Labour NEC report – Meetings held 5^th July 2022

Ann Henderson (CLP Section)

The NEC Complaints and Disciplinary Committee, and the NEC Organisation Committee, both met on Tuesday 5^th July. These Committees have specific remits and are composed of all NEC members.

The Complaints and Disciplinary Committee takes updates on numbers of cases coming through the complaints process; information on appeals, on the new complaints procedure, the new Independent Review Board and the new Independent Complaints Board; suspensions; the work of the NCC; and any updates on CLPSD currently in special measures.

The meeting heard that the backlog of unresolved complaints received before May 2021 (total 7,090 cases) had been cleared by 22^nd June, with special teams of staff allocated to do so; 99% had now been concluded. I asked for information about the numbers of cases which had closed because the complainant or the alleged perpetrator had left the Party prior to the case being looked into. This will be provided to the NEC. I am aware of a number of examples where members have left the party citing lack of response to their complaints as a reason and am keen that this be taken seriously. With regard to suspensions, some of which have been in place for over 18 months, staff assured the NEC that arranging these appeal hearings would now be a priority.

The new Complaints procedure, incorporating changes made at last year’s Party conference, and addressing some of the recommendations from the EHRC, is now operational. There are changes being made in how complaints are triaged and recorded, and it was noted that there had been an increase in complaints up to May 2022, a number of which related to the local elections.

The Party website has now been updated and the current Complaints guidance is here:  https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Complaint-Handling-Handbook-6-July-2022-FINAL.pdf

This includes the revised sexual harassment complaints procedures, the remit of the Independent Complaints Board, and some of the latest NEC statements including on Islamophobia.

NEC Panels continue to consider complaints, with over 70% reported since March 2022 as being related to antisemitism; and some cases (for further investigation and decision) are passed to the NCC (National Constitutional Committee). These elected lay members of the Party work hard to examine all cases fairly, and for the NCC, note that new member elections are due this year by delegates at Annual Conference.  NEC Panel decisions are now reviewed by the IRB (Independent Review Board) and to date only one of those NEC Panel decisions was referred back. This review process arose from the Party’s response to the EHRC Report and we were advised that the EHRC is happy with progress and has moved to quarterly monitoring.

NEC members have asked repeatedly for equality monitoring of the complaints process, to better understand if particular sections of the membership are disproportionately impacted (or disproportionately responsible) but we have now been advised this is not possible. At the most recent meeting it was eventually agreed that a working group should look at what might be possible. Leaving aside the difficulties still facing the Party following the cyber incident with membership systems, I do believe it is important to find a way of collecting this information. During the worst of the pandemic there were concerns, for example, that older members may be making unintentional mistakes with social media – or that illness and disability and isolation was not being assessed. I also believe that sexual harassment and racism are under-reported  if patterns of behaviour amongst certain groups of members are not being tracked and linked to equality monitoring.

With the completion of the appointment of the members of the Independent Review Board and of the Independent Complaints Board, effective from 1^st April 2022, the Party is now committed to meeting the costs of these new bodies (members are paid £350 a day) and servicing their work. A Secretary is being appointed shortly, employed by the Party. NEC members asked if the names of those appointed to these Boards could be shared, and also asked for more information on the budget allocated to this new process. The appointments are for three years in the first instance. We were advised that no names will be shared for security and confidentiality reasons, and that costs were being monitored carefully.  In due course, with robust internal complaints processes in place and the EHRC satisfied, it may be possible to put those resources back into campaign work. I think this may require further discussion at future NEC meetings, as there are obvious transparency and budget implications.

Then we moved onto the NEC Organisation Committee meeting.  This Committee considered an update on Westminster selections; impact of the Parliamentary Boundary Review on CLPs and Regional Offices; a report on local government elections selections, including limited equality monitoring; extension of provisional membership periods; and motions from CLPs.

The meeting opened with Wendy Nichols as Chair, welcoming Tony Woodhouse (Unite) who has now joined the NEC following Amy Jackson stepping down, and conveying the NEC’s thanks to Diana Holland (Unite) who has indicated she is standing down as Party Treasurer in September 2022. Congratulations were conveyed to Ellen Morrison who has been returned unopposed as the Disabled Members rep on the NEC.

NEC members asked for the Officers’ decision on the NEC and Regional EC taking over the Brighton and Hove selections, to be reviewed, on which there was some discussion, but it was confirmed the decision would not be reviewed.  Although not on the agenda, I asked if there was any news on the timetable for the Annual Women’s Conference 2023 (in the past this sometimes comes to NEC Org) – there was no information to be shared. This will be raised again at the NEC on 19th July.

A sub Committee had been looking at how to manage the forthcoming Review of Westminster parliamentary constituency boundaries in England.  Although the final proposals for change will not be presented to Parliament until summer 2023, the revised proposals following the recent public consultation will be published in October 2022, and the Party expects little to change thereafter, based on previous experience.

The Party claims to be seeking to minimise impact on membership organisation and delegation sizes for 2023 Annual conference. It is therefore proposed to write to all CLPs in England in October, with interim officers being appointed to oversee the establishment of new branches and committees. CLP reorganisation would begin on 1st January 2023, to be completed by July 2023, with all AGMs held by then and new officers appointed. The start date for the new financial year for CLPs would be 1^st January 2023, and membership would be reallocated by postcodes centrally from that date.

From 1^st January 2023 the new CLPs would have interim officers appointed by Regional Directors, before moving to hold AGMs. In some areas where local government campaigning could be affected, the new CLP AGMs could be delayed until May or June. All the inaugural meetings would need to be signed off by the Regional Director.

The paper presented to us was discussed and noted, with a number of points raised by members. Reassurances were sought (and given) that staff in the Regional offices would not face redundancies, as the boundaries for regional responsibilities would be redrawn as a consequence of the Boundary Commission recommendations. NEC members noted that without a functioning membership system, which is not expected to be completely fit for purpose until January 2023, any reorganisation was going to be very difficult to manage for CLP Secretaries. AGMs would be required to be held on the new boundaries, and accurate membership information was needed. It is already very difficult to be sure of information on membership transfers between CLPs.

Closing down existing and effective CLPS, and replacing with interim officers not chosen by the members, could have a serious negative effect on morale locally and I believe more consideration will be needed to the process and the timing.

I flagged up that the emerging Labour Women’s Organisation, with Branches based on CLP and multi-CLP boundaries, would also need to be changed in England. This would require new AGMs, reliable contact with all women members in the area, and will impact on delegations and motions for a spring 2023 Annual Women’s Conference. It was agreed to incorporate this into the guidance to CLPs.

The agenda item on local government selections reported on some data collected on over 4,700 Labour candidates across all regions and nations. However, the equality monitoring tool has not been operational since the October 2021 cyber incident. And it was noted that only around 20% of candidates had completed an equality form, compared to 47% of Labour’s candidates in 2021. The data collected on sex is the most complete, and does show a reduction in the number of female candidates (42% in 2022, 47% in 2021).  There is work to do with each area to improve and increase the information that we have on our councillors and Labour groups.

With regard to Westminster selections, it was noted that 36 selection procedures were underway at that date, (5th July)  and 68 procedures had been completed.

A number of NEC members raised concerns about lack of clarity over trigger ballot procedures when an MP is off work sick. This should be reviewed in the future.

The NEC Organisation Committee did not vote on any change to current processes, nor were any votes taken with regard to intervention into any specific local selections. The staff and officers gave assurances that support was being offered to MPs throughout the process, the stress of which had also been raised by MPs in the Parliamentary Group meetings, and that complaints made during any selections were being triaged quickly.

Unanswered questions remain about how best to apply any exemptions or interventions if it became clear that this was necessary. Questions with regard to provision for reasonable adjustment for disability, (Equality Act protections), and how to address the impact of domestic violence, also went unanswered.

The NEC meeting on 19 July will be discussing a paper on a review of the selection process to date. Along with other members of the NEC, and of the National Women’s Committee, I signed an open letter about the treatment of Apsana Begum MP. We are still waiting for a reply to that letter.

Other matters discussed included – agreement that the Party needs to look at, and improve, our equality monitoring systems; noting that the NEC would be getting an update on the new membership system; delays in taking CLPs out of Special Measures; and from the CLP motions submitted (for noting not for discussion) some were highlighted, such as the proposals for dual CLP membership for students, at home and during term time. This of course will require the CLP records to be accurate in the first place, but is likely to be included in rule changes coming forward for Annual Conference.

Ann Henderson
NEC CLP section
July 2022