Eastbourne Conference 2001

BECTU's 2001 Annual Conference is to be held at Eastbourne on the UK south coast.

Branch delegates from all parts of the union will be attending the conference, which will debate the National Executive Committee (NEC) report to conference, as well as motions tabled by the union's Branches.

The union has selected the Floral Hall in Eastbourne's Devonshire Park Centre as the venue for next year's conference, to be held on Saturday 12 May 2001. The fact that this coincides with the FA Cup Final may matter to those whose teams make it that far, but BECTU chose its date before the FA did.

The Standing Orders Committee (SOC), which has responsibility for deadlines and the agenda for the conference, has issued the timetable for the Conference, which includes a 31 January 2001 deadline for receipt of motions (propositions).

The SOC is willing to help branches frame their propositions, but if branches wish to avail themselves of this they must submit a draft proposition well in advance of the closing date, with a written request for SOC assistance. Correspondence can be addressed to the SOC, c/o David Cormack (Administrative Officer) [email protected] at BECTU Head Office.

The SOC has noted that the NEC has been consulting on the implications of Proposition 1/00 passed at this year's annual conference in Manchester last May.

That Proposition called on the NEC to explore alternative new conference formats. Given its experience in running conference, the SOC expects to be involved in the NEC's deliberations and to co-operate with the NEC in making future conferences as successful as possible.

SOC's own view is that if conference is to continue to be a one-day event, the present style of agenda and proceedings may well be inappropriate.

Existing procedures assume that well in advance branches meet to actively consider and propose propositions and amendments: SOC believes that in reality this is increasingly impracticable for many branches. If other forms of active and dynamic representation and expression of view are to be found, then a single day is probably insufficient - there may be a real need to move to a two-day conference every two years.

The SOC believes that there is a role for fraternal, expert and other guest speakers at conference, and that delegates find that these increase conference's attraction and usefulness. And one of the most important aspects of conference, SOC thinks, is to provide an opportunity for delegates to meet and socialise informally, and to network.

The SOC is looking forward to the outcome of the NEC's consultation, but points out that though any decision to change the format of conference will be the NEC's, this may ultimately involve rule changes at the next rules revision conference in 2002.