Unlock Democracy Council Meeting 37 Grays Inn Road London WC1X 8 !

1st "e#tem$er %&1% DR'() MI*U)+" '#ologies, Diana Wallis resent Phil Starr, Alan Debenham, John Strafford, Finola Kelly, Stuart Hill, Peter Hirst, Vicky Seddon ( hair!, Stuart Weir, hris arri"an, Danny #inkus$Sutton, Susan %urray, Ste&hen arter, %ary Southcott, 'ithne (eor"e, )i* arlton, Andre+ ,lick, -osemary ,echler, .+ais -a/&ut In 'ttendance Ale0andra -uns+ick, Peter Facey, James (raham, Simon Ho+ard, Dan Flana"an 1- Minutes . Matters 'rising 1he minutes of the last meetin" +ere a&&ro2ed after minor s&ellin" errors +ere corrected (Stafford to Strafford3 indication to induction3 ill to +ill!, and 4election4 inserted after 4%,5 in first line of %inute 6! S arter asked about induction for ne+ ouncil members +ho had been unable to attend the last council meetin"7 %- "ta//ing V Seddon informed ouncil that P Facey had re8uested to take a year9s sabbatical7 1he %ana"ement ,oard has a"reed to that re8uest +ith A -uns+ick bein" asked to take on his role for this &eriod7 1he %ana"ement ,oard are to consider ho+ to fill A -uns+ick9s &osition7 P Facey9s de&arture date is de&endent on +hen his 2isa a&&lication is "ranted7 P Facey ad2ised ouncil that there +ere : ne+ members of staff, all &aid for by "rants7 1here is a ne+ research assistant Jon ;arcross since J %ai*els has /oined 1f), #oe Sta2ri has /oined the communications team7 ,oth of these are on a trainin" +a"e +hich is e8ual to the )ondon li2in" +a"e7 <n addition there is an S A outreach officer Ameneh 'nayat +ho +ill be +orkin" on &romotin" the Act o2er the ne0t = years7 ouncil +elcomed these ne+ a&&ointments7 3- 0udget P Facey said that this sho+s a small &lanned sur&lus7 He then directed ouncil to chan"es in the bud"et such as "rant income7 P Facey e0&lained that >D has recei2ed ne+ "rants and that therefore there is a reduction in the amount of "rants the or"anisation needs to brin" in7 1- Cam#aign Re#ort

P Facey "a2e a u&date on >nlock Democracy?s +ork Sustainable Communities Act @ 1he "uidance is no+ in &lace so there is a shift to encoura"e &eo&le to use the Act7 Individual Elector Registration (IER): 1he "o2ernment &ro&osal remains to introduce <'- at the same time as the reduction in the number of %Ps and conse8uent boundary chan"es7 >D9s &olicy is that it su&&orts a mi0ture of re"istration and &o&ulation si*e to calculate the si*e of a constituency7 .ne conse8uence of the House of )ords situation is that the )ib Dems are no+ to 2ote a"ainst boundary chan"es7 <f chan"e does not take &lace the ne0t election +ill be fou"ht on e0istin" boundaries7 Devolution and Decentralisation: >D is settin" u& an ad2isory board7 1he Political and onstitutional -eform Select ommittee and the )ocal (o2ernment Select ommittee ha2e &ublished a draft code for inde&endent local "o2ernment7 1his is 8uite a radical document in that +ould "i2e local "o2ernment constitutional status and entrench its inde&endence from central "o2ernment7 Sheffield for Democracy ha2e held a meetin" on this7 1he )(A su&&orts the &ro&osed code, >D is runnin" an outreach cam&ai"n to encoura"e &eo&le to take &art in the consultation7 Vote Match@ >D has recei2ed a "rant from the '> under its adult learnin" &ro"ramme to
e0chan"in" best &ractice on ho+ to en"a"e under$re&resented "rou&s7 1here are A countries in2ol2ed7 Votematch for the >S &residential election +ill be "oin" li2e on the

Daily 1ele"ra&h +ebsite in .ctober7 We are also a&&lyin" to ;ominet for a "rant to test +hether Votematch increases 2oter &artici&ation in an election7 Buestions +ere asked by ouncil members about ho+ Votematch +orked and P Facey su""ested that %atthe+ .li2er attended ouncil to "i2e a &resentation on Votematch7 Lobb ing ! "art #unding: >D &ublishes Cdonors of the +eek9 &rofiles and hi"hli"hts &articular &roblems +ith the current system7 .n lobbyin" the "o2ernment ha2e &ublished their res&onse to the consultation7 Ho+e2er they ha2e failed to include the D,::E &eo&le +ho took &art in the consultation 2ia >D9s +ebsite and +e ha2e asked them to rectify this7 1he =A or"anisations +ho si"ned a /oint letter ha2e also been omitted7 <n essence the abinet .ffice has ar"ued that the issues they raised are referenced e2en if their contributions are not listed7 ::D su&&orters com&lained to their %Ps in F days about this7 D #inkus informed ouncil of the lobbyin" trans&arency &ro&osals that ha2e been &ut before Holyrood7 P Facey confirmed that he +as s&eakin" in 'dinbur"h at a film festi2al on this sub/ect7 Lords Re#orm: 1he "o2ernment ha2e scra&&ed their bill on House of )ords reform7 1here +as no a"reement +ithin the coalition and )abour +ould not su&&ort the &ro"ramme motion7 As a conse8uence, the )ib Dems ha2e +ithdra+n su&&ort for boundary chan"es7 1he onser2ati2es are s&lit +ith a third a"ainst any reform and a third in fa2our7 ;ick le"" +ill not acce&t 4reform lite5 so the likely e2ent is the a&&ointment of a lar"e number of )ords7 Ho+e2er in terms of reform only D:E %Ps 2oted a"ainst reform, so House of )ords reform is not dead7 <t is necessary to kee& a &ublic cam&ai"n "oin" to sho+ that the House of )ords is unacce&table7

2- +lection Re3ie4 P Facey hi"hli"hted that there are = &a&ers in res&ect of the election re2ie+7 1he first is the -eturnin" officer9s re&ort7 S Weir obser2ed that this +as a sensible re&ort and ouncil should thank him for it7 ouncil a"reed7 ,efore the second &a&er +as discussed S Hill &ut for+ard a motion in res&ect of chan"es to the election &rocess +hich stated that the A(% +as the a&&ro&riate &lace for decisions to be made7 1he motion +as delayed so that the staff &a&er on re2ie+ the election &rocess could be &ut to ouncil and there could be a discussion7 J (raham s&oke to his &a&er7 A short discussion took &lace &rimarily about +ho should be decidin" the chan"es7 S Hill then &ut his motion to ouncil7 1his +as &assed by D= 2otes in fa2our to G a"ainst7 5- 6 MG and 7ote Matc8 'd3isory 0oard P Facey &ut to re&ort7 ouncil >D9s A"reed res&onses to KP%(9s recommendations in its

1here +ere G recommendations under Go3ernance as follo+s@ S$ills Audit: A"reed action $ that >nlock Democracy runs a skills audit of ouncil Di##erent classes o# membershi%: A"reed action $ none, "i2in" 4su&&orters5 a constitutional status +ill not hel& increase their number nor hel& encoura"e them into membershi&7 Communications bet&een Council and membershi%: 1hat ouncil members are encoura"ed to +rite for the +ebsite, +ith articles &romoted 2ia facebook and t+itter7 1hat members should ha2e a easy +ay to communicate +ith ouncil members 2ia the +ebsite7 Induction: A"reed action $ that the last ouncil meetin" of this term discusses ho+ to induct ne+ members and an out"oin" ouncil member is "i2en the task of o2erseein" the induction7 Rodell 'usiness "lan: A"reed action &roduce a business &lan $ -odell under the Vice hair -odell is currently de2elo&in" a business &lan aimed at increasin" its ca&ital and therefore future income o2er a DE year &eriod7 >nder the Management section there +ere = further recommendations "riorities: A"reed action $ that ouncil formally a"rees cam&ai"n &riorities for the or"anisation once a ouncil term and that these are monitored by the ,oard and re2ie+ed at each subse8uent ouncil meetin"7 Res%onsiveness: A"reed action $ 1hat staff and Director to continue to be "i2en the fle0ibility to s+itch &riorities +ithin the a"reed &olicy frame+ork7 Commercial "er3ices Votematch@ A"reed action $ that >nlock Democracy establish an ad2isory board7 >nder the (inancial section there +ere = recommendations@

 (RR): >nlock Democracy o2er the last D= months has sou"ht to im&ro2e the relationshi& +ith the 1rust and the last t+o "rants ha2e been on the basis su&&orted by the re&ort7 Diversi# ing *rant Incomes: >nlock Democracy should continue to de2elo& all its income streams (-odell, indi2idual "i2in", commercial acti2ity and "rants!7 1he Director should re&ort to the %ana"ement ,oard if income from any one e0ternal source becomes "reater than =EH of the or"anisation9s income7 1he %ana"ement ,oard should monitor and ensure that the or"anisation has a broad and di2erse a&&roach to income "eneration as &ractically &ossible7 <n res&ect of Communications there +ere : recommendations@ "anel o# S%ea$ers: A"reed action $ that the or"anisation continue to use the Director as the &rimary s&okes&erson, but has a small number of alternati2e s&okes&eo&le7 ,ut this &a&er re/ects the idea that any &ercei2ed &olitical bias can be sim&ly tackled by ha2in" s&okes&erson +ho is not a )ib Dem7 Social Media and +eb: A"reed action $ that the %ana"ement ,oard a"rees +ith the Director tar"ets in relation to the +eb and social media and monitors them o2er the ne0t D= months7 Cam#aigns 1he ouncil a"reed to re2ie+ the 4Ho+ +e seek to cam&ai"n5 document at least once &er ouncil term7 7- 7otematc8 P Facey referred ouncil to the &ro&osed terms of reference for a Vote %atch Ad2isory board7 A short discussion took &lace re"ardin" the detail7 <t +as a"reed that a board be a&&ointed and that the terms of reference are to include an additional &oint namely that at least one member of ouncil is to be in2ited on to the board, others may be in2ited as a&&ro&riate7 Further that the re8uirement of the board members to ha2e e0&ertise in one or more areas referred to should seen as indicati2e list not a e0clusi2e one7 8- Cam#aign riorities A -uns+ick s&oke to the &a&er before ouncil7 She indicated that it +as im&ortant to re2ie+ >D9s a&&roach and look for+ard as +e +ere half+ay throu"h a Parliament7 1here is a need to look at +hat may come u&, so althou"h >D has to &lan for the short term it has to be able to look ahead and built u& e0&ertise7 ouncil then discussed in "eneral terms +hat cam&ai"ns ouncil members +anted >D to en"a"e in7 All ouncil members +ere "i2en the o&&ortunity to &ut for+ard their 2ie+s7 <n addition to cam&ai"n to&ics bein" discussed the nature of &articular cam&ai"ns +as considered7 A consensus of o&inion a&&eared that the four cam&ai"ns >D should concentrate on +ere House of )ords reform, lobbyin", &arty fundin" and de2olutionI'n"lish 8uestion7

ouncil a"reed these are >D main cam&ai"ns for the &ur&oses of a fundin" bid and has noted A -uns+ick9s &a&er to"ether +ith the &a&er CHo+ +e seek to cam&ai"n97 9- 'GM ouncil considered its res&onse to &olicy motions from the =EDD A(%7 Voter Registration J >D has cam&ai"ned s&eedin" u& the im&lementation of <'ar"uin" that it must be se&arate from the im&lementation of the ne+ boundaries7 AV J >D is cam&ai"nin" for a iti*en9s on2ention

"olice Commissioners J .nce the elections ha2e taken &lace >D +ill monitor the results Scottish Inde%endence J >D +ould like &referential 2otin" but there has been no mention of it in relation to the referendum 1&- Local Grou#s V Seddon ad2ised ouncil that >D +ants to de2elo& local "rou&s in con/unction +ith the '-S, not necessarily as >D "rou&s7 ouncil needs to look at the constitution in res&ect of this7 <t +as a"reed that the &a&er be circulated by email and that it be discussed at the ne0t ouncil meetin"7 11- ro#osed amendment to t8e constitution V Seddon ad2ised ouncil that she intends to &ut for+ard the follo+in" chan"e to the constitution at the A(%@ 4 <nsert a ne+ G7D7A and renumber accordin"ly7@ G7D7A Amendments to motions shall be submitted to the before the meetin"5 hair at least FK hours

V Seddon further e0&lained that the constitution is currently silent on the timescale for amendments3 this +ould brin" the &rocess for amendments in line +ith the &rocess for emer"ency motions, as in G7D76, and ensure that the business can be dealt +ith in an orderly fashion7 1%- 'ny :t8er 0usiness . Close ;o A.,7 1he meetin" then closed7 1he date of the ne0t meetin" is "aturday %3rd (e$ruary %&13-