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Federal Conference Committee met this weekend – unusually at Amnesty HQ in London rather than LDHQ – to set the Agenda for Autumn conference in Brighton.

If you have not yet registered, please don’t forget – conference runs from the 15th to 18th September, and you can sign up at https://www.eventsforce.net/autumnconference2018. Or, if you’d like to take advantage of our new refer-a-friend discounts, see https://www.libdems.org.uk/refer_a_friend

As noted in my reports on Spring conference, the snap election last year delayed progress on several policy papers which have now come through so time pressure was again an issue. This did mean that some good motions that would have fared better had there been more time were dropped early in round one of voting. I should also mention that a Nem Con decision does not mean that no members liked a motion. FCC runs largely according to consensus, where only issues that might be controversial or result in a close vote end up with a formal show of hands. If only one or two people are arguing for/against a motion, it is often not worth pushing it to a vote. Running 63 votes in round one alone would risk the meeting becoming a multi-day epic!

This was also the first agenda selection with name blind applications. Committee members knew in advance how a motion was validly submitted (E.g. “Cambridge Lib Dems”, “LGBT+ Lib Dems” or “34 party members”) but not the names of drafting contacts, proposers or summators and these were only circulated after the decisions had been made. Although inevitably lobbying meant we knew who was behind some motions, this worked well and we will be having further discussions on if motions can be made more anonymous by changing submitters details to just “2 local parties”, “an SAO” or similar.

All those who submitted motions will now have feedback and we are hoping to have the full agenda out by the start of August. If you would like to submit a Europe motion, amendments or emergency motions, the deadline for that is 1 pm, Monday 3rd September. Amendments for the Europe motion will be possible, but with a very short window for submission. (Likely around three days)

Time allocations below are provisional and were just used to make sure we did not pick too much material, as some small changes are often required to have everything fit sensibly in the slots available.

Round One Vote Round Two Vote Time allocation BUSINESS AND SKILLS Degree accreditation through the workplace Redbridge NO Nem Con Good jobs, better businesses, stronger communities

21st Century Economy policy paper FPC YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 75 minutes Repeal of Sunday Trading Laws 39 members NO (1 Yes vote) COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT An affordable, secure home for all 10 members YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 60 minutes Ending Private Rental Discrimination against people on Benefits 10 members NO Nem Con Homelessness – Safety and Justice for All Young Liberals NO Nem Con House Building – An End to Urban Containment Young Liberals NO Nem Con The Leasehold Scandal Eddisbury and Weaver Vale NO Nem Con Power for People and Communities (Policy Paper) FPC YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 75 minutes CRIME, JUSTICE, EQUALITIES, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES Domestic Abuse 13 party members NO Nem Con Ending Discrimination in Mental Health Detention Beaconsfield

Wycombe

South Central Region

Young Liberals YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 60 minutes Establishing Real Freedom of Choice Lib Dem Women YES Nem Con YES (1 No vote) 75 minutes Freedom of Choice on Abortion Young Liberals NO Nem Con Extending end-of-life choices 11 party members NO Nem Con Safe alcohol use, Reduction of the legal drinking age 10 party members NO Nem Con CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT Internet blocking by public libraries 12 party members NO Nem Con ECONOMY AND TAX Closing tax loop-holes – promoting equity St Ives NO Nem Con Promoting a fairer distribution of wealth 11 party members YES Nem Con YES (1 no vote) 60 minutes Taxing Land, not Investment 13 party members YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 45 minutes The rehabilitation of Taxation Calderdale NO Nem Con Fairer Foreign Exchange 31 party members NO (3 Yes votes) Royal Bank of Scotland Share Sale Mid Suffolk NO Nem Con EDUCATION AND FAMILIES Help for non-speaking children 13 party members NO Nem Con ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS Action on Plastics Pollutions 15 party members NO Nem Con Break Free From Plastics 24 party members NO Nem Con Plastic pollution and UN Sustainable Development Goals Chetenham YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 45 minutes Plastic pollution and UN Sustainable Development Goals Gloucester NO Nem Con Reducing the use of plastic water bottles Bexhill and Battle NO Nem Con Single use plastic and sustainable packaging 10 party members

Mid Sussex

Horsham and Crawley

Tunbridge NO Nem Con Game bird cages 12 party members NO Nem Con Improving Animal Welfare 10 party members YES Nem Con YES (7/5 in favour) 45 minutes United Against Food Poverty 355 party members NO (4 Yes votes) EUROPE As Europe motions become rapidly out of date, FCC decided to defer selection until the emergency motions deadline. 60 minutes have been allocated for this debate.

EU citizens right to vote 16 party members Stopping Brexit 13 party members HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE Cutting the roots of lifelong disadvantage by prevention of ACEs

(Adverse Childhood Experiences) 35 party members YES Nem Con NO (2 Yes votes) Fighting Childhood Obesity ALDC NO Nem Con Preventing drug-related death: Leading the world in harm reduction Haringey

16 party members NO Nem Con Revision of Liberal Democrat Party’s Policy for Drug Law Reform Taunton Deane NO Nem Con Supporting our NHS St Ives NO Nem Con INTERNATIONAL AND DEFENCE Britain at the Heart of a Changing World (Policy Paper) FPC YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 75 minutes Sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 157 party members NO (3 Yes votes) Embracing the Sustainable Development Goals 17 party members NO (2 Yes votes) Towards a peaceful future for the Land between the River & the Sea 26 party members NO (2 Yes votes) MIGRATION Migration: A fair deal for everyone (Policy Paper) FPC YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 90 minutes Removing financial obstacles to Naturalisation Hammersmith and Fulham NO Nem Con Righting wrongs: Restoring the Rights of the Windrush Generation 19 party members YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 45 minutes POLITICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM Parliamentary Democracy Calderdale NO Nem Con True Universal Suffrage: Votes for Prisoners Young Liberals NO Nem Con TRANSPORT Improving public transport Calderdale NO Nem Con WORK, SOCIAL SECURITY AND PENSIONS Ending Relative Poverty in the UK Motion Basingstoke and Deane NO Nem Con The Inequalities Facing Young People in the Workplace and the Welfare System Young Liberals NO Nem Con Towards Income Security For All 22 party members YES (6/5 in favour) NO (3 Yes votes) Universal credit Canterbury and Coastal NO Nem Con BUSINESS MOTIONS Alderdice Actions Federal Board YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 45 minutes General Election Review Process 19 party members NO Nem Con Green Campaigning – Local and National Elections Newark and Sherwood

Rushcliffe NO Nem Con Membership subscriptions and federal levy Federal Board YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 30 minutes Recognition of Specified Associated Organisations and Associated Organisations Federal Board YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 20 minutes Reforming our Party’s Disciplinary & Complaints Processes Federal Board YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 60 minutes Liberal Democrat Priorities for a Better Britain (FPC Themes Paper) FPC YES Nem Con YES Nem Con 60 minutes CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Reforming our Party’s Disciplinary & Complaints Processes Federal Board In order Included above

* Zoe O'Connell is Vice Chair of Federal Conference Committee and Vice Chair of LGBT+ Liberal Democrats.