Autumn Conference 2022 motions selection

13 Jul 2022

The Federal Conference Committee (FCC) met on Saturday, 9th July to start its work on the final agenda for Autumn 2022 Conference, which will be taking place in Brighton, with an option for online attendance.

If you haven’t yet registered for Conference, I would recommend doing so here.

At the meeting we discussed several items in relation to future venues and the meeting and motions schedule for 2023 into 2024. As previously reported, we will be returning to York for Spring Conference 17 to 19 March 2023.

The Federal Conference Committee has also continued work with its Working Group on a Hybrid Conference and has put together a technical specifications document which will be used to look at options and software platforms for a future hybrid conference. This was an interesting meeting as we also discussed wider membership engagement at Conference (applicable for in-person and hybrid conference options).

Conference is an excellent way to engage with the membership, to influence the party’s policy and strategy, but also so many other activities. We are looking forward to an exciting fringe programme with a range of different topics and presentations. There will also be the extensive training programme available at Conference – we really do recommend that you look at that. The directory will be published very soon. I am especially looking forward to the return of the Lib Dem Quiz and of course Glee.

The agenda for conference, including the texts of the motions and timings, will be published shortly. As per usual the Conference will include the Leaders Speech, Committee and Parliamentary Reports, the Leaders Q&A and some set-piece speeches; we are also delighted that Kira Rudik, leader of the Ukrainian Holos Party and ALDE Party Vice President, will be joining us at Conference. The further details of these will be announced in due course.

We received 41 policy motions, four business motions, five constitutional amendments and three standing order amendments. As always, unfortunately, time is tight, and we cannot take all the motions submitted.

The FCC wants to extend its thanks to all members to take the time to write and prepare motions; if you are interested in shaping party policy then please do reach out to the FCC via the motions (and/or amendments) drafting service and we will be able to assist you.

From the submitted motions, we selected 18 policy motions, three business motions, four constitutional amendment, and two standing order amendments. There are also slots for two emergency motions.

I have included below the list of motions submitted (please note that some of the naming of the motions may vary between this list and publication of the agenda), who they were submitted by and if not selected, the reason for non-selection. With regards to constitutional and standing order amendments, these are automatically selected; however, ruled either in or out of order.

You may recall from the previous report that we confirmed that there would be a debate on the issue of nuclear weapons at Autumn 2022 Conference, and a nuclear weapons motion has been selected for debate.

Please note that the next set of deadlines are:

Drafting advice deadline (emergency motions and amendments): 22 August at 13.00

Amendments and Emergency Motions deadline and deadline for Appeals against non-selection of motions: 5 September at 13.00

Appeals deadline for Amendments and Emergency Motions: 15 September at 13.00

Name of motion	Submitted by	Selected/Not Selected	Reason for non-selection
Communities and Local Government
Impact of the energy crisis on swimming pools and the leisure sector	ALDC	Not selected	Eliminated at second round for lack of time
Homes and Planning	Federal Policy Committee	Not selected	Contradicts a decision from previous conference in last 12 months
Crime and Justice
Confronting the Spiking Crisis	Young Liberals	Not selected	Eliminated at second round for lack of time
A Better Alternative to the Rwanda Asylum Plan	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Eliminated at second round for lack of time
Culture, Media and Sport Motions
Supporting the creative industries and protecting Channel 4	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Protecting our Heritage Assets	Eastbourne & Portsmouth	Not selected	Narrow topic
Reducing Harm in Gambling for Sports	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Eliminated at second round for lack of time
Economy and Tax
Stronger rules for non-doms in the economy and public life	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Eliminated at second round for lack of time
A Fair Deal for Charities: Supporting Charities with the impacts of COVID-19 and the Cost-of-Living Crisis	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Required additional drafting support, unintentional creation of loopholes
Cut VAT to ease the cost-of-living crisis	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Education
Putting Children’s Wellbeing at the Heart of Education	10 (or more) party members	Selected	To be composited with Health motion (A) ‘Taking a Stand for Mental Health’
Delivering quality careers guidance for young people	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Ongoing Policy Working Group covering this issue
Energy and Environment
Grid Lock 2050: The Time Is Now for Grid Capacity	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Good issue but requires drafting support
The Natural Environment	Federal Policy Committee	Selected
Making the Fight Against Climate Change Accessible to Everyone	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Equalities and Civil Liberties
Motion to address the health and well-being of gender-questioning children in schools	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Issues regarding points of accuracy
Looking Ahead to Cass	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Party policy takes account of these issues
Europe
UK-EU Cooperation on Foreign and Security Policy – rebuilding the framework	Federal Policy Committee	Selected
Health and Social Care
Taking a Stand for Mental Health	Young Liberals	Selected	To be composited with Education motion (A) ‘Putting Children’s Wellbeing at Heart of Education’
Access to Dental Care For All	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Supporting the Next Generation of Doctors	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Eliminated at second round for lack of time
The Big Fat Problem with BMI	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Eliminated at second round for lack of time
A More Caring Society	Federal Policy Committee	Selected
Against Minimum Alcohol Pricing	10 (or more) party members	Selected
International and Defence
Avoiding Armageddon	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Motion B taken on same topic
The UK’s nuclear deterrent	10 (or more) party members	Selected
China: A Strategy for the UK	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Upholding Democracy in Hong Kong	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Motion C taken which covers some the issues
Miscellaneous
Pre-Manifesto		Selected
Political and Constitutional Reform
Consequences for Ignoring the Rule of Law	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Overtaken by events
Reversing the Centralisation of Power in Whitehall	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Rural Affairs
Standing up for Rural Communities	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Transport
Standing up for Communities – Improving Bus Services	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Reform of Rail Fares	Enfield	Not selected	Eliminated at second round for lack of time
Active Travel	Young Liberals	Not selected	Eliminated at second round for lack of time
Liberalising Britains Railways	Young Liberals	Not selected	Motion (B) selected in favour of (D)
Bus Transport for All	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	Motion (A) selected instead
Work and Pensions
A Child Maintenance Service That Works for Children	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Scrapping Council Tax Reduction Scheme and restoring the national Council Tax Benefit Scheme	Basingstoke & Deane	Not selected	Required drafting support / potential as amendment to (D)
Equalisation and increase Child Benefit rates	Basingstoke & Deane	Not selected	Required drafting support / potential as amendment to (D)
A Fairer Society	Federal Policy Committee	Selected
Business Motions
Hold conference at affordable non seaside venues and allow day pass holders to vote and speak	10 (or more) party members	Not selected	To be covered at FCC future meeting / in FCC Chair report
Membership Subscription and Federal Levy	Federal Board	Selected
Code of conduct for members and registered supporters	Federal Board	Selected	Please note this item is subject to Article 9.7(A) of the constitution and thus for ratification at conference and therefore is not amendable.
FIRC representation on ALDE and LI Delegations	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Constitutional Amendments
Changes to FIRC voting members due to Brexit	10 (or more) party members	Selected
Better Party Governance	10 (or more) party members	Not in order
One Member, One Vote for Committees	10 (or more) party members	In order
Directly Elected Key Subcommittees	10 (or more) party members	In order	Part-composite into Constitutional Amendment (C)
Making our diversity rules more intersectional	10 (or more) party members	In order
Standing Order Amendments
The Selection of Speakers	10 (or more) party members	In order
The selection of policy motions for debate	10 (or more) party members	In order
Increasing Party Accountability at Conference	10 (or more) party members	Not in order