am very grateful to the staff in the Parliamentary Adviser Unit – Rosie Shimell and Max von Thun and, joining them over the last few months, Sophie Lyddon, Meadhbh Keating Fitzpatrick, Ed Molyneux and Jonathan Jones – for all their work in advising and supporting our group in the Lords. Very sadly we said goodbye to Fionna Tod, Vinous Ali and Claire Mathys and thank all three of them for the massive contribution they made to the work of our peers in the House of Lords. I also want to place on record my thanks to the Parliamentary Support Team – Vicky Nevin, Andrew Burrell and Jameela Kahn for their continually excellent work and support. I am also very grateful to the party’s press office and communications team – Rosy Cobb, Sam Barratt, David Green, Tim Wild and Mark Leftly - who give support to so many of the peers who do media work. Ben Stoneham Chief Whip, House of Lords PARLIAMENTARY PARTY (EUROPE) REPORT It is of course with an increasingly heavy heart that I continue the journeys between Brussels, Strasbourg, London and Oxford but every time I’m tempted to give up hope I am reminded of the absolute omnishambles of the Tory Brexit negotiations thus far and the fact we must fight for a final say on the deal. While I realise it is not the job of this report to remind you of our commitment as Liberal Democrats to continue this fight, I wanted to use the opening paragraphs as an opportunity to re-confirm this point. In order to deal with the increasing demands of Brexit I have attempted to condense my work down: outside of Brexit, I continue my focus on Biodiversity loss through my seat on the Environment Committee, I still sit on the Joint African, Caribbean and Pacific Parliamentary Assembly where we discuss trade and aid with colleagues from these countries. As a Quaestor of the Parliament I sit on the Parliament’s Harassment Committee and am a key player in the design of the Parliament’s new harassment rules and disciplinary process. Under the Brexit banner, I have focused a lot of my energy on championing citizens’ rights and working with the Citizens’ Rights Taskforce in order to do so. I also still convene the cross-party group of MEPs and we meet regularly with Guy Verhofstadt to assess how negotiations are going as well as receiving briefings from industry leaders who are trying to plan for leaving the EU. Environment This year I have been working on a Parliamentary Resolution on the benefits of cannabis used in a medical setting. There is currently only one EU regulatory approved cannabis-based medicine for sale on the Single Market. Cannabis-based medicines clearly offer massive potential in terms of delivering pain relief for patients suffering from a range of different diseases and illnesses. What is important is that we ensure the quality of these cannabis-based medicines by ensuring they go through rigorous regulatory approval like any medicine would. I hosted a week-long wildlife trafficking exhibition in the European Parliament in July to coincide with the release of the midterm review of the EU’s Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking. On display were illegal wildlife specimens confiscated by customs officers at Brussels airport. We had everything on display from a panther to a rare golden cactus as well as tiny endangered snails imported into the EU. This exhibition provided an excellent opportunity for MEPs, Governments, the Commission and the public to re-engage with this subject. It was also very timely because that same week Avaaz released a study in collaboration with the radio carbon dating facilities at Oxford University which showed 3/4 of so-called ‘legal ivory’ for sale in the EU is actually from elephants killed after the CITES ban on post 1947 ivory, some as recently as 2012. Cross-party MEPs’ group I’m still working cross-party with pro-European British MEPs to stop Brexit and bring some sense into the Article 50 debate. We have had letters and articles published on multiple occasions in national newspapers raising the profile of unforeseen Brexit problems such as EHIC cards for Dialysis patients and fisheries access for the Falkland Islands. Citizens’ Rights The Home Office met with MEPs in the European Parliament in April to share their registration plans for EU citizens after Brexit. There was strong criticism from both MEPs and the citizens’ rights group ‘The Three Million’ for the fact that registration after Brexit can only be done online which makes citizens’ data vulnerable in case of a hack. Also, it was announced by the Home Office that their registration phone app only fully works on Androids not iPhones - which was met with both amusement and shock by MEPs. On a cross-party level I am fighting to ensure UK citizens can continue to keep their rights to reside, move and work in EU countries after Brexit. UK citizens’ rights have been largely overlooked so far in these negotiations. ACP-EU - Parliamentary Report, September 2018 In June, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly convened in Brussels. The two main topics addressed were the fight against discrimination and demographic growth. The negotiations are about to start on the new agreement between the EU and the ACP on what will replace the current trading and development agreement known as Cotonou. I am still a very active member of the Delegation, and in the social and environmental committee that I sit on I have been working together on the consequences of urbanisation, particularly the sound management of industrial and domestic waste in ACP countries. I am also co-writing, with a Botswanan MP, the JPA’s report on the destabilising effects of wildlife trafficking in ACP countries and promoting the implementation of the EU Action Plan against wildlife trafficking. In the fringe of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, we have been very active in maintaining relations with our liberal ACP counterparts. Chair of the College of Quaestors In July, I acquired the mantel of Chair of the College of Quaestors for 6 months. Quaestors are responsible for administrative and financial matters of direct concern to Members of Parliament. As Chair, I detailed several priorities including bringing the artistic presence of the European Parliament closer to the citizens of Europe via utilisation of interactive technologies and artistic performances in the Parliament. I will also closely follow the activities of the Brexit working group to help MEPs and staff, past and present, deal with the administrative issues as the UK prepares to leave the Union, particularly including matters pertaining to pensions, staff redundancies etc. I will also be involved with planning for the new Parliament and how we revise the information and training provided to newly elected MEPs. The Advisory Committee on Harassment has made significant strides in both preventing and dealing with harassment in the European Parliament, including the provision of training, information brochures, a new code of appropriate behaviour and alterations in the internal rules of procedure. This has complemented my work in the High-Level Group on Gender Equality and Diversity Working Group, which seeks to create a workplace of equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion. The Working Group has held hearings and created a Roadmap of actions to improve working conditions within the Parliament. Cultural and artistic events in the Parliament provide an opportunity for Members to showcase artistic exhibitions, regional presentations, information stands, film screenings and concerts pertaining to issues they wish to highlight. As Quaestor responsible for these exhibitions, I continue to represent the interests of the Parliament whilst ensuring the rights of Members are protected when authorising events, a role made especially more important in the run up to the next European elections. UK Office My UK office, located in the party’s HQ focuses on feeding information from Brussels back to the party and vice-versa, keeping me informed about local, regional and national issues. My team also keeps me informed on all issues around Brexit to ensure the flow of information that I feed back to the ALDE group in the Parliament. We also endeavour to answer all casework both generated by our own constituents and MPs’ offices in need of advice on European issues. We are now a smaller team in the UK as we begin to look at winding up operations ahead of the end of the parliamentary term, but we are more than happy to help so please do get in touch with Henry McMorrow if you have any questions. Catherine Bearder MEP FEDERAL APPEALS PANEL 1. INTRODUCTION The Panel exists under Article 14 of the Federal Party Constitution to resolve internal conflicts falling within Article 14.3. Its composition is as set out in Article 14.1. The panel was appointed at the York conference for a term ending in December 2020. Alan Masters was re-elected chair for a second term in 2016. The panels registrars are: David Allworthy – Registrar Darren Briddock – Deputy Registrar This is the Federal Appeals Report to the end of June 2018. In certain instances, the Chair of the Panel may provide a ruling on his own authority under the Panel’s procedures in other instances he will appoint a panel of members to determine the issue. 2. RECENT RULINGS OF THE PANEL 2.1 - Buckingham Ruling – a new case was brought to the panel following the case reported on in the 2015 concerning the powers and rights of a Local Party in relation to Parliamentary candidate selection report in light of the snap General election in 2017. This new ruling now supercedes the ruling published in the 2015 report and applies whether it is a normal or a snap General election in future. The Panel considered that the issues before them was whether there was power in the Federal Constitution that justified the direction given by the FCEC or whether the decision to stand a candidate was solely the decision of the local party (who wished to stand a candidate against the Speaker) and that in deciding to block the candidate put forward by the local party, the FCEC and or the candidates committee, had acted contrary to the constitution and ultra vires. Further, the Panel also took into consideration Article 4.9 of the Federal Constitution that was in place in 2015 and 2017 but which had not been considered by the Panel in 2015. The Panel were unsure as to why this section was not considered in 2015 but felt it was pivotal to the issue before them. The Panel also noted the many changes to the Federal Constitution had taken place since the matter came before the Panel in 2015 and in particular Articles 12.1, 12.2 and 12.4. The Panel ruled: (i) In the circumstances of this case that under Paragraph 4.9 of the Federal Constitution that both the FCEC and or the State Party did have power to intervene. (ii) The term “rights” set out in Paragraph 4.9 can both be exercised in the plural and or singular to take away the specific right to field a candidate, as in this case, or “in an appropriate case” all the rights of the local party. (iii) However the power to intervene should only be exercised in exceptional circumstance and not before there has been full and meaningful consultation with all relevant parties including the State the Region and Local Party. 3. RECENT RULINGS OF THE CHAIR OF THE PANEL IN REGARD TO THE INTERPRETATION OF THE CONSTITUTION 3.1 - Equality Quotas in the English State Party annual elections – a case was brought questioning the application of the new equality quotas agreed as part of the Federal Constitutional Review in 2016 to the English State party Elections in 2017. This ruling supercedes a ruling on a similar point in made in the 2017 report. Having considered the complainants representations about the consequential changes to the English Constitution after the changes made to the Federal Constitution at the Autumn 2016 Conference I find part of his argument to be upheld. I note that he believes only the new Article 2.4 and 2.8 should be applied to the consequential changes whereas a proper consideration of the history of the changes to what was clause 2.4 in the Federal Constitution from 1992 until 2012 would lead one to the conclusion that 2.5 should also be included as it is the new Federal expression of what was the second half of clause 2.4 when the 1992 clauses with the cross referencing in them, were originally agreed. Given the original wording of 2.4 specified the number of reserved places it would be necessary to retain the new 2.5 as well to give the same effect as was intended when the two documents were originally last adopted together in 1992. Clause 2.5 is necessary to allow Returning Officers to have a clear understanding of the number required to achieve the gender balance the constitution has had set out in the original provision since it was adopted in a members’ ballot in 1988. Therefore, the English Constitution should be re-worded in section 1.7 to only refer to Federal clauses 2.4, 2.5 and 2.8 in order to be consistent with the original intention in 1992 and clauses 2.6 and 2.7 should only be added if an appropriate amendment is passed at the English Council. For the record it is our opinion that on the basis of precedent of following the diversity decisions of the Federal Party and good practice in equality measures that the English party should bring forward such an amendment at the earliest opportunity. 4. PUBLISHED PROCEDURES UNDER 14.6 The full procedures were last published in the 2016 report and amended in the 2017 report. There have been no further changes in 2018. 5. SUMMATION As Chair of the Panel I have been committed to making sure that the work of the Panel is accessible, transparent and truly independent. My aim as Chair is that members will continue to have confidence in the way that matters have been handled and in the independence of the Panel in their continuing role to protect members’ rights under the Constitution. Alan Masters Barrister at Law, LL.B BL Chair of the Federal Appeals Panel Campaign for Gender Balance (CGB) CGB has had a very busy six months since Spring Conference. We are working on training and mentoring women candidates for approval and selection. We are very grateful for the practical support we have received from the Candidates Office and the Diversity Office at LDHQ. In particular Natalie Chindipha and Rachel Palma Randal have been a tower of strength for us. Sarah Green, Chair of the Training Sub Committee of the Federal People Development Committee has also been a key partner in developing our training over the year. We were very proud that Lucy Salek, the brilliant candidate for the Lewisham East By-Election had been on the 2017 Future Women MP Weekend. And there was a great turn out of FWMP attendees during the campaign. We are also working with LDCRE on projects to recruit more women from diverse backgrounds to enter the candidate development process. Our team is very supportive of the Alderdice Report. We therefore aim to have at least 20% of our participants at our training events should be from a BAME background. We also work hard to involve BAME trainers and speakers at our events. We are working with LDCRE to adapt three of our most successful training courses for BAME participants at Conference. We are also providing training support for the delivery of these modules. Training We ran a series of very well attended and warmly received training sessions at Spring Conference this year. We are running a stronger training programme at Autumn Conference this year than last, thanks to help from Dan Purchese, Rachel Palma Randall and Sarah Green, who helped to find us more training slots. We are running a total of 13 CGB sessions and another 4 in partnership with other Party organisations. This is a massive improvement on last year so our thanks to Dan, Rachel and Sarah. The annual highlight of our training year is often the FWMP Weekend. Thanks to our donors we were able to run a second residential FWMP with 25 participants in May – the first time CGB has ever run two FWMP weekends in the same calendar year. My thanks to our trainers who gave their time so generously. Watching the political progress of the women who attended these weekends has been a real pleasure. We are developing our training programme for the Autumn. We intend to resume running training sessions for women who have already been selected as candidates, in partnership with the Campaigns Department. We have one Inspiration Day for Women booked into September and hope to run more across the country over the Autumn. Approval Mentoring We have been delighted with the success of our mentoring programme for women attending Assessment Days to be placed on the Approved List of Lib Dem Candidates. Julia Cambridge leads this project for CGB and has done a brilliant job, as her mentees and her team of mentors, will confirm. We work closely with Richard in the Candidates Office to make sure women receive the appropriate training for this process. We focus on developing the skills they need, not on teaching them to pass the Assessment Day. Our additional aim is to prepare them to become high quality candidates once selected. The Candidates Department at LDHQ presented us with an unexpected but welcome challenge when they decided to run an all women Assessment Day. Julia and her team had to go into overdrive to prepare the candidates in time. I am glad to say there was a full house of approved candidates on the day. Selection Mentoring We have a steady stream of candidates being supported for selection in all three State Parties. We would like to thank all the Selection Mentors who give their time so unstintingly. The Autumn looks very busy in this respect and we hope to see more positive results for women in high profile selections. Outreach The CGB Team worked closely with Caroline Pidgeon, our Lib Dem member of the Greater London Assembly on an exciting new project. This was to attract more women to get active across London and to stand for both their local Council and the forthcoming GLA Elections. The first ‘Inspiring Women in London Evening’ was held in July with the support of the LGA at their HQ in Westminster. It was such a success that a second weekend is to be held in early September. Fundraising CGB can only be successful if we have the money to support our events. Our donors have been wonderful this year and our high level of activity has been thanks to them. We will increase our fundraising efforts over this next year to enable us to raise our game even further. Candy Piercy CGB Chair Julia Cambridge, Vice Chair Helena Cole, Vice Chair