Building a Healthy Women's ion

8/8/2019 Building a Healthy Women's ion

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Proposals to modernise and strengthenLabours women's organisation

Paper to Annual Conference 1998


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3uIIC thy women' )rganisation

Contents

1. Introduction 5

2. The Labour Party women's organisation 6

3. Consultation with the party 7

4. A new women's organisation 88

1.0

4.1 Local women's organisation

4.2 Regional women's organisation

4.3 NEC Women's Committee 1.1.

5. Women's representation 13

14ppendix -Rule changes


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Building a healthy women's organisation

.1. IntroductionLabour is determined to build upon thisprogress. The introduction of the ScottishParliament and Welsh Assembly by the Labourgovernment has been accompanied by aselection process within the Labour Party itselfwhich ensures that half the Labour members ofthese bodies will be women. And Labour iscommitted to ensuring that our town hallsbecome more representative. with equalopportunities -and in particular the selection ofmore Labour women candidates -central to theparty's new 'Project 99'.

But there is still a long way to go. Women stillmake up less than a quarter of Labour MPs. Just25 per cent of Labour councillors -and far fewerin many areas -are women. And womencontinue to make up just 40 per cent of our

party membership. In some areas local partiesstill report difficulty filling their quotas. Totackle these problems effectively the partyneeds clear commitment and targeted action.

This paper makes proposals for a newly focusedand structured women's organisation to supportwomen to play an active role in the party. Thisis based upon the current women's organisation,which has existed for decades, and is informedby a major consultation about the role of thewomen's organisation which was carried outwith the party.

Women in the Labour Party have made hugeadvances in recent years. In the past decadethe party has made changes whichhave resulted in a significant decline in its

male-dominated image and culture.A particularly important and high-profilemilestone was the election of 101 Labourwomen MPs on 1 May 1997.

Labour is proud to be the first major politicalparty in Britain to introduce quotas for womenat all levels of the organisation, which havehelped bring about this change. Since the late1980s rules have been developed to ensure thatwomen are fairly represented throughout theparty -from the local branch to the NationalExecutive Committee -and that those rulescontinue to apply to all new party bodies which

are established.

The election of so many new Labour women MPsin 1997 was largely due to the operation ofpositive action measures, through which Labourhas begun to change the face of British politics.The new Labour government is the mostrepresentative in British political history, with22 women ministers -five of them in the cabinet-including two Ministers for Women, whooversee the delivery of policy to benefit women.The Labour government's programme haswomen at its heart, with many measures -suchas the minimum wage, fairness at work and thenational childcare strategy -set to bring realimprovements to the lives of millions of women.


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2. The Labour Party women's organisationmore opportunities open up for women to beactive in the mainstream party 'through theoperation of Quotas, the numbers involved withthe women's organisation have dropped and a

number of organisations have shut down. Forexample, the number of local women's sectionsdeclined from around 550 in 1994 to just 200 in1997, and the number of women's councilscurrently stands at fewer than 50. A survey in1995 showed that most women's sections havefewer than 10 women taking part regularly, andin 1997 just seven of the 44 seats on theLondon regional women's committee were filled.

The NEC is firmly of the opinion that the partyneeds a women's organisation if it is to continueprogress on women's representation and ensure

that women's voices are heard. However, giventhe decline in numbers, it is clear that actionmust be taken if the women's organisation is toremain strong and effective.

The women's organisation dates back to theearliest years of the party. Since 1906, Labourwomen have organised together, and since 1918women's organisations have existed at

constituency and national level. The women'sorganisation has also existed for many years atregional level.

It is partly due to the work of the women'sorganisation that the achievements outlinedabove have been made. The women'sorganisation has traditionally provided anenvironment where women can develop theirpolitical skills in a supportive atmosphere. Manyof today's women MPs and MEPs began theirparty involvement through the women'sorganisation. And the women's organisation -at

local, regional and national level -worked hard toensure that the principle of quotas and positiveaction was accepted throughout the party.

But in recent years the party's women'sorganisation has appeared to be in decline. As


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3. Consultation with the partyhold more informal meetings and events -

including events which members can attendwith their families -in accessible venues atappropriate times.

There was strong support for the operation ofquotas within the party, with some calls forthese to be extended and/or better monitored.The equal representation of women on all bodies-including the new policy forums -wassuggested as the best way to ensure thatwomen's voices are heard.

To achieve the aims of the women'sorganisation, it was proposed that betterinformation, co-ordination and training isrequired. This includes guidance to local partieson operating in a women-friendly way, guidance

to local women's organisations on setting uptraining and mentoring arrangements, sharing ofgood practice and co-ordination across regionsthrough training events, and encouraging

cross-constituency working.

All of this suggests a different kind of women'sorganisation from that which has existed inmost areas for many years. The survey of theorganisation in 1995 found that 98 per cent oflocal women's organisations held meetings,mostly monthly, compared with only 41 per centwhich were involved with campaigning andmembership recruitment, and 29 per cent which

were involved with women in community groups.The mood from the consultation appeared to bethat women want to re-focus their activities, andneed the guidance and information -and partystructures -which would enable them to do so.

Between March and June 1998 a consultationwas carried out with the party on the role of thewomen's organisation. Around 2,000 copies of aconsultation paper, 'Building a healthy women's

organisation', were circulated to constituencies,women's organisations, affiliated organisationsand individuals. The results were very positive.

Responses were received from a spread oforganisations and individuals around thecountry, and some strong messages came out oftheir submissions. These views have been usedto influence the proposals for a neworganisation which are set out in this paper.

By far the strongest message was that theprimary role of the women's organisation is tosupport and encourage women to play an active

role in the party, particularly in elected office. Itwas suggested that this be achieved throughtraining (in areas such as public speaking,campaign skills, becoming a councillor), politicaleducation, informal networking and mentoringarrangements.

Another key role identified was for the women'sorganisation to build links between the partyand women in the community -both withindividual women and with women'sorganisations. Proposals included consultationmeetings, joint events with externalorganisations, encouraging women members to

be active in community organisations, andtargeted women's recruitment and campaigning.

Many views were received on the need for theculture of local parties to change. It was feltthat many party meetings were not useful, orwere unwelcoming, and that local parties should


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.Building a healthy women's organisation

4. A new women's organisation

formal and informal meetings, training,conferences and social events, in order toenable women to support each other, shareexperiences and expertise, build networks

and come to collective views.

The remainder of this section proposes ways inwhich local regional and national women'sorganisations can achieve these objectives. Thenecessary rule changes, if agreed by AnnualConference, will then be applied. Theeffectiveness of the new organisation atmeeting its aims should be carefully monitored.

4.1. Local women's organisationThe local organisation is most women's mainpoint of contact with the party's women's

organisation. Most suggestions coming out ofthe consultation referred to the work of thelocal organisation, and it is here that most ofthe day-to-day work for women in the labourParty is done.

AimsThere are indications that there is a lack offocus amongst local women's organisations,with many of the respondents to theconsultation seeking clearer guidance anddescriptions of responsibilities. The startingpoint is a clear set of aims. It is proposed that

the aims of the women's organisation locallyshould be:

.to encourage and support women members toplaya full and active part in all the party's

activities, particularly through facilitatingtraining, networking and mentoring, and byencouraging women to run for elected office

.to build links with women in the community,through contact with communityorganisations and individual women,consultation, campaigning and joint working

.to encourage women to join the party and toensure that new women members arewelcomed

.to ensure that women's voices are heard inthe party, through monitoring women'sinvolvement in activities and communicatingwomen's concerns to the local party and to

policy makers

.to work jointly with labour women inneighbouring constituencies in the delivery ofthe above aims.

Despite the achievements which have beenmade in recent years, the NEC Women'sCommittee remains firmly convinced of the needfor a women's organisation within the party.

This belief was solidly backed up by evidencefrom the consultation.

However, the consultation also clearly signalledthe need for a change of direction for thewomen's organisation. Traditionally the women'sorganisation has given women the opportunityto have a voice in the party through a separateorganisation. However, the introduction ofquotas within the party increasingly means thatwomen are represented within the mainstreamof the party, and have their voices heard throughmainstream routes.

With the decline of the traditional women'sorganisation in many areas of the country, it ismore important than ever that women arerepresented in the mainstream of the party, withan equal voice on all decision-making bodies.This ensures that even in areas without awomen's organisation, women cannot beexcluded.

With an emphasis on women's representation inthe mainstream, there is still crucial work forthe women's organisation itself to do. Thewomen's organisation can play an important

role in giving women the confidence andstrength to operate effectively within the party.It can also ensure that these women are able torepresent the collective voice of women in theparty, through providing a forum for women tocome together and discuss issues of policy and

party organisation.

The specific aims of the different levels of partywomen's organisation -local, regional andnational -are proposed in the three subsectionsthat follow. Achieving these should be theoverall mission of the party's women's

organisation..Equal representation

Ensuring that women are equally representedat all levels of the party and in all the party'sdecision-making bodies.

.Supporting womenGiving women the support, encouragement,confidence arjd skills to playa full and equalrole in the mainstream of the party.

.Bringing women togetherEnabling women to come together through


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cover an entire local authority area. Such groupswould not have formal status in respect of anyparticular CLP.

Women in individual branches may also want tomeet together informally to work towards theaims of the women's organisation. Women'sgroups at branch level would not have the sameformal status as constituency women's forums.

Constituencies should be encouraged to makeresources available to forums operatingsuccessfully, to enable them to do their work.

Women's officers will be supported by nationaland regional offices in doing their work, forexample, through the circulation of guidanceand good practice (see also regional/nationalsections below).

ActivitiesThe women's officer and forum should draw upan annual plan and a programme of activities.This plan should be agreed by the GCs or ECs ofthe constituency concerned. The plan should beprepared bearing in mind:

.the aims of the local women's organisation

.particular interests and needs of localwomen, as identified through surveyingwomen members

.guidelines and priorities circulated from timeto time by the national and regional party.

Women's officers should try to build targets for

the year into their plans, which can then bemonitored and reviewed to help planning for

future years.

Women's forums should prioritise work whichaims to support women members of the party toplay an active part in all the party's activities.In particular, train1ng, mentoring and networkingamong women to encourage women to:

.hold elected office within the party (eg as

branch or constituency chair, politicaleducation officer, etc)

.stand as councillors, MPs, MEPs and other

forms of elected representative for the party

.become involved in the community, for

example, as school governors/boardmembers, on committees of localorganisations, as magistrates, members ofcommunity health councils. etc

.take part in all forms of party activity, inparticular, campaigns, recruitment activity.party committees. meetings and policyforums.

OrganisationThe key officer of the local women'sorganisation should be the constituencywomen's officer, who is one of the seven mainofficers of the constituency and sits on theExecutive Committee. The new role of thewomen's officer would be to ensure that the

aims of the local women's organisation are met.

The women's officer should be responsible forco-ordinating a women's "forum" in theconstituency to assist in delivering theorganisation's aims. She would be, ex-officio,the chair/co-ordinator of this group.

All individual women members in theconstituency should be deemed to be membersof the women's forum. The women's officershould be provided with a membership list bythe constituency secretary in order to makecontact with women members. All women

members should be mailed at least annually toinform them of the activity of the women'sofficer and/or forum.

The normal route for communication withwomen members would be through articlesand/or inserts in general constituency andbranch mailings, and CLPs should support andco-operate in this activity.

The women's forum may hold whatever informalmeetings or gatherings it sees fit to worktowards meeting its aims. The forum mayappoint officers to help carry out this work -

and not just secretary, treasurer, etc, asappointments may also include training officer,community liaison officer, etc.

A meeting of the women's forum should onlyhave formal status if all women in theconstituency have been given 14 days writtennotice of the meeting and the business to bediscussed, and at least 10 eligible womenmembers attend.

At a formal meeting the women's forum wouldbe able, if it wishes, to make nominations to theCLP for posts open to nomination from branches

(ie CLP officers, parliamentary/Europeanparliamentary candidate, members of the NEC,National Policy Forum, etc) and to elect twodelegates to the constituency GeneralCommittee. A formal meeting would also be ableto agree motions to be sent to the General

Committee.

Women's officers should be encouraged to workon joint activities and projects acrossconstituency boundaries, and may wish to formjoint women's forums. These mi~ht. for examole.


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.to run training sessions to enable localwomen's organisations within the region to

operate effectively

.to spread good practice and provideinformation which helps local women'sorganisations to meet their aims

.to encourage joint working between women'sorganisations in different constituencieswithin the region

.to build links with women in voluntaryorganisations, trade unions and their women's'organisations and other groups at regionallevel and facilitate joint working whichencourages women to support, join orbecome involved in the party

.to ensure that women are fully involved in allparty activities within the region, including allpolicy-making events and activities.

Women's forums should also seek to build linkswith women in the community through, for

example:

.building relationships with organisations suchas women's voluntary organisations, tenantsgroups, trade unions and other organisationsin which women are active, throughinformation exchange, personal contact, jointmeetings, events and campaigns

.working with the party and Labour councillorsand MPs to consult women in the communityabout their views and concerns, usingconsultation meetings, policy forums,surveys, listening campaigns and othertechniques

.targeted campaigning and recruitmentactivity with women, including campaigns onissues of particular interest to women, suchas women's health, childcare, and violenceagainst women.

Women's forums should seek to ensure thatwomen's voices are properly heard in the party,through the above activities and also through:

.feeding women's views on policy into localand national policy forums and to theconstituency's General Committee

.encouraging women to play an active role inthese and other bodies, monitoring women'sinvolvement and working with the rest of theparty to develop arrangements which

maximise this involvement.bringing any problems regarding women's

involvement, including the filling of quotas, tothe attention of the constituency secretary,other officers or the regional party

.holding local policy forums for women.

4.2. Regional women's organisationThe regional women's organisation plays animportant role in co-ordinating activitiesbetween women in different constituencieswithin the region, and bringing women together

to share good practice.

OrganisationThe organisational structure within the region isthe regional women's committee, which shouldwork closely with the regional board in meetingthe above aims. -

The regional women's committee shouldcomprise the following members:

.all women members of the regional board (atleast seven)

.up to five co-opted voting members, agreed bythe women regional board members, to fill

specific gaps in the board membership (egwoman MP or MEP, women from particulartrade unions or particular parts of the region)

.where there is an NEC Women's Committeemember resident in the region, this womanwill be a member of the committee (wherethere is more than one eligible woman theywill agree one who will sit on the committee)

.a Labour Party regional officer.

The above structure will apply in the firstinstance to the committees in the English

regions. Women's committees in Scotland andWales will be constituted in accordance withScottish and Welsh rules but should beencouraged to move towards similar structures.

Regional women's committees should bechaired by a member of the regional board.

Regional women's committees may set uptaskforces to work on particular projects (egtraining, conference organisation. etc) and maywant to co-opt additional women with specificexpertise/backgrounds onto such taskforces.

AimsThe aims of the regional women's organisationare to implement the national aims of thewomen's organisation and to support localwomen's organisations within the region inmeeting their own aims. In particular it aims:

.to co-ordinate training which supports womenwithin the region in playing an active part inall the party's activities


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in building good relationships with theseorganisations. This may include exchange ofinformation, invitations to conferences and otherevents, regional or subregional consultationevents, policy forums and campa'igns. As far aspossible these activities should be organised inpartnership with women from the local LabourParty women's organisation, with the regionalwomen's committee taking a co-ordinating role.

Regional women's committees should take anoverview of activities within the region andwomen's involvement within them, to ensurewomen are fully represented and encouraged tobe involved. They should work closely with theregional board to ensure that women are fullyinvolved in the region's activities and that theparty seeks to achieve equal representation forwomen in decision-making and elected officethroughout the region.

Other women may be invited to attend regionalwomen's committee meetings subject to theagreement of the committee.

The regional women's committee will reportregularly to the regional board.

The chair of the regional women's committee

will be invited to meet regularly with the NECWomen's Committee and report back tothe region.

4.3. NEC Women's CommitteeThe NEC Women's Committee is the strategicbody at national level which drives the work ofthe women's organisation, and seeks to ensurethat women are fully involved in all the party'sactivities.

AimsThe aims of the NEC Women's Committee are asfollows:

.to set the strategic direction of the women'sorganisation of the party, agree priorities forwomen in the party, draw up plans of actionand initiate projects to achieve these priorities

.to ensure, in close co-operation with the NEC,that women are fully involved in all partyactivities and that the party is welcoming andsupportive of women

.to take action to encourage women to run forelected office and to improve women's

representation among party representativesat atl levels

ActivitiesThe regional women's committee should draw upan annual plan and a programme of activities toachieve their aims, taking into account thepriorities of the region and the priorities andguidelines circulated by the national party fromtime to time. This should be agreed by theregional board. Women's committees should tryto set targets for the year which can then be

monitored and reviewed to help planning forfuture years.

Regional women's committees should beresponsible- for organising events for womenacross the region and would normally beexpected to organise at least one event orconference annually which would:

.be open to all women in the region to attend,and be well publicised

.include training for women in priority skills toenable them to be involved in the party,particularly through holding elected office

.enable women within the region to meet keywomen representatives from the regions,

including regional committee, MPs, MEPs,councillors, National Policy Forum members

.in the case of a conference, invite theMinister for Women and women from the NECWomen's Committee to attend

.at the discretion of the regional women'scommittee, include a policy forum element.

Constituency parties should be encouraged tofund at least one woman annually to attend aregional women's conference or training event.

Regional women's committees should regularlycirculate contact lists of women's officers in theregion, to encourage joint working, and maywant to hold events to bring women's officers

together.

Where organisations outside the party (such aswomen's voluntary organisations, trade unions,etc) operate at regional or subregional level, theregional women's committee should take a lead

.to encourage women to support Labour and to

join the party.to ensure that the concerns and priorities of

women are fully in the mainstream of partyactivities, policy and campaigns

.to build links with women's organisationsoutside the party, and with trade unions andtheir women's organisations, to encouragedialogue and joint working

.to work with the party's regions and withlocal parties in carrying out the above.


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[Note that these proposals would result in amaximum of eight additional members of thecommittee, above the minimum of 12 NECwomen. Currently there are 21 members of thecommittee in addition to the NEC women.]

Activities

The NEC Women's Committee would normallymeet four times a year.

The committee should draw up an annual workprogramme in order to meet its aims and theannual priorities of the party. This would be putto the NEC for approval, and circulated to

regional committees for information or action.The plan should seek to set clear targets whichmay be monitored.

The NEC Women's Committee would meetregularly (and in any case at least once a year)with the chairs of the regional women's

committees to discuss priorities and plans andlisten to any feedback. Regions should be keptinformed regularly about national priorities.

The committee will also ensure regular dialoguewith national women's officers of all affiliatedtrade unions.

The committee may set up taskforces to workon specific projects, which would meet on anad hoc basis, and may co-opt other women ontosuch taskforces.

The committee, through the National Women'sOfficer, will ensure that constituency women'sofficers are contacted regularly, kept informedof priorities, and given clear guidance on theirrole and activities. Women's officers should alsobe kept informed about key mainstream party

activities, including the work of the NationalPolicy Forum.

The NEC Women's Committee will also haveresponsibility for organising an annual NationalWomen's Conference which:

.is open to all women in the party to attend

.has a policy-making role through close links

with the National Policy Forum, includingdiscussion of National Policy Forumdocuments and feeding results to the forumand policy commissions

.provides a range of skills training for womento support them in playing a more active rolein the party.

Constituency parties should be encouraged tofund at least one woman annually to attend theNational Women's Conference.

OrganisationIn keeping with the new style ofNEC

committees, and in the light of the changes tothe NEC itself (from October 1998), it isproposed that the NEC Women's Committeebecomes a smaller and more focused body, witha revised membership. This membership should

comprise:.all women on the NEC (with the new quota on

all NEC sections comprising more than oneperson, this gives a total of at least 12women), and:

.in the event that the youth representative onthe NEC is a man, the Young Labour nationalcommittee should be invited to nominate awoman to the committee

.in the event that there are no women fromthe Scottish Labour PartY on the NEC, theScottish Executive should be invited tonominate one woman (who should be amember of the Scottish Women's Committee)to the committee

.in the event that there are no women fromthe Welsh Labour PartY on the NEC, theWelsh Executive should be invited tonominate one woman (who should be amember of the Welsh Women's Committee) tothe committee

.in the event that there are no black or ethnicminority women on the NEC, the BlackSocialist SocietY national committee shouldbe invited to nominate one woman to thecommittee

.in the event that there is poor representationof the trade union women's organisation onthe committee, affiliated unions should beinvited to nominate a total of no more thantwo women, bearing in mind the need toensure good links with the TUC women'scommittee and trade union women's officers,and the need for a spread of unions on thecommittee

.in the event that there is no woman from theWestminster PLP on the committee, the PLPWomen's Committee should be invited tonominate one woman to the committee

.in the event that there is no woman from theEPLP on the committee, women EPLPmembers should be invited to nominate onewoman to the committee

.the Minister for Women should be an ex-officio member of the NEC Women'sCommittee.


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5. Women's representationAs well as devising quotas, it is important thatlocal parties are kept aware of them, and thattheir implementation by local parties is properlymonitored.

A key objective remains equal representation forwomen as elected representatives of the party.The party is committed to taking action toachieve equal women's representation at alllevels of ejected office, for example, ascouncillors, members of the Scottish Parliamentand Welsh Assembly, MPs and MEPs. Thewomen's organisation of the party will have acentral role in devising methods, and takingaction, to achieve this goal.

The party is proud of the progress which hasbeen made following the introduction of quotasthroughout the party organisation. For theforeseeable future, we remain committed to

quotas, at all levels, to ensure that women arefairly represented and that women's voices areheard in decision making.

As new party bodies are set up, we shouldcontinue to apply the principle of quotas fromthe outset. This principle has been applied, forexample, to the new National Policy Forum andapplies to all sections of the new NEC. Followingconcerns raised in the consultation, quotasshould be extended to the new policycommissions.

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10

Delete all existing 10A, 10B and 10C andreplace with:

10.A Women's forums1.0.A.1. Name[ ] Constituency Labour Party women'sforum

10.A.4 Managementa) The women's officer shall be responsible for

co-ordinating a women's forum in theconstituency to aid her in delivering the aimsof the organisation. She will be, ex-officio, thechairjco-ordinator of this group.

b) The women's officer and forum shall draw upan annual plan and a programme of activities.This plan shall be agreed by the GCjEC of theconstituency. The plan shall be preparedbearing in mind:

i. the aims of the local women's organisation

ii. particular interests and needs of localwomen, as identified through surveyingwomen members

iii.guidelines and priorities circulated fromtime to time by the national and regionalparty.

c) The women's forum may appoint otherofficers to help carry out its work.

d) The women's officer shall build targets for theyear into her plans, which can then bemonitored and reviewed to help planning forfuture years.

e) The women's forum shall register with theappropriate regional director, and re-registeron an annual basis.

1.0.A.2 Aims and valuesa) NationalThe aims and values of the Labour Party asoutlined in Clause IV of the nationalconstitutional rules shall apply to this women'sforum.

b) ConstituencyThe aims of this women's forum shall be:

i. to encourage and support women membersto playa full and active part in all theparty's activities, particularly throughfacilitating training, networking andmentoring, and encouraging women to runfor elected office

ii. to build links with women in thecommunity, through contact withcommunity organisations and individualwomen, consultation, campaigning andjoint working

iii.to encourage women to join the party andto ensure that new women members arewelcomed

iv. to ensure that women's voices are heard inthe party, through monitoring women'sinvolvement in a~tjvities, and 'feedingwomen's concerns to the local party and topolicy makers

v. to work jointly with Labour women inneighbouring constituencies in the delivery

of the above aims.

:10.A.3 MembershipThe membership of the women's forum shollconsist of all individual women members in[ ] Constituency Labour Party. Thewomen's officer should be provided with amembership list by the constituency secretaryin order to make contact with women members.All women members shalt be mailed at leastannually to inform them about the activity of thewomen's officer and/or forum.

1.0.A.5 Meetingsa) A meeting of the women's forum shall only

have formal status if all women in theconstituency have been given 14 days writtennotice of the meeting, and the business to bediscussed, and at least 10 eligible womenmembers attend.

b) At a formal meeting the women's forum may,if it wishes, make nominations to the CLP for

posts open to nomination from branches (ieCLP officers, parliamentary/European

parliamentary candidate, members of theNEC, National Policy Forum, etc) and electtwo delegates to the constituency GeneralCommittee. A formal meeting may also agreemotions to be sent to the General Committee.

c) The women's forum may hold whateverinformal meetings or gatherings it sees fit towork towards meeting its aims.


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women's involvement and working with therest of the party to develop arrangementswhich maximise this involvement

iii.bringing any problems regarding women'sinvolvement. including through the filling ofquotas, to the attention of the constituencysecretary, other officers or the regionalparty

iv. holding local policy forums for women.

1.0.A.6 FinancesThe funds of the women's forum shall consist ofdonations, collections, profits from sales, andreceipts from activities undertaken by theforum. In the event of the dissolution of thewomen's forum its assets shall belong to the

[ ] Constituency Labour Party.

The Constituency Labour Party shall, byagreement, make resources available to thewomen's forum (if operating successfully), toenable it to function effectively.

1.0.A.6 Activitiesa) The women's forum shall prioritise work which

aims to support women members of the partyto play an active part in all the party's

activities -in particular, training, mentoringand networking among women to encouragewomen to:

i. hold elected office within the party (eg asbranch or constituency chair, politicaleducation officer, etc)

ij. stand as councillors, MPs, MEPs and otherforms of elected representative for the

party

iii.become involved in the community, forexample, as school governors/boardmembers, on committees of localorganisations, as magistrates, members ofcommunity health councils, etc

iv. take part in all forms of party activities -

in particular campaigns, recruitmentactivity, party committees, meetings andpolicy forums.

b) The women's forum shall also seek to buildlinks with women in the community through,for example:

i. building relationships with organisations,such as women's voluntary organisations,

tenants' groups, trade unions and otherorganisations in which women are active,through information exchange, personalcontact, joint meetings, events and

campaigns

ii. working with the party and Labourcouncillors and MPs to consult women inthe community about their views andconcerns, using consultation meetings,

policy forums, surveys, list.ening campaignsand other techniques

iii.targeted campaigning and recruitment

activity with women, including campaignson issues of particular interest to womensuch as women's health, childcare andviolence against women.

c) The women's forum shall seek to ensure thatwomen's voices are properly heard in theparty, through the above activities andthrough, for example:

i. feeding women's views on policy into localand national policy forums and to theconstituency's General Committee

ii. encouraging women to play an active roleIn these and other bodies, monitoring

10.A.7 Generala) The general provisions of the constitution and

rules of the Labour Party shall apply to thewomen's forum.

b) The women's forum shall not enter intoaffiliation or give support financially or

otherwise to any political party ororganisation ancillary Of subsidiary theretodeclared ineligible for affiliation to the partyby the annual party conference or by theNational Executive Committee.

c) This women's forum shall not without theapproval of the constituency party and theconsent in writing of the NEC:

i. buy freehold or leasehold land and erectbuildings thereon and/or freehold orleasehold premises

ii. appoint trustees or a company to hold anyland or property so acquired for or onbehalf of this forum

iii .define the powers of any trustees orcompany so appointed or lay down themanner in which such power shall beexercised

iv. borrow money on mortgage or otherwise onsecurity of any property owned by thewomen's forum

v grant or take a lease or sell freehold orleasehold land or property.

d) This women's forum shall adopt standing


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orders and procedural rules as may be agreedby the appropriate Regional Director.

10.A.8 Alteration to rulesAny alteration or addition to these rules mayonly be made at the annual general meeting ofthe [ J Constituency Labour Party

women's forum but must be submitted to theappropriate regional director for approval beforebeing put into operation. Such changes shallnot contravene the spirit or intention of themodel rules as accepted by Party Conferenceor the NEC.

10.8 Regional women's committees[This will apply in the first instance to thecommittees in the English regions. Women'scommittees in Scotland and Wales will beConstituted in accordance with Scottish andWelsh rules but will be encouraged to movetowards similar structures.]

1.0.8.1. NameThe [ ] Labour Party Women's Committee

1.0.8.3 Organisationa) The { ] Labour Party women's

committee shall comprise:

i. all women members of the regional board

ii. up to five co-opteq voting members, agreedby the women regional board members, tofill specific gaps in the board membership(eg woman MP or MEP, young women,women from particular trade unions, ethnicminorities or particular parts of the region)

i-ii.where there is an NEC Women's Committeemember resident in the region, this womanwill be a member of the committee (wherethere is more than one eligible woman theywill agree one who will sit on the committee)

iv. a Labour Party regional officer.

b) The committee shall be chaired by a member

of the regional board.c) The committee may set up taskforces to work

on particular projects (eg training,organisation of conferences, etc) and mayco-opt additional women with specificexpertise/backgrounds onto such taskforces.

d) Other women may be invited to attendcommittee meetings subject to theagreement of the committee.

e) The committee will report regularly to theregional board.

1.0.8.2 Aims and valuesa) The aims of the regional women's

organisation are to implement the nationalaims of the women's organisation and tosupport local women's organisations withinthe region in meeting their own aims -in

particular:

i. to co-ordinate training which support$women within the region in both playing anactive part in all the party's activities

ii. to run training to enable local women's

organisations within the region to operate

effectively

iii.to spread good practice and provideinformation which helps local women'sorganisations to meet their aims

iv. to encourage joint working betweenwomen's organisations in different

constituencies within the regionv. to build links with women in voluntary

organisations, trade unions and theirwomen's organisations and other groups atregional level, and to facilitate jointworking that encourages women to support,join or become involved in the party

vi. to ensure that women are fully involved inall party activities within the region,including all policy-making events andactivities.

1.0.8.4 Activitiesa) The committee shall draw up an annual plan

and a programme of activities to achieve theiraims, taking into account the priorities of theregion and the priorities and guidelinescirculated by the national party from time totime. This shall be agreed by the regionalboard. The women's committee shall settargets for the year which can then bemonitored and reviewed to help planning forfuture years.

b) The committee shall be responsible for

organising events for women across theregion and will normally be expected toorganise at least one event or conferenceannually which would:

i. be open to all women in the region toattend. and be well publicised

ii. include training for women in priority skillsto enabl~ them to be involved in the part y.particularly through holding elected office

iii.enable women within the region to meetkey women representatives from the


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Building a healthy women's organisatIon

organisation in the relevant area, with thecommittee taking a co-ordinating role.

f ) The committee shall take an overview ofactivities within the region and women'sinvolvement within them, to ensure womenare fully represented and encouraged to be

involved. They shall work closely with theregional board to ensure that women are fullyinvolved in the region's activities and that theparty seeks to achieve equal representationfor women in decision making and electedoffice throughout the region.

1.0.8.5 FinancesThe committee shall be funded as agreed withthe appropriate Labour Party regional board(or equivalent).

regions, including regional committeemembers, MPs, MEPs, councillors andNational Policy Forum members

iv. in the case of a conference, invite theMinister for Women and women from theNEC Women's Committee to attend

v. at the discretion of the committee, includea policy forum element.

c) The committee shall encourage constituencyLabour Parties to fund at least one womanannually to attend a regional women'sconference or training event.

d) The committee shall regularly circulatecontact lists of women's officers in theregion, to encourage joint working, and mayhold events to bring women's officers

together.

e) Where organisations outside the party (suchas women's voluntary organisations, tradeunions, etc) operate at regional or sub-regional level, the committee shall take alead in building good relationships with theseorganisations. This may include exchange ofinformation, invitations to conferences andother events, regional or sub-regionalconsultation events, policy forums andcampaigns. As far as possible these activitiesshall be organised in partnership with womenfrom the local Labour Party women's

10.B.6 Meetings

The committee meetings shall be held asrequired, at least twice a year. The minutes ofeach meeting shall be presented to thesubsequent meeting of the appropriate regionalboard (or equivalent).

1.0.8.7 Alteration to rulesAny alteration or addition to these rules may beproposed by the committee or regional board butmust be submitted to the General Secretary forapproval before being put into operation.

Building a Healthy Women's ion

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Transcript of Building a Healthy Women's ion