REPORTS TO CONFERENCE AUTUMN 2014 Please note: there is no Federal Appeals Panel report within this report, because no Federal Appeals were held in the year running up to this conference. REPORTS TO CONFERENCE AUTUMN 2014 CONTENTS Federal Conference Committee York 2014 This spring we held our conference in York for the first time. It proved to be a very popular venue receiving excellent feedback. Just over 25% of attendees completed the online questionnaire which is sent to all members attending. This document is incredibly useful to the conference office and FCC and I would urge all members to take the time to complete it. FCC continues to keep a close eye on the number of debates on the agenda against non-debate items such as Ministerial speeches and Q&A items. Feedback from York showed that this had the highest satisfaction rating since 2007. Getting the balance right is always difficult and we will continue to monitor the feedback received from attendees. We are continuing to develop the conference App. 47% of those that returned the questionnaire used it and of those that used it 81% rated it three or more out of five. We are continuing to develop ways to make this even better and more useful. FCC Changes Since last conference two members of FCC have stood down. I was sorry to lose both Kelly-Marie Blundell and Susan Gaszczak. Kelly-Marie in her short time on the committee did some excellent work on disability access issues and Susan, who was on the committee for a number of years, carried out numerous roles not least providing an essential link between FCC and the stewards team. They have been replaced by Pauline Pearce and Shas Sheehan. Glasgow 2014 This autumn we have returned to Glasgow. We were intending to be in Liverpool but following the setting of the Scottish Referendum we needed to move the date of our conference. Liverpool was fully booked for the alternative dates but we are delighted that Glasgow can host us again. Glasgow proved to be popular with those attending last autumn and following the amazingly successful Commonwealth Games I am sure that we are all keen to revisit the City. As part of a two year experiment we will finish earlier on the Wednesday to make it easier for those travelling long distances to get home. At both this conference and autumn 2015 (Bournemouth) we will not break for lunch before the final session but just run through until approximately 2.00pm. We will include a question in the post-conference questionnaire to gauge attendees’ feedback. One major change since we visited Glasgow last year relates to access to the main conference hotel. The Crowne Plaza will not be within the ‘secure zone’ this time. This means that those going from the Crowne Plaza to the main conference venue must go through the search procedure. Please leave sufficient time to get from the hotel, through security and into the auditorium and exhibition. Motions As always, every item on the agenda is still open to amendment. The deadline for submitting amendments – and also emergency motions and questions to reports – is 13.00 on 22nd September. We continue to provide a drafting advisory service, and I would encourage all emergency motion and amendment submitters to make use of it – those who have used it in the past have had a much higher chance of having theirs accepted. The deadline for the advisory service for amendments and emergency motions is 13.00 on 8th September, please do use the service; drafts should be sent to motionsadvice@libdems.org.uk. Agenda This conference sees the continuation of conference’s involvement in the manifesto process. As well as the ‘pre- manifesto’ paper there are a number of important FPC policy papers. We have also selected a wide range of motions, speeches and presentations. Many of these have a real relevance to the forthcoming General Election and the conference agenda, along with the full programme of training and fringe, makes coming to conference the ideal preparation for May 2015. We have organised a presidential hustings which will take place 10.00-11.30, Saturday 4 October in the Crowne Plaza. This will give all members the opportunity to question declared presidential candidates. Do come along and hear what they have to say before deciding who to vote for. Venues for 2015 Next year we will return to Liverpool for our spring conference and Bournemouth for the autumn. Both venues have received positive feedback in the past and preparations are well underway for these two conferences which will straddle the General Election. We will be in Liverpool from 13-15 March 2015 and Bournemouth 19-23 September 2015. Stewards As always, conference can only take place due to the massive contribution and efforts of the volunteer stewarding team, who look after the exhibition, fringe, information desk, stage and auditorium, and ensure that we all get the most out of conference. Federal Conference Committee FCC members are here to help you make the most of conference – do feel free to ask us any questions you may have relating to the agenda and how to speak in debates. You can identify us by the badges we wear, with ‘FCC’ prominently displayed; there are also pictures of us (although looking at some of the photos it may be difficult to see the true likeness!) on page 2 of the Agenda and Directory. FCC members are assigned to state and English regional parties, and SAOs. The idea is that they provide advice and assistance on submitting motions and when requested attend conferences to answer your questions. See the contact details at the end of this report, and don’t hesitate to get in touch with the relevant FCC member. Thanks The vast bulk of the hard work of organising conference throughout the year falls on the professional staff in the Conference Office at HQ: Lucy Hope and her team Emma Price, Siân Waddington and Joe Edwards. I would also like to express my grateful thanks to all the others who make conference possible: to all my colleagues on the Conference Committee; to all the staff at HQ, in particular the Policy Team, led by Christian Moon, who process the motions and prepare much of the agenda material; and of course to the stewards’ team. Conference is a fantastic event to be involved in and I’m proud to chair your FCC. I look forward to seeing you in Glasgow. Andrew Wiseman Chair, Federal Conference Committee August 2015 Regional and SAO reps 2012-14 Devon & Cornwall Justine McGuiness mcguinness.jez@gmail.com East of England Geoff Payne geoff@geoffpayne.org East Midlands Andrew Wiseman andrewdwiseman@gmail.com London Chris Maines cmaines@cix.co.uk Northern Andrew Wiseman andrewdwiseman@gmail.com North West Qassim Afzal qassim.afzal@ntlworld.com South Central David Rendel davidrendel@btinternet.com South East LouiseBloom louise.bloom@eastleigh.gov.uk West Midlands Paul Tilsley paul@ptilsley.freeserve.co.uk Western Counties Justine McGuiness mcguinness.jez@gmail.com Yorkshire & the Humber Andrew Wiseman andrewdwiseman@gmail.com The FCC has also appointed representatives to Party SAOs: ALDES Evan Harris drevanharris@gmail.com ALDC Sandra Gidley sandra.gidley@sky.com LGBT+ David Rendel davidrendel@btinternet.com WLD Sandra Gidley sandra.gidley@sky.com Liberal Youth Gareth Epps garethepps@googlemail.com PCA Liz Lynne liz_lynne@yahoo.co.uk Liberal Democrat Lawyers Evan Harris drevanharris@gmail.com EMLD Gareth Epps garethepps@googlemail.com LDDA (AO) Liz Lynne liz_lynne@yahoo.co.uk Federal Policy Committee Policy Development Since the Spring Conference, policy papers on Public Services, Crime and Criminal Justice, Age ready Britain and Equalities have been produced and are presented for discussion at Glasgow this autumn 2014. The FPC is very grateful for the contribution made by the chairs and members of working groups who voluntarily give a great deal of time to assist the Party’s policy development process. FPC Work Programme The policy groups for Autumn 2014 complete the programme of policy development for this Parliament set out in the Facing the Future review which was adopted at the Birmingham Conference in 2011. From this summer the FPC will heavily concentrate on the development of the 2015 General Election Manifesto. It is not planned to bring any policy papers to the Spring Conference next year. The new FPC to be elected after the Glasgow conference will consider planning further policy working groups to report after the general election. Equalities Impact The Policy Equalities Impact Assessment Group, chaired by Gareth Epps, has been working with all policy working groups to ensure full account is taken of the equalities impacts of their proposals. They give feedback both at the consultation paper stage, in particular to highlight any significant areas of omission within the policy working group’s remit which result in a equalities issue failing to be addressed, and also to provide comments on the draft of the final paper, which are made available to FPC when signing it off. European Election Manifesto The European Election Manifesto Group was chaired by Martin Horwood MP. Following the debate in York, the European Election Manifesto was published in April. General Election Manifesto Following the Manifesto themes paper debate at Glasgow in autumn 2013, the Manifesto group undertook a wide-ranging consultation with party members. This has included manifesto roadshow events in Yeovil, London, Birmingham, Reading, Leeds and Macclesfield. In addition, the Manifesto Group has held a consultation session at the Welsh Party Conference last November and the Scottish Conference this April. We have also been running since last autumn a manifesto consultation website at http://www.manifesto2015.org/. This includes discussion threads and the opportunity for members to make their own manifesto submissions. We have received over 1,500 such submission so far. Taking into account input received via the consultation, the Manifesto Group chaired by David Laws MP has produced a Pre-Manifesto setting out our key policy priorities for 2015. The Pre-manifesto is being presented for debate at conference this autumn 2014 in Glasgow. Following the Pre-Manifesto debate and further consultation input received in the autumn, the Manifesto group and the FPC will then draw up the General Election Manifesto for publication at the beginning of the election campaign. FPC Links To encourage policy debate across the party we have FPC representatives taking responsibility for promoting policy debate within each of the regions of England and to attend regional conferences where appropriate. Region Devon & Cornwall Julia Church East of England Geoff Payne East Midlands Lucy Care London Mark Pack Northern Stan Collins North West Stan Collins South Central Dinti Batstone/Gareth Epps South East Kelly-Marie Blundell West Midlands Lucy Care Western Counties Duncan Hames Yorkshire & the Humber Duncan Brack The FPC has also appointed representatives to Party SAOs: SAO ALDES Lucy Care/Mark Pack ALDC Stan Collins/Mark Pack LGBT+ Evan Harris WLD Louise Bloom Liberal Youth Gareth Epps PCA Julie Smith Liberal Democrat Lawyers Geoff Payne EMLD Gareth Epps LDDA Kelly-Marie Blundell In addition, there is a Liberal Youth observer on FPC (Morgan Griffith-David) and an EMLD observer (Tahir Maher). The Parliamentary party committees have invited participation by members of the FPC. These are currently: Co-Chairs Liaison Duncan Hames MP DCLG Stan Collins DECC & Defra Duncan Brack & Andrew Wiseman DWP Kelly-Marie Blundell & Louise Bloom Education & Culture Evan Harris Health Prateek Buch Home, Justice & Equalities Geoff Payne & Lucy Care International (inc Foreign, Defence, DFID) Peter Price & JulieSmith Political & Constitutional Reform (inc Scotland, Wales, NI) Dinti Batstone & Evan Harris Scotland Only meetings Jeremy Purvis Wales Only meetings Peter Price Transport Lucy Care Treasury & BIS Julie Smith & Gareth Epps Policy Staffing and Volunteers The Policy Unit consists of Christian Moon (Head of Policy), Steve O’Neil (Policy Development Manager), Ed Simpson (Direct Communications Manager), Kelsey Smith (Correspondence Assistant) and Rosie Gray (Correspondence Assistant). We have also benefitted from the support of secondees from PWC, Lucy Webb and Mark Vaughan and secondees from KPMG, Rosalind Huish and Tom Hooper. Interns since the Spring Conference 2014 have included: Nicolette Strickland, Daniel Irvin, Leon Jiang, Michael Paul and Adam Bennett. The FPC is grateful for the hard work of staff, and for the contribution of volunteers and interns. Rory Belcher has left the Policy Unit, moving to a new role with the London Assembly. We wish him well in his new role. Duncan Hames MP Chair of Federal Policy Committee Federal Executive Introduction This is my final report to conference on behalf of the FE. After four years, my second term as president is drawing to a close. It’s been a tremendous experience, both challenging and fulfilling. I’d like to thank the committee members for the dedication and service they put in. Elections The General Election is now barely half a year away and let’s make no bones about it – our party is facing one of the toughest challenges it has ever come up against. The recent European and local election results were disappointing – there’s no point putting a gloss on that. Hundreds of valued colleagues are no longer councillors, and if there was any justice in the world that simply wouldn’t be the case. There were some areas that bucked the national trend: Sutton, Cheltenham and Eastleigh all delivered great results, and in the north we held onto seats in areas like Hull, Burnley and Redcar. Lessons must of course be learned. Nick Clegg and the FE commissioned James Gurling, Chair of the Campaigns and Communication Committee, to conduct a review of the election results. The panel, which included experienced campaigners Abi Bell, Ruth Dombey and George Lyon, received hundreds of insightful and well thought out views and suggestions from local campaigners from across the country. The FE is signed up to making the panel’s recommendations happen, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank James, Abi, Ruth and George for their hard-work on this important project. This is so important to make sure that after several years of difficult elections; we learn and make changes to enable us to hold more seats next year. Abridged copies of the review were sent to all members who had contributed their views and can also be found on the members’ only section of the website. The FE, Party Leader and Party President received a full copy of the review. Thanks must be paid to the tireless efforts of campaigns staff across the country, who work well beyond their contracted hours to help our volunteers deliver the best possible results. Your enthusiasm, expertise and sheer hard-work do not go unnoticed. Pastoral Care and Members Code of Conduct The FE has also focussed on implementing the recommendations in Helena Morrissey’s report last year. Jeanne Tarrant, our Pastoral Care Officer is now settled into her post and you can already see the effects of her work – it is now far clearer how to register concerns on the party website. Nick Clegg also asked the FE look into reviewing the party’s disciplinary rules to ensure that we are in line with current best practice. Earlier this year, FE commissioned a non-party lawyer to look into our rules and disciplinary procedures. The Chief Executive, Tim Gordon, and representatives from the three State Parties – it is a State and not a Federal matter - have now received the recommendations which have arisen from this review, and will be working to implement these. Work on the members’ code of conduct, a further recommendation by Helena Morissey, has continued apace over the last six months. In April, FE agreed a final version of the Code of Conduct and draft implementation plan, led by the expert stewardship of Peter Ellis, Chair of the English Party. The code will function as a natural extension of the code of conduct which MPs and councillors already follow. As a member you have the right to be treated fairly, equally, and within the bounds of party rules. You also have the responsibility to behave in a way that does not negatively impact other members, staff, volunteers, people who interact with the Party in a professional capacity, or the party’s reputation. Striking a balance between providing an inclusive environment for new members and meeting the requirements of the Report is a tough call. The code approved by FE aims to tread this line carefully. Internal Democratic Reform One Member One Vote – Under the expert guidance of Sue Doughty, the Internal Democratic Reform Group have put forward a motion to be debated at this conference on introducing “One Member One Vote.” This change would be for two distinct aspects of engagement – one for who gets to vote at conference, and one for electing members of our Federal Committees. We pride ourselves on our democratic structure as a party, and it’s only natural that we review this process periodically. I am sure the debate on the conference floor will be lively, from both sides of the argument. Party Elections 2014 FE agreed the following timetable for elections. Presidential Timetable * Nomination papers available from 15th September 2014 * Close of Nominations 15th October 2014 * Freezing of Membership Data 30th September 2014 * Dispatch of ballot papers 29th October 2014 * Close of ballot 26th November 2014 * Count 29th November 2014 Committees Timetable * Nomination Papers available from 15th September 2014 * Close of Nominations 15th October 2014 * Dispatch of ballot email 24th October 2014 * Close of ballot 12th November 2014 * Count 15th November 2014 Party Elections are one of the best ways for party members to get involved in choosing those that have an active role in determining what we do with our Party. If you are an elected Conference Representative, you will be able to vote for members of Federal Executive, Federal Policy Committee, Federal Conference Committee, and the International Relations Committee. If there is a contested Presidential election, all Party members will be able to cast a ballot. We urge you to use your vote, because one of the best things about being a Liberal Democrat is having a genuine say in the way your Party is run. Additionally, the timetable includes proposals to ensure that our obligations are fulfilled under the Equality Act 2010. To this end, FE has agreed that half of the elected positions to Federal Committees must be filled by women. Additionally, applicants from other underrepresented groups will be proactively encouraged to apply for committee positions and applications will be monitored. Once we have monitoring information about these other groups, further proposals for quotas will be made for the 2016 round of elections - a task my successor will need to pick up. Liberal Democrats Limited The Liberal Democrats Limited is the new name for the Party Trustees, which has been in place since 1988 as “a company limited by guarantee to acquire, hold and dispose of such assets of the Federal Party.” (Article 8.3 of the Federal Constitution). I would like to welcome Elizabeth Vallance and Zahida Manzoor as members of the Liberal Democrats Limited. Zahida is a former legal services Ombudsman for England and Wales and Elizabeth is Chairman of the Centre of Mental Health; CAN, the national children’s communications charity and CEDR, the Centre for alternative dispute resolution. FE approved their appointment in March, and I have every confidence that they will fill their new roles successfully. Membership Membership continues to be a great success story for the Liberal Democrats. 2013 was the first time in recent history a governing party has increased its membership over a year while in power. 2014 has continued the trend with membership rising above 44,000. It was 42,501 at the start of 2013, and momentum continues to build. I’d like to extend my thanks to Austin Rathe and his team at LDHQ. Without their hard-work and determination to make membership a priority this rise simply would not be happening. But just as important is the work that so many of you are doing in your constituencies in signing up new members. This is your success story, and I’d like you all to give yourselves a big pat on the back for making it happen! Tim Farron MP Chair, Federal Executive Federal Finance & Administration Committee 2013 financial results The annual accounts of the Federal Party appended to this report show that 2013 was a highly successful year in terms of the financial out turn and membership growth. There have been some small changes to the classification of certain income & expenditure lines to improve users understanding of the accounts; these were mainly to show more clearly the impact of inter-party transactions. The more significant change has been the establishment of a separate legacy fund to separate out the windfall benefit of legacies, which otherwise distort financial performance. The intention is that, in the long run, this fund will provide a buffer against short term in-year deficits, generate an income and fund projects for the long term development of the Party. Of the combined surplus of £439,000 almost half (£211,000) related to the legacy fund and the balance (£228,000) to the general fund. This combined surplus reduced the Party’s accumulated deficit from £1,152,000 to £713,000 by the end of 2013. Income Total income increased by approx. £1.28m (21%) largely due to much higher donation and legacy income. Other income includes the proceeds of fundraising events, which also increased significantly from 2012 as a result of the 25th anniversary ball. The Federal Party’s membership income (the federal levy) was reduced by its share (£31,000) of the cost of the Membership Incentive Scheme. This highly successful scheme involved paying a larger proportion of membership subscriptions to local parties that increased their membership quarter on quarter. The result of this scheme was that party membership increased by almost 1,000 over the course of the year with this increase being broadly spread across the country. The scheme is still running and local parties are encouraged to take part as more members = more money = more activity. Expenditure Year on year expenditure rose £430,000 with the biggest increases being campaign expenditure (up £456,000) and staff costs (up £167,000) as the Party increased its campaign capacity. These were offset by lower conference and newspaper costs. The latter was due to the move from a weekly newspaper to a monthly magazine. Fundraising expenditure increased due to the cost of the 25th anniversary ball. Other expenditure was down due to a lower irrecoverable VAT charge and the absence in 2013 of the cost of federal committee elections. Cash During 2013 there was a cash inflow of £694,000 reducing net borrowings to £199,000. The inflow largely reflects the surplus generated in the year but there was also a substantial benefit from the increase in creditors at the year end, which will reverse in 2014. Legacy receipts in 2014 are expected to result in a net cash inflow so that the Federal Party will end the year with no net borrowings. Interim 2014 financial review To the end of June the general fund is somewhat behind budget due to lower than expected appeals income and the continuing higher than budgeted cost of the Membership Incentive Scheme. In addition there have been unavoidable additional costs of £90,000. Overall it is forecast that the general fund will be approx. £200,000 in deficit for the full year but that the elections fund will be broadly in balance. The Party has been notified of two substantial legacies (in addition to one already received earlier in the year) that should result in the Legacy Fund reaching at least £1,100,000 by the year end. With effect from 1 April 2014 the party has reduced its overdraft facility to £500,000 and expects this to be sufficient for the day to day needs of the organisation. 2015 budget The Party’s constitution requires the FFAC to present an outline budget for the following year to Conference for its approval. This outline budget has to be prepared several months before senior staff or the FFAC have started the detailed work required on the budget and at a point when only the first half of the current year’s activity is known. The budget in appendix A is therefore only an indication of what the final budget will look like and only covers its core activities. A separate budget will be prepared for the general election. For both budgets the fundamental principles will be that they should be no worse than break-even and that the Party will only spend on the general election what it raises. PPERA compliance Thank you to all local party treasurers for their continuing support in ensuring that the Party complies with all the PPERA requirements. This is an especially busy period with the additional European Election expenditure return, Scottish Referendum return and forthcoming General Election return to be completed. Many local parties have started taking up the electronic reporting system in the new Salesforce database and it is hoped everyone else will transfer from the paper forms by the end of the year. The electronic accounts template continues to make life easier for treasurers doing their accounts although sadly a small number of local parties will be fined for being late with their accounts this year. As part of its routine operations the Electoral Commission conducted a comprehensive audit of the Party's administrative and compliance processes for the acceptance of donations, as a result of which the Party was delighted to receive a clean bill of health without a single donation failing to pass the thorough checks conducted by the Commission's team. Membership & development As noted above, in 2013 the Party reversed its previous trend of declining membership and reported an increase of just over 1,000. This trend has continued with the Party’s membership increasing every quarter for the last 12 months. This has been driven by an increase in membership retention, the Party now retains around 90% of its members year on year, and an increase in new members joining the Party. This is largely due to the new membership incentive scheme referred to above. The roll out of the new membership database has been completed allowing the Party to reduce the amount of staff time spend on administration. This saving has been re-invested in three new full time posts which will directly support the Party’s campaign in 2015. The Liberal Democrats Limited The Liberal Democrats Limited are established by the FE under article 8.3 of the Federal constitution. The accounts of the Liberal Democrats Limited are included in the reports to conference. The FFAC would like to thank the Directors, chaired by Duncan Greenland, for their advice and assistance throughout the year as the Audit Committee for the Party. Party business Conference is asked to approve the outline budget for 2015, adopt the audited accounts for 2013 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 & Administration Committee for the time being, on behalf of the Party and with the specific prior agreement of the FFAC, 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 & Administration 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, Finance & Administration Committee Registered Treasurer August 2014 The Liberal Democrats Limited Directors’ Report to the Members for the year ended 31 December 2013 The Directors submit their report for the year ended 31 December 2013, and the Company’s balance sheet as that date. By virtue of Article 8.3 of the present Constitution of the Liberal Democrats (“the Party”), the function of the Company is to acquire, hold and dispose of such assets of the Federal Party (as defined in that Constitution) as the Federal Executive (as so defined) may from time to time direct. Where the Company enters into any transaction, it does so as trustee and/or agent for the Party. On this basis, the Company is dormant within the meaning of Section 1169 of the Companies Act 2005 and does not prepare a profit and loss account. The Directors of the Company during the year ended 31 December 2013 were: * Duncan Taylor Greenland (Chairman) * Lord Dholakia * Peter Dunphy (Appointed 16 April 2013) * Michael Jeans * Baroness Kramer (Resigned 26 November 2013) * Eric Lowry (Company Secretary) * Baroness Parminter * Lord Vallance (Resigned 21 January 2014) * Lord Wrigglesworth (Resigned 26 November 2013) Signed on behalf of the Board Duncan Greenland Chair Registered in England No. 2231620 Registered Office LDHQ 8-10 Great George Street London SW1P 3AE Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2013 £ Assets NIL Liabilities NIL The Company is entitled to exemption from audit under sections 475 and 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the period ended 31 December 2013. No members have required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2013 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006. The Directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and preparation of accounts. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime. Approved by the Board Duncan Greenland Director Parliamentary Party (Commons) Since we last met in York, the Parliamentary Party in the Commons has moved into the final session of this Parliament. We have achieved a lot in our four years in power. The economy has begun to show the indications that the worst of Labour’s mess is behind us. Household income is yet to fully see the benefits of this improvement but we have carried out significant work to protect the most vulnerable through the raising of the tax free allowance; and improved the lives and opportunities of pupils from Britain’s poorest families through the pupil premium and the introduction of free school meals for under 6s. Whilst some commentators argue to the contrary, the Commons remains very busy and highly active. In the year just gone, we debated more legislation than Labour did in their penultimate year and we will debate more in this session than Labour did in their last. We’re showing little sign of slowing down as a Government. Whilst passing law is not of itself the only measurement of an active Parliament, we can rightly celebrate some of the Business that we’ve passed and demonstrate the Lib Dem wins within each piece of legislation. The Criminal Courts and Justice Bill for instance contains large segments of legislation aimed at prioritising the education of young prisoners. It is our hope that this will help them turn their lives around and away from criminal activity. To do this the Bill allows for the creation of secure colleges where offenders can stay and dedicate time to their learning and development. In the current Parliamentary session, we have just had the second reading of the Modern Slavery Bill. This Bill will give more powers to the authorities to tackle people trafficking and protect those that are the victims of it. This includes the creation of a statutory defence for victims who are forced to commit a crime, which ensures that they are not treated as criminals by the justice system. We also had the second reading of the Childcare Payments Bill, which will introduce a scheme to provide families with up to £2,000 per child to help with the costs of childcare. The scheme will be available to 1.9 million working families, meaning that it will be open to double the number of families currently using Employer Supported Childcare. As was covered in the media during the final weeks before recess, we have also passed a piece of emergency legislation, the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill. I would like to pay tribute to the work done by Nick Clegg and Norman Baker in Government, and from our backbenches too in the form of our highly capable Home Affairs Co- Chair, Dr Julian Huppert. As Liberals we are rightly always highly suspicious of attempts of the state to encroach upon civil liberties. Our negotiations and involvement have resulted in no new powers being assigned, a reduction in the number of agencies that can use the data, a commitment to examine the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and a 2015 sunset clause. In my opinion, the efforts of our colleagues in this process demonstrated not only our recognition for the work carried out by the courts and intelligence agencies but also our steadfast commitment to protecting civil liberties. Outside of Government legislation, the Private Members Bill ballot was especially kind to us this year, awarding Andrew George (1), Mike Moore (2), Sarah Teather (7), John Hemming (16) and Martin Horwood (20) with slots in the top twenty. Andrew will present the Affordable Housing Bill, targeted at addressing the lack of affordable housing in constituencies like his across the UK; Mike is presenting a Bill aimed at securing the UK’s commitment to spending 0.7% Gross National Income on some of the world’s poorest through our international aid programme; and Sarah is taking forward a Bill, supported by Shelter, which will end retaliatory evictions and provide private renters with the confidence and security to complain about sub-standard accommodation without fear of reprisal. Although John and Martin’s Bills have less chance of progressing they are focused on reforms in relation to transparency and accountability and changes to pavement parking, respectively. I am proud that our colleagues are pursuing reform in these areas and we will be working hard in the usual channels to secure their passages through the Commons. As a point of interest, the highest placed Conservative MP in the ballot, Robert Neill will re-introduce the EU Referendum Bill into the Commons. Like last year we will do our best to ensure that this goes no further. In terms of our relations with the Conservatives, operations continue to be business like albeit with the conventions of parliament and government continuing to be tested by the unique tensions of coalition. This is perhaps best demonstrated by an incident in June, when our Conservative colleagues announced their intention not to oppose a Tory backbench amendment to put minimum sentencing for knife crime into the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill. As it was not agreed government policy, and because we believed it important to defend the independence of the judiciary in sentencing, we opposed the amendment but were defeated by a shameful alliance of Conservative backbenchers, Tory PPSs and an opportunistic Labour front bench. At the time of my report to Spring Conference the parliamentary party had yet to appoint a Deputy Leader following Simon’s promotion into the Ministry of Justice. Following an excellent set of hustings from all candidates Sir Malcolm Bruce was elected to the role of Deputy Leader. Both Malcolm and Annette (as Chair of the Parliamentary Party) were re- appointed to their roles at the start of the new parliamentary session. The only change to report with regards to Co-Chairs is the appointment of John Hemming to the previously vacant role of Work and Pensions. The current list of Commons Co-Chairs is as follows: Business, Innovation & Skills Gordon Birtwistle Communities & Local Government Annette Brooke Constitutional & Political Reform John Thurso Culture, Media & Sport John Leech Education Simon Wright Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Roger Williams Energy & Climate Change Tessa Munt Health Paul Burstow Home Affairs, Justice & Equalities Julian Huppert International Affairs (including MOD & DfID) Martin Horwood Northern Ireland Stephen Lloyd Scotland John Thurso Transport Mike Thornton Treasury Ian Swales Wales Mark Williams Work & Pensions John Hemming In July, it was announced that a number of colleagues have been appointed to the Privy Council. These are Norman Baker, Annette Brooke, Lynne Featherstone, Norman Lamb, John Thurso and Steve Webb and rewards them for their great service to Government and the Commons. Parliamentary Office of the Liberal Democrats POLD has remained in good shape since last conference. Both Jack Fletcher, as Head and Georgina Orso, as Deputy run the office diligently and with great humour following their both relatively recent appointments. As my Special Adviser, Ben Williams continues to be a terrific asset to the Parliamentary Party. In July, we said goodbye to our Hull University placement student, Maria Fritzsche who joined us in the New Year. I was particularly pleased with Maria’s progression, not least her increased confidence, during her time with us. We wish her well in her final year at Hull. Maria’s successor is Deborah Bell, who will be in the Whips’ Office from September through to Christmas. The Whips’ Office is a real team effort and I would like to welcome back Jenny Willott following her stint covering Jo Swinson in BIS during her maternity leave. During this period Mark Hunter picked up additional responsibilities and I thank him for doing so. Together with our wider whips team, Sir Robert Smith, Sir Bob Russell and Ian Swales, the office continues to link our backbenchers and Ministers together. Parliamentary Staff Last, but certainly not least, I would like to extend my thanks towards the Parliamentary staff of our MPs. As always, they are a fantastic asset to our party and provide a valuable role in supporting the work of our MPs in the House and in our constituencies. Don Foster Chief Whip Parliamentary Party (Lords) Legislation Currently we are considering the following: Criminal Justice and Courts This is a wide ranging Bill. Lib Dem Peers have been using the Bill to seek the creation of a new offence against revenge pornography - the posting of intimate pictures without the person’s consent. Revenge pornography is a despicable breach of trust and we hope to make good progress in making changes to the law. Lib Dem Peers also took a stand against backbench Conservative proposals to create a mandatory prison sentence for a second offence of carrying a knife. We do not believe that these proposals give enough discretion to judges and risk criminalising young people. Despite winning the argument and getting support from the vast majority of Crossbench Peers, the Labour and the Conservative Parties opposed our attempts to remove these proposals from the Bill. The Bill also contains a number of other areas of concern to Lib Dem Peers, particularly surrounding Judicial Review. Jonathan Marks, who is leading for the group, is working closely with Ministers to see what changes might be made. Infrastructure Bill This Bill is being taken through the Lords by Lib Dem Transport Minister Susan Kramer. It seeks to ensure that the law is updated to facilitate the huge changes we need to update the UK’s infrastructure. Lib Dem Peers, led by Robin Teverson, are particularly working to ensure that new measures on zero carbon homes, a major Lib Dem achievement, are fit for purpose and that developers are expected to build zero carbon homes or make substantial off-site carbon reduction measures. Consumer Rights Bill This is a major piece of Lib Dem-inspired legislation aimed at radically simplifying consumer rights so that people are aware of what rights they have when buying goods and what responsibilities are placed on traders. Much of the credit for the Bill is owed to Jo Swinson MP and Jenny Willott MP, who were the two Ministers most involved in its creation. Ben Stoneham and Cathy Bakewell are leading for the group on the Bill and are looking in particular at ensuring that new rights over digital content included on the Bill properly protect consumers. Serious Crime Bill The Serious Crime Bill seeks to improve the way we tackle serious crime, in particular by making it easier to confiscate proceeds of crime and to bring those who participate in organised crime to justice. Lib Dem Peers particular welcome measures to ensure that psychological harm is included in the definition of child cruelty after Mark Williams MP’s campaign on this issue. Our team on the Bill, led by Sally Hamwee, will seek to strengthen these measures even further. Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill This Bill will improve support for our troops by strengthening the complaints system in the Armed Forces through the creation of a Service Complaints Ombudsman. This is an important part of fulfilling our duty to our troops under the Military Covenant. The Lib Dem team on the Bill has been led by Monroe Palmer. Thanks to Lib Dem work the Government has explicitly confirmed for the first time that compensation will be available to complainants if the Ombudsman deems it appropriate at the conclusion of their investigation. Wales Bill This Bill is a vital part of strengthening devolution in Wales. It includes gives effect to many of the recommendations set out in the Silk Commission, which updates the working of the devolution settlement in Wales. The Bill also includes provisions to implement long-term Lib Dem policy on overturning the current restriction on individuals standing as a candidate for both a constituency seat and a regional seat. The Bill is being taken through the Lords by Lib Dem Minister Jenny Randerson. The Lib Dem team, led by Martin Thomas, will also use the Bill as an opportunity to probe on other issues of importance to Wales, including the size of the National Assembly. Deregulation The Deregulation Bill is a wide ranging Bill that has resulted in part for the Lib Dem Red Tape Challenge. It is being taken through the Lords by Lib Dem Government Whip William Wallace. The Lib Dem team on the Bill, led by Ben Stoneham, will be looking to ensure that the deregulatory measures in the Bill do not have unintended consequences. In particular, they will focus on measure affecting the powers of local authorities. Media The Lords Group has continued to have a proactive media presence. Our website, (www.libdemlords.org.uk), has been significantly improved and is updated regularly with news and blogs from a wide range of the peer’s group. Our social media presence is also going from strength to strength with more Peers using Twitter and other social media tools than ever before. The group Twitter account has almost 2500 followers. Our weekly newsletter also continues to explain some of the detailed work we do to a wide audience: subscribe by emailing lordsmedia@libdems.org.uk Visits The peers are doing more constituency visits than ever before in the run up to May 2015. We continue to make significant progress towards our target of having undertaken 1000 constituency visits before the General Election and are well over the 500 mark. If you would like a peer to meet with local members, businesses or organisations please do contact Polly in the Whips’ office on martinpab@parliament.uk Staff The peers continue to be supported by a strong team in the Whips’ Office. We have a new media and PR officer, Dave Shaw, who joined us in April. Polly Martin is our Parliamentary Assistant who also leads on events and visits for peers. Our Head of Office, Laura Gilmore, is departing at the end of August and I would like to pay tribute to the energy and professionalism which she brought to the role. Until the election her role will be filled by Giles Derrington and Humphrey Amos. Elizabeth Plummer continues as Jim Wallace’s special adviser. Dick Newby Chief Whip, House of Lords July 2014 Parliamentary Party (Europe) Despite very disappointing results at the European Parliament elections, Liberal Democrat MEPs were proud to have fought a positive campaign that took on the anti-Europeans and made the case for Britain's place at the heart of Europe. As the only remaining Lib Dem MEP in the European Parliament, Catherine Bearder is determined to continue fighting to promote UK interests and liberal values. Catherine has been appointed a member of the Environment Committee, where she will focus on sustainability and biodiversity loss and is set to play a leading role in negotiating new EU air pollution limits. She was also voted in by fellow MEPs as one of five Quaestors. This key position is responsible for managing the day-to-day running of the Parliament and representing MEPs on its top executive body, the Bureau. She plans to use her role to improve transparency and reduce the European Parliament's carbon footprint. Catherine has also been appointed as Liberal coordinator of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality committee, and will continue her work on development issues including fighting against the illegal wildlife trade as a member of the African, Caribbean and Pacific-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. Liberal Democrat MEPs all played a major role during the final months of the European Parliament's mandate in finalising legislation that will strengthen the economic recovery and build a fairer society. Sharon Bowles finished her term as Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee to widespread acclaim, drawing praise from the City, the UK Treasury and EU institutions alike for her ability to negotiate compromises and ensure UK concerns were taken on board. In the final months of her mandate she oversaw important legislation that will ensure that it is bondholders, not taxpayers, who will be responsible for absorbing losses if banks get into difficulty. Liberal Democrat MEPs backed ambitious proposals to reform the EU's telecoms market, including calling for an end to mobile roaming charges in the EU by 2015 and for strong measures to safeguard a free and open internet. The European Parliament also passed its position on the EU's updated data protection rules, on which Sarah Ludford worked hard to secure a balanced text that will guarantee substantive privacy rights across Europe while avoiding unnecessary restrictions on the use of data for innovation and medical research. Phil Bennion got the backing of MEPs for tougher lorry design standards across the EU that will help prevent fatal collisions with pedestrians and cyclists, following a long campaign with road safety groups in the UK led by Fiona Hall. Chris Davies and Fiona Hall also succeeded in introducing requirements for acoustic warning devices to be fitted to new electric and hybrid cars to ensure they can be heard by partially-sighted and blind pedestrians. Andrew Duff's report on the organisation of the elections of the European Parliament bore fruit when the concept of nominating lead candidates was accepted by all the mainstream EU level political parties, with Guy Verhofstadt standing for the ALDE party. This process led to the eventual nomination of the centre-right's lead candidate Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission President. However, this aspect of the European elections was little appreciated in the UK, where the Conservatives who are now no longer part of Europe's mainstream centre-right alliance were not represented by an EU-wide candidate. Catherine as the only Liberal Democrat MEP encourages members not in her region to sign up to her regular monthly newsletter and to visit her Facebook Euromyth Buster page to keep up to date with what is happening in the European Parliament. With the possibility of a referendum in the foreseeable future and in the face of hostile media reporting of the EU it is important that we continue to feedback to our voters what is really going on at the European level. Campaign for Gender Balance Current approval / selection figures (as of 10th July 2014): Prospective Parliamentary Candidates: > 40% of candidates selected in strategic seats (including held seats) are women (Reaching our target) > 29% of the currently selected candidates (excluding held seats) are women > Out of the 7 seats where sitting MPs are standing down, 4 women have been selected and 2 are from a BAME community. Many of these women have attended our annual Future Women MPs Weekend in the past and the others have benefited from CGB mentoring and support before and throughout their selection campaigns. Approved Candidates: > 27% of approved candidates are women One of our key aims in 2014 and in the run up to the General Election is to ensure that all potential women candidates have all the encouragement, skills and support necessary to become effective Parliamentary candidates. We continue to work closely with the Elections and Field team at HQ, and with the Candidate Leadership Programme to ensure that this happens. We continue to focus on increasing female representation in Parliament; in particular we are looking at how we can ensure that the policies and culture of the party and relevant Parliaments is conducive to electing more women Parliamentarians in addition to our on-going support for potential women candidates. In particular, Ros Gordon and Laura Gilmore attended the launch of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Women in Parliament, "Improving Parliament" report which highlights the barriers and issues women still face in becoming MPs which is supported by all party leaders. Our aim is to work across the parties to improve the culture and encourage more women to stand. Whilst our training and mentoring programmes has ensured a high level of success for women candidates in strategic and held seat selections, more needs to be done to encourage more women to come forward for approval. We have increased the proportion of women on the Approved list from 23% ten years ago to the current level of 27%. We need a significant effort post 2015 to increase this to a minimum of 40% plus Liberal Democrat Women Liberal Democrat Women (LDW) was officially launched on 8th June 2013 in Birmingham. The new Constitution was approved by the Federal Executive and the first LDW Executive has been in place since August 2013. The new organisation was formed by the merger of the existing Women Liberal Democrats and the Campaign for Gender Balance with the aim of providing a single organisation to represent women in the Liberal Democrats. CGB is now run by the Head of the LDW Representation of Women Group. This position is currently held by Candy Piercy. The LDW Representation of Women Group is also concerned with getting more women elected to local government, other public bodies and to Lib Dem Party committees. CGB activities are managed with the active support of the staff of the Diversity Unit in HQ, headed up by Vicky Booth. In particular Lucile Kamar and Arfan Bhatti. They provide extensive logistical and organisational support to the training, coaching and mentoring activities of the CGB project. Recent Developments * Future Women MPs Weekend was successfully held on 21st – 23rd February 2014. It was attended by 15 women, some of them having been elected/re-elected as councillors and are in the process of going through PPC selections. Excellent training was provided by Candy Piercy and Grainne Suter and participants had the opportunity to also hear from Layla Moran and Ros Gordon. * Training: CGB ran three women only training sessions at the 2014 Spring Conference. Fifteen women only training sessions are planned for the 2014 Autumn Conference. Due to the stage of the electoral cycle, these sessions predominantly focused on key information and skills that help potential candidates to win target/winnable Parliamentary seat selections. * Road to Westminster: The LDW CGB Road to Westminster Campaigns aims at bringing together volunteers to help and support women standing in our most competitive seats. * LDW stand at Glasgow Conference Stand 2013: The LDW Silent Auction held on the stand raised over £1,400 that went towards the cost of the annual CGB Future Women’s MPs Weekend. * LDW Appeal: LDW also successfully raised money for the Future Women MPs Weekend through an Appeal Letter which added to the Silent Auction. * Selection mentoring: CGB mentors advised and supported a number of women through their strategic seat selections. This mentoring is more intensive than the word normally implies. The women candidates who were mentored tell us it was a very important factor in their success. Current and planned activities * Mentoring: CGB provides ongoing mentoring to women candidates at different stages of their political careers, including a number who applied for the Leadership Programme. We view the Leadership Programme as complementary to the work of CGB. CGB focuses on encouraging women to become Westminster Parliamentary candidates, at whatever stage in their political career development they may be in. * Training: A number of Inspiration Days are planned to be held across the States and Regions to encourage women to come forward as candidates for Westminster even at this late stage. We are also planning ‘Cluster workshops’ for women PPCs in seats close to each other and in LDHQ. These workshops will focus on resilience training, leadership and on team building. * Newsletter: An e-mail newsletter is sent out every month to almost 1000 subscribers, this includes details of training events, relevant news items and seat adverts. * Approval and Selection of Women: The Campaign continues to closely monitor information regarding approval and selection figures, to gain an accurate picture of the women’s representation within the Party. * Glasgow Autumn Conference: A full programme of training is planned for Spring Conference We look forward to CGB working closely with Khloe Bailey Obazee the new LDW Administrator based at HQ and Olivia Blunn, the new Diversity and Outreach Officer- Youth. As ever thank you to all our trainers, mentors, LDW members and other supporters without whom we wouldn't be able to continue our good work. Ros Gordon Chair, Liberal Democrat Women Candy Piercy Head of LDW Representation of Women Group CGB Project DIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT GROUP New DEG Chair and structure Lord Navnit Dholakia was appointed as the new Chair of the Diversity Engagement Group in April 2014. Lord Dholakia welcomed the challenges of the new role, and praised the outgoing Chair, Baroness Sal Brinton, for all the work she has done on this area to date. A new structure has been put in place to facilitate the activities contained in the new diversity action plan (as approved by the Federal Executive in February 2014). It was agreed that DEG should be a smaller executive with three main sub-groups, which form the basis of how work is structured with DEG and the HQ Diversity and Outreach team at HQ. I. Internal engagement: This group will cover increasing representation within the party, including diversity awareness and unconscious bias training. II. External engagement: This group will cover campaigning in diverse communities, community outreach projects and other work that looks to build the influence and reputation of the Party more widely. III. Communications: Initiatives should include increasing the visibility of work being done within the Party and ensuring that internal and external communications reflect diversity and inclusion. Internal Engagement: - An SAO training day focusing on campaign skills and key messages was held in July 2014. Representatives from Liberal Youth, LDW, LDDA, LGBT+ and EMLD attended, and the day received good feedback - Unconscious Bias training will be delivered as part of a package of training at Autumn Conference - The team recently presented to the Parliamentary Party meeting in the House of Lords to increase awareness of the Diversity and Outreach team’s work and encourage cooperation - Regional Diversity Champions continue to deliver activities at a regional and local party level. - Approval and selection data is regularly monitored and analysed in order to gain an accurate picture of candidate diversity within the Party. - The HQ team continues to run key activities on behalf of Campaign for Gender Balance (see separate report), providing support for potential women candidates going for Parliamentary approval and selection. This includes a package of women-only training at Conference. - Training and mentoring support continues as part of the Candidate Leadership Programme – Leadership Programme candidates attended the recent Wyboston training weekends for held and strategic seats, and will receive further training at Autumn Conference. - Twenty-two Leadership Programme candidates have been selected as PPCs (as of 31st July 2014) - 15 women, 7 BAME candidates and 2 LGBT candidates. Julia Cambridge Chesterfield Lucy Hurds Hereford and South Herefordshire Robin Meltzer Richmond Park Layla Moran Oxford West and Abingdon Maajid Nawaz Hampstead and Kilburn Shas Sheehan Wimbledon Vikki Slade Mid Dorset and North Poole Claire Thomas Hull West and Hessle Christine Tinker Shrewsbury & Atcham Lisa Smart Hazel Grove Julie Pörksen Berwick Jane Dodds Montgomeryshire Jackie Porter Winchester Terry Stacy Islington South and Finsbury Judith Bunting Newbury Justine Baker Bridgewater and West Somerset Abdul Malik Bristol East Ibrahim Taguri Brent Central Steve Bradley Bath Jane Brophy Altrincham & Sale West Zuffar Haq Harborough Christine Jardine Gordon External engagement - Meetings have been held with MPs and organisers in held and strategic seats with the most diverse populations in order to identify and discuss best practice, and how further work can be done. - Olivia Blunn has recently joined the Diversity and Outreach team, focusing on youth outreach. Olivia has been working closely with Liberal Youth to ensure a strong presence at Freshers Fairs across the country and will be working with specific seats to help drive outreach and recruitment work. - Links are being built and developed with a range of relevant external organisations - Community briefings have been produced and distributed to teams in held and strategic seats. - Guidance on “Whose Vote are you missing: Campaigning in Diverse Communities” has been updated and is being distributed to key party stakeholders. - The Diversity team has been working closely with the Government Equalities Office (GEO) to promote the Access to Elected Office Strategy, which aims to provide financial assistance and training to disabled individuals who want to stand as candidates for national or local elections. Communications - A monthly Diversity Newsletter highlighting key events, government announcements and SAO campaigns is being distributed to key stakeholders within the Party. - A Diversity and Outreach Twitter feed was created in June 2014 – follow us @LibDemDiversity - The Diversity team at HQ works closely with the specialist press officer, who monitors and promotes involvement in BAME and other specialist Press. Lord Navnit Dholakia Chair, Diversity Engagement Group July 2014