CONFERENCE AGENDA AUTUMN 2024 Welcome to the Liberal Democrat Autumn 2024 Plaintext Conference Agenda. For features, general conference information, exhibition and fringe, see the separate Conference Directory. If you have any questions on-site, please ask a steward or go to the Information Desk in the Brighton Centre. Further information, registration and conference publications (including plain text and clear print versions) are available at: www.libdems.org.uk/conference. Contents Conference at a glance 2 Agenda index & timetable 3 Saturday 14 September 6 Sunday 15 September 26 Monday 16 September 36 Tuesday 17 September 51 Agenda information 60 Standing orders 66 Federal Party 78 libdems.org.uk/conference @LibDems @LibDemConf facebook.com/LibDems ISBN 978-1-915375-26-1 Published and promoted by Mike Dixon on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, 1 Vincent Square, London, SW1P 2PN. Design and layout by Mike Cooper. Photographs (c) Liberal Democrats unless stated. Conference at a glance At conference, the party debates policy and party business in the Auditorium. The Agenda section on pages 3-59 of this Conference Agenda covers what goes on in the main auditorium - debates on policy and party business. You'll see a timetable for the debates on pages 3-5, then each agenda item is listed, including the motion that is to be debated. There is also a description of how debates are conducted, and how you can participate, on pages 60-65. Standing orders, on pages 66-77, are the rules that govern the policy and party business that is debated in the auditorium, relating to how motions and amendments are chosen for debate, how the sessions are conducted and more. There is a useful glossary to help understand some of the terms used. General information to help you make the most of conference, and details of the Fringe and Training programme and the exhibition can be found in the Conference Directory. Conference venue Brighton Centre, Kings Road, Brighton BN1 2GR. Please note that the Brighton Centre is within the secure zone and that access is only possible with a valid conference pass. Conference hotel The Grand Brighton, 97-99 Kings Road, Brighton BN1 2FW. Agenda index and timetable Saturday 14 September 09.00-09.10 F1 Opening of Conference 6 09.10-09.50 F2 Report: Federal Conference Committee 6 F3 Standing order amendment: Rationalising the Reference Back Procedure 6 F4 Constitutional amendment: References Back by Federal Policy Committee 10 F5 Report: Federal Policy Committee 11 09.50-10.35 F6 Policy motion: Reforming Sunday Trading Laws 11 10.35-11.50 F7 Consultative session: Climate Change 13 11.50-12.35 F8 Policy motion: Equitable and Improved Outcomes Throughout Pregnancy and the Neonatal Period 13 12.35-12.50 F9 Speech: Wendy Chamberlain MP 16 Lunch break and fringe 13.00-14.30 Consultative sessions: 16 Future of Work Policy Working Group # Opportunity and Skills Policy Working Group # 14.40-14.55 F10 Party business: Celebrating Our Election Wins 17 14.55-15.10 F11 Speech: Cllr Joe Harris 17 15.10-15.55 F12 Policy motion: Europe - Restoring Links for Young People 17 15.55-16.40 F13 Question and answer session: Defence and Veterans 20 16.40-17.30 F14 Policy motion: Supporting Disadvantaged Children 20 17.30-18.00 F15 Policy motion: Buy Now, Pay Later - Standing by Consumers During the Cost-of-Living Crisis 23 18.30-19.30 Conference Rally Sunday 15 September 09.00-09.30 F16 Policy motion: National Nature Parks 26 09.30-10.25 F17 Policy motion: Our Plan to Save The NHS 28 10.25-11.05 F18 Topical issue discussion 31 11.05-11.20 F19 Speech: Munira Wilson MP 31 Lunch break and fringe 14.10-15.00 F20 Question and answer session: Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey MP 32 15.00-16.40 F21 Consultative session: Leading the Way - Liberal Democrat policy direction in the years ahead 32 16.40-16.50 F22 Business motion: Membership Subscription and Federal Levy 33 16.50-18.00 F23 Report: Federal Board 34 F24 Report: Campaign for Gender Balance 34 F25 Report: Federal Communications and Elections Committee 34 F26 Report: Federal International Relations Committee 34 F27 Report: Federal Council 35 F28 Report: Federal Appeals Panel 35 Monday 16 September 09.00-09.45 F29 Policy motion: Fair Votes Now 36 09.45-11.05 F30 Consultative session: General Election Review 38 11.05-11.20 F31 Speech: Daisy Cooper MP 39 Lunch break and fringe Monday 16 September cont. 14.10-14.55 F32 Emergency motion: Israel-Gaza Conflict 39 14.55-15.40 F33 Policy motion: Tackling the Prisons Crisis 39 15.40-15.55 F34 Speech: Jane Dodds MS 42 15.55-16.40 F35 Policy Motion: International Development - Restoring the UK's Role 42 16.40-17.20 F36 Policy motion: A Fair Deal for Musicians 45 17.20-18.00 F37 Policy motion: Reversing Cuts to Bereavement Support Payments and Supporting Kinship Carers 48 Tuesday 17 September 09.00-09.30 F38 Emergency motions or topical issue discussions 51 09.30-10.15 F39 Policy motion: The Clean Water Authority 51 10.15-11.05 F40 Reports: Parliamentary Parties 54 11.05-11.50 F41 Policy motion: Tackling Child Poverty 55 11.50-12.35 F42 Policy motion: A Fair Deal for Family Carers 56 12.35-12.50 F43 Speech: Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP 58 Lunch break and fringe 14.10-14.20 F44 Party Awards 58 14.20-15.30 F45 Speech: Ed Davey MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 59 All conference sessions take place in the auditorium in the Brighton Centre, except the consultative sessions marked #, which will take place in The Grand Brighton - see the relevant page of the Agenda. Saturday 14 September 09.00 Party business Chair: Dr Mark Pack (President of the Liberal Democrats). Aide: Cara Jenkinson (Vice Chair, FCC). Hall Aide: Cllr Jon Ball (Vice Chair, FCC). F1 Opening of Conference by Alison Bennett, Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex @alisonebennett 09.10 Party business Chair: Cara Jenkinson (Vice Chair, FCC). Aide: Cllr Jon Ball (Vice Chair, FCC). Hall Aide: Lucas North. F2 Federal Conference Committee Report: questions and accountability Mover: Cllr Nick da Costa (Chair, Federal Conference Committee). The report sessions are the chance for party members to hear how the party is being run and to put questions directly to the movers of reports. The deadline for questions for F2 is 13.00 on Monday 9 September. Questions selected will be published in Conference Extra and Saturday's Conference Daily. These questions will be guaranteed an answer, either in the session or in writing thereafter. Questions may also be submitted up until 08.10 on Saturday 14 September; such questions are only taken at the discretion of the chair. See page 64 for further information. F3 Standing order amendment: Rationalising the Reference Back Procedure Federal Conference Committee Mover: Duncan Brack. Summation: Cllr Nick da Costa (Chair, FCC). Conference notes that: i) While the ability to refer back a motion under discussion is an important part of conference procedures, due to the ease of submission compared to that of amendments, the procedure can be abused to submit references back which would be better dealt with through amendments. ii) This matters, because a motion referred back rather than amended must be brought back to a future conference, keeping other items off the agenda. iii) Therefore there is a strong case for harmonising the submission requirements and deadlines for references back with those for amendments. iv) This will also allow conference members to see and consider references back in advance of the debate rather than at the last minute during the debate. v) The FPC's power to request references back of motions without the preliminary vote, contained in SO 11.3, has hardly ever been used and is unnecessary. vi) The standing orders relating to votes on reports are currently inconsistent with Article 6.5 of the constitution, which requires that reports should be approved, rejected or referred back with recommendations, whereas the standing orders allow only for approval or rejection. Conference therefore agrees to the following amendments to conference standing orders: 1. In SO 11.2 (Reference back (moved by a voting member)), delete a) and b) and insert: a) A request to refer back a motion under debate may be submitted by any of the bodies listed in Standing Order 1.3 b) for business motions and 1.3 d) for policy motions. The deadline for submission of such a request shall be the same as that for amendments to motions. In exceptional circumstances, the chair of the debate shall have discretion to accept a request for a reference back if it is received in writing after this deadline. b) The submission shall state to whom the motion is to be referred and shall include a statement of the reasons, including reasons why voting against the motion would not achieve a similar result, not exceeding 150 words. c) If more than one request is received with respect to a motion, the Committee (or the chair of the debate in the case of requests received after the deadline) shall decide which to take. No more than one request may be taken with respect to any motion. 2. In SO 11.2 c), delete 'two minutes' and insert 'three minutes'. 3. Delete SO 11.3 (Reference back (moved by the Federal Policy Committee)). 4. Delete SO 12.5 (Approval or rejection of reports from Federal Party committees or sub-committees) and insert: 12.5 Approval, rejection or reference back of reports from Federal Party committees or sub-committees a) Any report tabled by a Federal Party committee or sub-committee must be submitted for approval by the conference and must be voted upon accordingly. b) A voting member may move the rejection of any part of the report or the report as a whole, by submitting a speaker's card prior to the commencement of the consideration of the report, stating the section(s) which they wish to have rejected. All moves to reject a report must be debated (except that the chair shall have discretion to choose between moves to reject the same part of the report), at the conclusion of the question session. The person who made the request shall speak and the mover of the report, or their nominee, shall reply. The chair may allow other speakers, and shall determine the time given to all speakers. c) A request to refer back any part of the report or the report as a whole may be submitted by any of the bodies listed in Standing Order 1.3 b) for business motions and 1.3 d) for policy motions. The deadline for submission of such a request shall be the same as that for amendments to motions. In exceptional circumstances, the chair of the debate shall have discretion to accept a request for a reference back if it is received in writing after this deadline. A proposal to refer back shall include a written statement of the reasons, not exceeding 150 words, including reasons why rejecting the report would not achieve a similar result, together with any recommendations to the committee. The Committee or, in the case of late submissions, the chair, shall decide how many references back to take if more than one is submitted. The representative of the body that submitted the request shall speak and the mover of the report, or their nominee, shall reply. The chair may allow other speakers, and shall determine the time given to all speakers. 5. Delete SO 12.6 (Receipt of reports from other bodies) and insert: 12.6 (Receipt of reports from other bodies) a) Any report tabled by a body other than a Federal Party committee or sub-committee must be submitted for receipt by the conference and must be voted upon accordingly. b) A voting member may move not to receive any part of the report or the report as a whole, by submitting a speaker's card prior to the commencement of the consideration of the report, stating the section(s) which they wish not to receive. All moves not to receive a report must be debated (except that the chair shall have discretion to choose between moves not to receive the same part of the report), at the conclusion of the question session. The person who made the request shall speak and the mover of the report, or their nominee, shall reply. The chair may allow other speakers, and shall determine the time given to all speakers. c) A request to refer back any part of the report or the report as a whole may be submitted by any of the bodies listed in Standing Order 1.3 b) for business motions and 1.3 d) for policy motions. The deadline for submission of such a request shall be the same as that for amendments to motions. In exceptional circumstances, the chair of the debate shall have discretion to accept a request for a reference back if it is received in writing after this deadline. A proposal to refer back shall include a written statement of the reasons, not exceeding 150 words, including reasons why not receiving the report would not achieve a similar result, together with any recommendations to the body. The Committee or, in the case of late submissions, the chair, shall decide how many references back to take if more than one is submitted. The representative of the body that submitted the request shall speak and the mover of the report, or their nominee, shall reply. The chair may allow other speakers, and shall determine the time given to all speakers. The text of F3 has been subject to minor drafting amendments by FCC, compared to the text in the Preliminary Agenda, in order to resolve some inconsistent wording. The existing text of conference standing orders is printed at pages 66-77 of this Conference Agenda. Applicability: Federal. Mover: 5 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Thursday 12 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday's Conference Daily. Standing order amendments require a two-thirds majority to pass. F4 Constitutional amendment: References Back by Federal Policy Committee Federal Conference Committee Mover: Duncan Brack. Summation: Cllr Nick da Costa (Chair, FCC). Conference resolves to delete Article 7.7 of the Federal Party constitution. The Federal Party constitution is available at www.libdems.org.uk/constitution. The existing text of article 7.7 is as follows: 7.7 In order to ensure that all aspects of a proposed policy are fully considered, the FPC may request any motion before a Federal Conference to be referred to the next meeting of the Conference. The FPC shall, before such meeting, circulate its reasons for acting under this Article and its comments on the relevant motion and any amendments thereto accepted for debate. Applicability: Federal. Mover: 5 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Thursday 12 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday's Conference Daily. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority to pass. F5 Federal Policy Committee Report: questions and accountability Mover: Jeremy Hargreaves (Vice Chair, Federal Policy Committee). The deadline for questions for F5 is 13.00 on Monday 9 September. Questions selected will be published in Conference Extra and Saturday's Conference Daily. These questions will be guaranteed an answer, either in the session or in writing thereafter. Questions may also be submitted up until 08.10 on Saturday 14 September; such questions are only taken at the discretion of the chair. See page 64 for further information. 09.50 Policy motion Chair: Chris Adams. Aide: Fraser Graham. Hall Aide: Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed. F6 Reforming Sunday Trading Laws Young Liberals Mover: Cormac Evans. Summation: Cllr Hina Bokhari AM. Conference notes that: i) Liberal Democrats support liberalising markets where possible, to maximise the choice and freedoms of consumers and businesses alike. ii) Restrictive trading laws can hinder market forces in achieving their aims, and can be based on outdated social norms, as is the case with Sunday trading laws. iii) The trend on trading laws on Sunday has moved from an outright ban, with exceptions, on buying and selling (under the Shops Act 1950), to more open trading hours under the Sunday Trading Act 1994. iv) Over the course of the last century, the significance of Sunday as a day of rest has been decreased, with weekends now being used by many in the UK as an opportunity to carry out errands such as shopping, which Sunday trading law reform would support. v) A liberalised Sunday trading system already exists in Scotland, where a package of bills allows for protection of workers' rights alongside these liberal trading laws. vi) Sunday trading laws were suspended during the 2012 Olympics, where trading laws were suspended to give opportunities to retailers to 'cash in' on the Games. vii) The benefits of liberalising Sunday trading laws were already supported by a 2006 study commissioned for the Department of Trade and Industry. viii) Sunday Trading Laws already exhibit a certain degree of subsidiarity, with powers being given to Scotland to regulate their Sunday trading hours. Conference reaffirms: a) Its commitment to a market system that uses regulation to balance business and workers' rights and freedoms. b) That businesses and individuals should have the opportunity to decide, to the greatest extent, their operating hours, to promote their competitiveness. c) Its commitment to devolution and subsidiarity. Conference calls for: 1. The UK Government to devolve powers over Sunday trading to devolved governments or local authorities as appropriate, empowering communities to regulate their own Sunday trading hours and Sunday trading laws. 2. The UK Government to extend Sunday trading hours as an interim step before the devolution of powers set out above can be implemented. 3. The UK government to couple any reform with appropriate measures to protect workers' rights. 4. Local authorities and devolved governments to liberalise Sunday trading rules in their own areas of responsibility. Applicability: England and Wales. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Thursday 12 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday's Conference Daily. 10.35 Consultative session Chair: Duncan Brack (Chair of the Climate Change Working Group). Aide: to be announced. F7 Climate Change Consultative sessions provide a less formal mechanism than the full-scale conference debates for conference representatives and other Party members to participate in the Party's policy- and decision-making process. This session is organised by the FPC's new Climate Policy Working Group. The conclusions of the session will be taken into account by the group when drawing up their final recommendations for the FPC. For the background consultation paper, see: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_papers 11.50 Policy motion Chair: Jennie Rigg. Aide: Callum Robertson. Hall Aide: Fraser Graham. F8 Equitable and Improved Outcomes Throughout Pregnancy and the Neonatal Period Liberal Democrat Women Mover: Cllr Donna Harris. Summation: Helen Morgan MP. Conference notes that: i) Despite healthcare advancements, significant gaps exist in access to quality maternal care, resulting in persistent inequalities across ethnicities and in more economically deprived communities. ii) 49% of maternity services are rated as 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement' by the Care Quality Commission. iii) The true scale of miscarriage in the UK is unknown because no official record of miscarriages is held. iv) The national ambition set in 2010 to reduce stillbirths, neonatal, and maternal deaths by 50% by 2025 is nearing its expiry, but we are not on track to meet the target. v) The 2022 MBRRACE-UK report demonstrated that Black women are at almost four times greater risk of maternal mortality than White women. vi) Unconscious bias influences medical care and bedside manner, putting Black and Black mixed women at higher risk, and a lack of knowledge hinders the identification and diagnosis of conditions that are specific to and disproportionately affect Black and Black mixed women. vii) There are numerous issues regarding incomplete and inaccurate ethnicity data collection in healthcare, creating barriers when evaluating progress on equity in healthcare. viii) Black babies are nearly twice as likely, and Asian babies are nearly 1.5 times more likely, to die during the first 28 days compared to White babies. ix) A Birthrights' inquiry uncovered testimony that "Black, Brown and Mixed ethnicity women and birthing people's pain [is commonly] ignored or denied, and pain relief [is] withheld due to staff not believing they were in labour". x) Trans and non-binary people report that they are met with less dignity and respect when accessing obstetric services. xi) Infant mortality rates in the most deprived neighbourhoods are double those in the least deprived areas. xii) The 2019 NHS Staff Survey records that 40.3% of midwives reported feeling unwell due to work-related stress in the previous 12 months and 63.7% had continued to work despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties. xiii) Of every £1 spent on maternity care in the NHS, only 1p is spent on pregnancy research. Conference believes that: a) The UK must strive to become the safest place in the world to have a baby. b) Addressing disparities in obstetric care is essential for a fair society. c) The UK must work towards ending discrimination towards diverse parents during pregnancy. Conference therefore calls for: 1. The UK Government to renew the national maternity ambitions beyond 2025, to include the four nations, and to enhance them with a clear baseline to measure progress against. 2. Support and referral to be available after every miscarriage, not just after three. 3. Anyone experiencing miscarriage to have access to best-practice care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 4. All miscarriages to be recorded so that the problem is no longer hidden, national targets can be set, and the impact of interventions can be measured, in line with requests from Sands and Tommy's Joint Policy Unit. 5. Coding of ethnicity and data to be improved, surveys should avoid overusing 'other' as a category and provide a text box for people to explain what 'other' means for them, and Black and Black mixed should be clearly defined. 6. A welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone receiving maternity or perinatal care, including trans and nonbinary people. 7. The UK Government to ensure that the commitments made in the Workforce Plan are backed by adequate funding and include expansion of the wider maternity and neonatal workforce. 8. The implementation of the Women and Equalities Committee's recommendation that there should be a cross-Government target and strategy, led by the Department of Health and Social Care, for eliminating maternal health disparities. Applicability: England only; except 1. (lines 49-51), which is Federal. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Thursday 12 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday's Conference Daily. 12.35 Speech Chair: Professor Belinda Brooks-Gordon. Aide: Matthew Palmer. F9 Wendy Chamberlain MP (Chief Whip in the Commons and Spokesperson for Work and Pensions) @ wendychambLD 12.50 Lunch break and fringe See the Conference Directory for our exhibition and fringe programme. 13.00-14.30 Consultative sessions Future of Work Policy Working Group The Grand Brighton, Empress Room. Chair: Vinous Ali. Opportunity and Skills Policy Working Group The Grand Brighton, Alexandra Room. Chair: Rosie Shimell. Consultative sessions provide a less formal mechanism than the full-scale conference debates for conference representatives and other Party members to participate in the Party's policy- and decision-making process. Each session examines a particular topic and hears contributions from Party members and in some cases outside speakers. The session will be organised by the relevant Working Group. The conclusions of the session will be taken into account by the group when drawing up their final recommendations. 14.40 Party business Chair: Baroness Pinnock (Chair, FCEC). Aide: Baroness Doocey. F10 Celebrating Our Election Wins A presentation that lifts the veil on the HQ operation that led to our historic success. Director of Field Campaigns Dave McCobb will take us behind the scenes with an in-depth presentation on our election strategy and why it worked. 14.55 Speech Chair: Cllr Darryl Smalley. Aide: Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed. F11 Cllr Joe Harris (Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group in the Local Government Association and Leader of Cotswold District Council) @joeharrispark 15.10 Policy motion Chair: Eleanor Kelly. Aide: Duncan Brack. Hall Aide: Callum Robertson. F12 Europe - Restoring Links for Young People 11 members Mover: Layla Moran MP (Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development). Summation: Joshua Reynolds MP. Conference notes that: i) The former Conservative Government erected significant barriers to young people with their botched deal with Europe, including removing the right of young people to move, live and work across EU countries. ii) The UK Government has a Youth Mobility Scheme in place with several non-EU countries including South Korea and Australia, which allows a set number of young people to live and work in those countries for a specified duration of time, on a reciprocal basis. iii) In April 2024, the European Commission proposed a youth mobility scheme between the UK and the EU, although the then Government rejected this scheme and the new Government has not set out any plans to take it up. iv) Red tape at the UK/EU border has prevented children from taking part in overseas educational trips - which according to the School Travel Forum has resulted in a 30% reduction in overseas educational visits between 2019 and 2023. v) The UK has not returned to the Erasmus Plus programme, even though between 2007 and 2013 the UK received over £500m more in funding from the EU for education and training than it put in. vi) Since the UK left the EU, holidaymakers no longer receive free mobile phone roaming - but nearly one in five are unaware that they could face extra charges. vii) While the Trade and Cooperation Agreement included a reference to roaming charges, UK holiday-makers have faced higher prices for roaming in the EU. viii) In June 2024, now-Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged the EU to look again at their proposed electronic travel authorisation scheme, which will replace passport stamping next year and is expected to add cost and delays to British holidaymakers' experience at the EU border. Conference believes that young people should not face such barriers to travelling, living and working in Europe. Conference reaffirms: A. The Liberal Democrats' commitment to fixing our broken relationship with Europe, including our longer-term objective of UK membership of the EU. B. The four-stage roadmap to restore our ties of trust and trade with the EU, as set out in Policy Paper 144, Rebuilding Trade and Cooperation with Europe. C. Conference welcomes the new Government's changed approach to relations with the EU, but further believes that the new Government is wrong to rule out membership of the Single Market as an option in the future for fixing our broken relationship with Europe, as set out in Policy Paper 144. Conference calls on the UK Government to: 1. Open negotiations with the EU and EEA to extend the Youth Mobility Scheme on a reciprocal basis to EU countries, with a view to: a) Increasing the age limit from 30 to 35. b) Abolishing the fees for these visas. c) Extending the length of visas from two to three years. 2. Expand opportunities for young people to study, teach and volunteer abroad by returning to the Erasmus Plus programme as an associated country. 3. Take action on excessive roaming charges by: a) Opening discussions with the EU on roaming charges, as set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. b) Opening a consultation on UK phone company roaming charges, including exploring the possibility of abolishing such charges altogether. 4. Take steps to negotiate passport- and visa-free school trips between UK and EU member states, on a reciprocal basis. 5. Open discussions with the EU with the goal of reaching a reciprocal exemption from electronic travel authorisation schemes, with the aim of eliminating costs and reducing border delays for holiday-makers, while maintaining high standards for border security and data protection. Applicability: Federal. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Thursday 12 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday's Conference Daily. 15.55 Question and answer session Chair: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Lords Spokesperson for Defence). Aide: Cllr Hannah Kitching. Hall Aide: Sam Barratt. F13 Defence and Veterans Members may put questions on defence and veterans affairs to the panel. The panel will include Richard Foord MP (Spokesperson for Defence) and some of our newly-elected MPs who have previously served in the armed forces. Concise questions (maximum 25 words) may be submitted online until 13.00 on Monday 9 September, or to the Speaker's Table by 12.50 on Saturday 14 September. See page 64. 16.40 Policy motion Chair: Cllr Simon McGrath. Aide: Professor Belinda Brooks-Gordon. Hall Aide: Cllr Darryl Smalley. F14 Supporting Disadvantaged Children 11 members Mover: Munira Wilson MP (Spokesperson for Education, Children and Families). Summation: Calum Miller MP. Conference notes that: i) The previous Conservative Government has left the education sector in a shocking state - with schools facing inadequate funding; headteachers struggling to recruit and retain staff; school buildings crumbling; and pupils' education being affected. ii) Children from less well-off homes start school already behind their classmates, and gaps only widen further through primary and secondary school. iii) The attainment gap between pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils who have never received free school meals has widened considerably following the pandemic and over 10 years of progress has been wiped out. iv) The attainment gap, which is based on average GCSE English and Maths attainment nationally, widened from 3.84 last year to 3.95 in the latest results from 2023, where a gap of zero would indicate that there is no difference between the average performance of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils. v) By the end of secondary school (key stage 4), disadvantaged pupils are 19.2 months behind their peers - a gap which has widened since 2019 by 1.1 months. vi) The attainment gap has now widened every year since 2020. vii) Sir Kevan Collins, the then adviser to the former Conservative Government, acknowledged that children needed £15 billion to bridge the educational gap created by the pandemic but only a third of the recovery programme that Sir Kevan called for was delivered. viii) That funding for tutoring, through the National Tutoring Programme, will finish at the end of this academic year. Conference further notes that: A. Early years education for children below the age of four has a positive impact on the life chances of disadvantaged children, yet disadvantaged children spend significantly less time in pre-school than children from more affluent backgrounds. B. Small group tutoring is highly effective and can give pupils four months' additional progress over the course of a year. C. For every £1 spent on tutoring, £6.58 in economic returns is generated. D. There are also many spill-over benefits of tutoring including improvements in children's confidence and school attendance. E. The National Tutoring Programme had a positive impact on levelling out access to tutoring, with 35% of working class Year 11 students receiving private or school-based tutoring, compared to 36% of students from professional homes. F. Accessing tutoring through schools will be much harder from September as schools will be expected to pay themselves from Pupil Premium Funds. G. The squeeze on school budgets will mean that many schools will be unable to continue offering tutoring. Conference calls on the Government to: 1. Invest in high-quality early years education and close the attainment gap by giving disadvantaged children aged three and four an extra five free hours a week and tripling the Early Years Pupil Premium to £1,000 a year. 2. Increase school and college funding per pupil above the rate of inflation every year. 3. Introduce a 'Tutoring Guarantee' for every disadvantaged pupil who needs extra support which would: a) Be focussed on prioritising children from low-income backgrounds, with low prior attainment or with additional needs. b) Enable an estimated 1.75 million disadvantaged young people each year to get additional tutoring help and support. c) Empower headteachers, who know their children the best, to set up tutoring in a way that works for them and their pupils, use their own teaching staff, recruiting tutors themselves or choosing from quality-assured external providers. 4. Introduce a Young People's Premium, extending Pupil Premium funding to disadvantaged young people aged 16-18. 5. Ensure no child is hungry in school by expanding free school meal eligibility to all children in poverty. Applicability: England only. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Thursday 12 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday's Conference Daily. 17.30 Policy motion Chair: Fraser Graham. Aide: Jennie Rigg. Hall Aide: Matthew Palmer. F15 Buy Now, Pay Later - Standing By Consumers During the Cost-of-Living Crisis 10 members Mover: Sarah Olney MP (Spokesperson for Business and the Treasury). Summation: Lord Fox (Lords Spokesperson for Business). Conference notes with concern that: A. The outgoing Conservative Government oversaw a devastating cost-of-living crisis which has left people's household finances stretched to breaking point. B. Millions of households are in arrears on their bills and, as of July 2024, the number of people seeking help with unsustainable debt through a Debt Relief Order (DRO) is at a record high. C. Support organisations have seen a surge in those seeking help with Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) issues, with Citizens Advice seeing a doubling of cases in May 2024 compared to the year before. D. The number of BNPL users has increased significantly in recent years, with frequent users of BNPL more likely to be in financial difficulty and more than two million people using BNPL to purchase groceries in 2023 . E. While for many people BNPL can offer convenience and flexibility, it remains unregulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and doesn't meet standards set by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 for other forms of credit, leaving consumers exposed to significant financial harm. Conference further notes with concern a number of risks arising from the lack of regulation of BNPL products, including: i) Misleading and irresponsible advertising, including via social media, inappropriately encouraging the use of credit. ii) A lack of transparency leaving many BNPL customers unaware that they are using an unregulated borrowing product, with key information about potential consequences hidden in long terms and conditions pages. iii) Digital design making it hard for consumers to make informed decisions - such as presenting BNPL as the default payment method when shopping online. iv) A lack of proper affordability assessments that take into account borrowing from different BNPL platforms, leaving users at risk of amassing large debts across several providers. v) BNPL providers not sharing data with credit reference agencies, leaving regulated credit providers (e.g. banks) without a complete view of a consumer's financial position when assessing their affordability - risking even higher levels of indebtedness. Conference believes that regulation of BNPL should: a) Be balanced and proportionate - mitigating harms while ensuring consumers can continue to use BNPL products safely. b) Have the overarching aims of promoting consumer protection; affordability; transparency of information; and fair treatment of people in financial difficulty. Conference therefore calls on the Government to: 1. Protect people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis by rapidly legislating to bring BNPL within the Financial Conduct Authority's regulatory remit. 2. Put rules in place stopping BNPL firms from engaging in harmful or misleading advertising, making it clear that that BNPL is a form of credit. 3. Bring BNPL under 'consumer duty' rules for financial products, which require that key information is clearly set out; products are designed to enable informed decisions by consumers; and that firms must consider whether users are in vulnerable situations, such as financial or mental health distress. 4. Require that fair and consistent support is available to all BNPL users who need it, including access to the Financial Ombudsman Service; clear signposting to debt support; and debt collection practises consistent with industry standards. 5. Enable the FCA to consider setting a centralised cap on BNPL late fees to promote fair and consistent treatment across platforms. 6. To prevent vulnerable consumers from amassing unsustainable debt, ensure that proper affordability checks are in place, with appropriate information-sharing across BNPL firms and other credit providers. 7. Review whether BNPL products by large online retailers, such as Amazon or Apple, should be treated in the same way as products by third-party providers. 8. Improve awareness of DROs and seek ways to expand access to the scheme, recognising that around 3.7 million UK adults in debt are unaware they can seek help through a DRO. Applicability: Federal; except B. (lines 5-7) and 8. (lines 71-73), which are England only. Mover: 5 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Thursday 12 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday's Conference Daily. 18.00 Close of session See the Conference Directory for our exhibition and fringe programme. Sunday 15 September 09.00 Policy motion Chair: Cllr Thom Campion. Aide: Matthew Palmer. Hall Aide: Cllr Simon McGrath. F16 National Nature Parks 10 members Mover: Tim Farron MP (Spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Summation: Jess Brown-Fuller MP. Conference notes that: I. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and one of the least densely forested countries in Europe with only 14.5% of the country covered in woodland, compared to the European average of 35%. II. The Office for Environmental Protection found that the actions of the Conservatives in government fell "far short" of what was required to leave the environment in a better state than they found it. III. The Glover Review outlined that National Parks and National Landscapes (formerly Areas of Outstanding National Beauty) have not done enough to protect the natural environment. IV. One in six species are threatened with extinction from Britain. V. A BBC investigation found that almost 32,000 public rights of way are obstructed, with the number of path blockages increasing year on year. Conference believes that: i) Everybody should be able to access a healthy environment; open green spaces, clean blue rivers and the beauty of Britain's coastlines. ii) We need our protected landscapes to lead the restoration of our natural environment. iii) Local authorities are key to unlocking the potential of protected landscapes for nature's recovery, including with community engagement. iv) We must support farmers, who have a vital role in tackling climate change and the nature crisis, to ensure they can contribute to the restoration of the countryside and produce high-quality food for our tables. Conference reaffirms Liberal Democrat pledges to: A. Create a new designation of National Nature Parks. B. Work with existing National Parks and National Landscapes to improve their work to restore nature and transform them into National Nature Parks, with stronger duties on National Park Authorities to create and protect carbon sinks. C. Plant 60 million trees a year to improve air quality, enrich public spaces and help us reach net-zero. D. Strengthen the Office for Environmental Protection and provide more funding to the Environment Agency and Natural England to help protect our environment and enforce environmental laws. E. Designate 16 new National Trails, thereby doubling the current total. F. Empower Local Nature Recovery Strategies to identify a new Wild Belt for nature's recovery. G. Work with our European neighbours to tackle the nature crisis, including applying to join the European Environment Agency (EEA). H. Make sure that the UK has the highest environmental standards in the world. I. Properly fund Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) and support farmers with the restoration of woodland, peatland and waterways, the creation of natural flood protections and the management of land to recover species and carbon storage, while producing food for the table. Conference resolves to: 1. Create at least three new National Nature Parks to the existing 10 National Parks in England. 2. Provide the National Parks budget with an additional £50m a year to support new and existing National Parks to become National Nature Parks. 3. Ensure any new National Park has a clear duty to manage protected areas for nature's restoration. 4. Launch a consultation to determine which new areas should become National Nature Parks, giving natural landscapes priority for the shortlist. 5. Call on the government to provide funding to: a) Establish new walking routes, including routes through National Parks. b) Ensure local authorities can maintain existing walking routes. Applicability: England; except G. (lines 46-48), which is Federal. Mover: 5 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Saturday 14 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Sunday's Conference Daily. 09.30 Policy motion Chair: Chris Maines. Aide: Eleanor Kelly. Hall Aide: Callum Robertson. F17 Our Plan to Save the NHS 10 members Mover: Daisy Cooper MP (Spokesperson for Health and Care). Summation: Clive Jones MP. Conference notes that: A. The UK's population is ageing and that has a profound impact on how we design our health and care services. B. The United Kingdom is lagging behind its peers when it comes to people's health - it is 29th in the global obesity rankings, has the worst healthy life expectancy in Western Europe, and according to one study has the worst mental health in the world. C. The Conservatives have hollowed out community services like GPs, dentists and mental health, public health and social care leading to people seeking care in far more expensive urgent and emergency settings. D. Health inequalities have become more stark. E. There are still more than 6 million people on NHS hospital waiting lists, double the number since 2015. F. The number of fully qualified GPs in England has fallen by almost 500 since 2019, despite the previous Conservative government's promise to increase the number by 6,000. G. More than 100,000 patients in the last year waited longer than the NHS target of 62 days to start urgent cancer treatment - the worst on record. H. 9 in 10 dental practices are no longer accepting new patients and people are being forced to spend hundreds if not thousands on private dental care with some even resorting to DIY dentistry. I. Half a million people are on waiting lists for care in residential settings or at home and one in 10 care staff positions are vacant. J. On average, patients have to wait more than half an hour for an ambulance to respond to emergencies such as heart attacks or strokes. K. Over 1.35 million (53%) of those inactive because of long-term sickness reported that they had a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety and the cost to the UK of poor mental health is estimated to total £120bn every year. L. There are huge vacancies across the NHS and social care, and retention rates are poor too. M. The NHS estate is facing a record £12 billion backlog of repairs and the primary care estate is in need of significant upgrading too. N. The new Labour government has brought forward only two pieces of legislation on health for this parliamentary session, and none on social care. Conference believes that: i) The previous Conservative government ran our NHS into the ground, neglected health and care services, and let patients down. ii) Health and wealth are two sides of the same coin. iii) Enabling people to access the health care they need as soon as they need it, is not only better for health outcomes, it's also better for the public purse. iv) Adopting an 'invest to save' approach will drive investment in community services and help shift the focus to prevention. v) Improving the health of the nation is just as important as providing access to health care when people need it. vi) Mental health should be put on the same footing as physical health. vii) The NHS cannot be fixed unless social care is fixed too, and reform cannot wait any longer. Conference calls on the new government to: 1. Bring forward a plan to save GP services including increasing the number of full-time equivalent GPs by 8,000 to ensure everyone has the right to see a GP within seven days, or within 24 hours if they urgently need to. 2. End DIY dentistry and 'dental deserts' by guaranteeing access to an NHS dentist for everyone needing urgent and emergency care, and fixing the broken NHS dental contract to bring dentists back to the NHS from the private sector. 3. Boost cancer survival rates and introduce a guarantee for 100% of patients to start treatment for cancer within 62 days from urgent referral. 4. Increase the Public Health Grant so that local authorities can improve the health of their communities and prevent ill health. 5. Fix the life-threatening crisis in our ambulance services by ending excessive handover delays and increasing the number of staffed hospital beds. 6. Improve early access to mental health services by establishing walk-in mental health hubs for young people in every community and introducing regular mental health check-ups at key points in people's lives. 7. Prioritise the proposed bill brought forward in the King's Speech to finally reform the Mental Health Act. 8. Implement a ten-year plan to invest in hospitals and the primary care estate to end the scandal of crumbling roofs, dangerous concrete and life-expired buildings. 9. Introduce free personal care, a higher Carer's Minimum Wage, and a workforce plan for social care. 10. Provide the resources and support for cross-party talks so that they can report as soon as possible and well before the most common time of between two and four years. Applicability: England only. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Saturday 14 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Sunday's Conference Daily. 10.25 Topical issue Chair: Cllr Hannah Kitching. Aide: Cllr Nick da Costa (Chair, FCC). Hall Aide: Duncan Brack. F18 Topical Issue Discussion This slot has been reserved for the discussion of a topical issue. The deadline for suggestions for topical issues is 13.00 on Monday 9 September. The topic selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Sunday's Conference Daily. See pages 63 and 65 for further information. 11.05 Speech Chair: Callum Robertson. Aide: Cllr Simon McGrath. F19 Munira Wilson MP (Spokesperson for Education, Children and Families) @munirawilson 11.20 Lunch break and fringe See the Conference Directory for our exhibition and fringe programme. 14.10 Question and answer session Chair: Cara Jenkinson (Vice Chair, FCC). Aide: Jennie Rigg. Hall Aide: Cllr Hannah Kitching. F20 Ed Davey MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Members may put questions on any topic to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Concise questions (maximum 25 words) may be submitted online until 17.00 on Saturday 14 September, or to the Speaker's Table by 12.50 on Sunday 15 September. See page 63. 15.00 Consultative session Chair: Jeremy Hargreaves (Vice Chair, FPC). Aide: Cllr Lucy Nethsingha (Vice Chair, FPC). F21 Leading the Way - Liberal Democrat policy direction in the years ahead Consultative sessions provide a less formal mechanism than the full-scale conference debates for conference representatives and other Party members to participate in the Party's policy- and decision-making process. The session will be organised by the relevant Working Group. The conclusions of the session will be taken into account by the group when drawing up their final recommendations. This session is an opportunity for members to contribute to the Federal Policy Committee's review of the new political landscape and our next policy development priorities within it. For more information and the structure of the session, see: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_papers Speakers' cards will not be used for this session. The chair will call members to speak from their seats, using a roving microphone. A panel will respond and feed members' views into FPC's policy review. 16.40 Party business Chair: Cllr Jon Ball (Vice Chair, FCC). Aide: Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed. Hall Aide: Chris Maines. F22 Membership Subscriptions and Federal Levy Federal Board Mover: Mike Cox (Party Treasurer). Summation: Mark Pack (President of the Liberal Democrats). Conference agrees: 1. To continue to freeze the existing minimum membership rate of £15, except for members from before 2022 for whom it shall remain £12. 2. To continue to freeze the £6 minimum for those in receipt of or entitled to state benefits, and the £6 minimum for members of the Young Liberals. 3. To continue to freeze the £3 minimum 1 year introductory rate for members directly recruited by the Young Liberals. 4. That nothing in this motion shall prevent a State Party from setting via their internal procedures higher recommended or minimum subscription rates or from introducing additional concessionary rates. 5. That the Federal Levy shall remain 50 per cent. Applicability: Federal. Mover: 5 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Saturday 14 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Sunday's Conference Daily. 16.50 Party business Chair: Cllr Jon Ball (Vice Chair, FCC). Aide: Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed. Hall Aide: Chris Maines. F23 Federal Board Report: questions and accountability Mover: Dr Mark Pack (President of the Liberal Democrats). The report sessions are the chance for party members to hear how the party is being run and to put questions directly to the Party President and other movers of reports. The deadline for questions for F23-F28 is 13.00 on Monday 9 September. Questions selected will be published in Conference Extra and Sunday's Conference Daily. These questions will be guaranteed an answer, either in the session or in writing thereafter. Questions may also be submitted up until 15.50 on Sunday 15 September; such questions are only taken at the discretion of the chair. See page 64 for further information. As part of the report session F23, there will also be votes to confirm new members of the Federal Appeals Panel. The proposed new members will be listed in Conference Extra and Sunday's Conference Daily. F24 Campaign for Gender Balance Report: questions and accountability Mover: Cllr Julia Cambridge (Vice Chair, Campaign for Gender Balance). See notes to F23. F25 Federal Communications and Elections Committee Report: questions and accountability Mover: Baroness Pinnock (Chair, Federal Communications and Elections Committee). See notes to F23. F26 Federal International Relations Committee Report: questions and accountability Mover: David Chalmers (Chair, Federal International Relations Committee). See notes to F23. F27 Federal Council Report: questions and accountability Mover: Cllr Antony Hook (Chair, Federal Council). See notes to F23. F28 Federal Appeals Panel: questions and accountability Mover: David Graham (Chair, Federal Appeals Panel). See notes to F23. 18.00 Close of session See the Conference Directory for our exhibition and fringe programme. Monday 16 September 09.00 Policy motion Chair: James Gurling. Aide: Cara Jenkinson (Vice Chair, FCC). Hall Aide: Eleanor Kelly. F29 Fair Votes Now 11 members Mover: Christine Jardine MP (Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office). Summation: Al Pinkerton MP. Conference notes: i) That public trust in British government and politics has sunk to its lowest-ever recorded level. ii) That the 2024 UK General Election was the most disproportionate ever, with the new Government winning two-thirds of the seats in Parliament while receiving one-third of the vote. iii) That more than a majority of votes cast in the General Election were for a losing candidate - at 58%, the highest in seventy years. iv) That turnout at the 2024 General Election was 59.9%, the lowest since 2001. v) That several million UK citizens are missing from the Electoral Register. vi) That recent years have seen repeated ethics scandals and a failure to uphold the Nolan principles of public life, not just by the UK Government, but by the Scottish and Welsh Governments too. vii) That, in the previous Parliament, the former Conservative Government weakened the independence of the Electoral Commission, introduced disproportionate voting systems for mayoral elections in England, and introduced the Voter ID scheme. viii) The work of organisations like Make Votes Matter, Unlock Democracy and the Electoral Reform Society, amongst others, in building the case for electoral reform. ix) That the new Government has not committed to reform of the voting system. Conference believes that: a) First Past the Post underpins the adversarial and divisive nature of Westminster politics, and feeds public disillusion. b) The UK's electoral system leaves millions of people feeling that their votes are irrelevant and their views unrepresented. c) It is undemocratic that, under the UK's electoral system, not all votes count the same, which leaves millions of people feeling powerless and without a say in how the country is run. d) Improving our democracy is an important end in itself, but also a necessary step to building a better country with good schools and hospitals, affordable housing and safe communities. e) The Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Party have called for fair votes for a century, and should continue to lead the campaign for fundamental reform of the electoral system. Conference calls on the Government to: 1. Replace the first past the past system for UK General Elections, with proportional representation by the Single Transferable Vote system. 2. Introduce the Single Transferable Vote system for the election of local councillors in England. 3. Implement the Alternative Vote system for elections for single positions such as directly-elected Mayors. 4. Ensure that the UK has an automatic system of inclusion on the electoral register. 5. Protect and strengthen the Electoral Commission, including by repealing the Government's power to designate a strategy and policy statement for the Commission. 6. Scrap the Conservatives' Voter ID scheme. 7. Enable all UK citizens living abroad to vote for MPs in separate overseas constituencies, and to participate in UK referendums. 8. Give young people the right to vote in the first election after their 16th birthday, for UK general elections and referendums, and local elections in England. 9. Extend the right to full participation in civic life, including the ability to stand for office or vote in UK referendums, local elections and general elections, to all EU citizens with settled status, and to anyone else who has lived in the UK for at least five years and has the right to stay permanently. 10. Extend political education in secondary schools, to prepare future citizens to participate in public life. 11. Use citizens' assemblies to engage the electorate, particularly on long-standing topics such as climate change or social care. Applicability: Federal; except 2. and 3. (lines 47-50), and part of 8. (line 61), which are England only. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Sunday 15 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Monday's Conference Daily. 09.45 Consultative session Chair: Tim Farron MP (Chair of the General Election Review). Aide: Vinous Ali. F30 General Election Review Consultative sessions provide a less formal mechanism than the full-scale conference debates for conference representatives and other Party members to participate in the Party's policy- and decision-making process. The Federal Board has established an independent review into the recent general election. The review is chaired by Tim Farron MP, and the other members are Cllr Ade Adeyemo, Paul Farthing, Cllr Donna Harris, Cllr Emma Holland-Lindsay, Mike O'Carroll and Sally Patty. This session is an opportunity for members to contribute to the work of the General Election Review, and the feedback provided will feed into the work of the review. Speakers' cards will not be used for this session. The chair will call members to speak from their seats, using a roving microphone. A panel will respond and feed members' views into the review. 11.05 Speech Chair: Jennie Rigg. Aide: Sam Barratt. F31 Daisy Cooper MP (Spokesperson for Health and Care) @libdemdaisy 11.20 Lunch break and fringe See the Conference Directory for our exhibition and fringe programme. 14.10 Emergency motion Chair: Duncan Brack. Aide: Cllr Nick da Costa (Chair, FCC). Hall Aide: Cllr Hannah Kitching. F32 Emergency Motion: Israel-Gaza Conflict This slot has been reserved for the debate of an emergency motion on the subject of the Israel-Gaza Conflict. The deadline for emergency motions is 13.00 on Monday 9 September. The FCC will select which motion is to be debated, and that motion will be printed in Conference Extra and Monday's Conference Daily. See pages 63 and 64 for further information. 14.55 Policy motion Chair: Cllr Darryl Smalley. Aide: Chris Maines. Hall Aide: Jennie Rigg. F33 Tackling the Prisons Crisis 10 members Mover: Alistair Carmichael MP (Spokesperson for Home Affairs and Justice). Summation: Lord German. Conference believes that: i) Keeping communities safe is one of the most important responsibilities for any government. ii) Reducing reoffending is key for cutting crime, keeping people safe and ultimately saving public money. iii) To achieve these aims, the effective rehabilitation of offenders should be a core priority of the prison system. Conference notes with grave concern that years of neglect and mismanagement from the previous Conservative Government has plunged our prisons into crisis - leaving them overcrowded, understaffed and unable to properly rehabilitate offenders. Conference further notes that: A. England and Wales' prisons are dangerously close to capacity - with a prison population of 87,453 as of July 2024, compared to an operational capacity of 88,864. B. Reoffending rates remain high, with 75% of ex-inmates reoffending within nine years of release, and 39.3% within the first twelve months. It is estimated that reoffending costs our society more than £18 billion a year. C. Incidents of violence and self-harm in prisons are on the rise. D. Violence against prison staff has also soared, with an average of 23 attacks recorded every day last year across England and Wales. E. Issues with staff recruitment and retention have persisted, with English prisons running red regimes due to falling below minimum staffing levels at least 22 times in 2023. F. The growing backlog in our criminal courts - which skyrocketed under the previous Conservative Government - is directly contributing to prison overcrowding. Remand populations have risen by 84% to a record high of 16,458 people as of March 2024, accounting for nearly 20% of the total prison population. G. The previous Conservative Government has left the probation service overstretched, under-resourced, and unable to provide the quality of supervision needed. H. Although there are meant to be limits on how long people can be held on remand, the previous Conservative Government refused to admit how many people had been in prison on remand for longer than six months. I. After years of failing to respond to the growing prisons crisis, the previous Conservative Government finally introduced emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding in November 2023 - including delays to sentencing and an Early Release Scheme which saw violent prisoners with a history of domestic abuse and stalking released early, despite assurances the scheme would only be available to low-risk offenders. J. The new Government has been forced to take further emergency steps to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis, including plans for some prisoners to be released after they have served 40% of their sentence in England and Wales, rather than the current 50%. Conference reaffirms the Liberal Democrat commitment to cutting reoffending by taking a holistic approach to rehabilitation - spanning sentencing, prisons and community supervision and including a full range of rehabilitative services. Conference therefore calls on the new Government to: 1. Tackle the backlog in criminal courts to reduce the number of people in prison on remand, including by prioritising case hearings where the defendant is currently on remand. 2. Bring forward an urgent plan to recruit and retain more prison officers. 3. Ensure that no violent prisoners are eligible for an early release programme, including perpetrators of domestic abuse. 4. Put cutting reoffending at the heart of their plan to end the prisons crisis, including by: a) Improving the provision of training, education and work opportunities in prison. b) Ensuring that every prison has a 'through the gate' mentorship programme. c) Introducing a plan to improve the rehabilitation of people leaving prison. 5. Implement a presumption against short sentences of 12 months or less to facilitate rehabilitation in the community. 6. Bring forward a new strategy for the prisons estate to ensure that all prisons are fit for purpose and able to provide the rehabilitation services needed to cut reoffending. 7. Ensure that probation services have the resources they need to properly cope with an increased workload due to early release schemes. Applicability: England only. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Sunday 15 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Monday's Conference Daily. 15.40 Speech Chair: Matthew Palmer. Aide: Lucas North. F34 Jane Dodds MS (Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats) @DoddsJane 15.55 Policy motion Chair: Sam Barratt. Aide: James Gurling. Hall Aide: Jennie Rigg. F35 International Development - Restoring the UK's role 11 members Mover: Layla Moran MP (Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development). Summation: Lord Purvis (Lords Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development). Conference notes that: I. The Liberal Democrats were the first UK political party to commit to the 0.7% of Gross National Income target for Official Development Assistance spending, and enshrined this target in law whilst in Government. II. Britain's reputation as an 'international development superpower' has been seriously compromised by the previous Conservative government, after: a) Boris Johnson abolished the independent Department for International Development (DFID), merging it with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, resulting in the new department's development capability being "reduced" according to the National Audit Office. b) Rishi Sunak took the decision to cut UK international development spending from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI, which has resulted in thousands of preventable deaths and vital programmes being cut. III. Conflicts in the Middle East, the Sahel, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and Ukraine means the UK's support is needed more than ever, while the UN Secretary General has made clear that progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require a concerted international policy response which is currently lacking. IV. UK bilateral ODA spending has been further cut by the former Conservative Government's failure to cut the asylum backlog, resulting in almost 30% of UK ODA being spent on in-country refugee costs in 2022. V. The incoming Government does not have plans to re-establish an independent department for international development, and has not yet committed to restoring ODA spending to 0.7% of GNI. Conference believes that: i) The British people always respond with great generosity of spirit to humanitarian disasters and conflicts in other countries. ii) UK ODA spending is a powerful tool for good in the world which helps the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. iii) The UK reneging on its promises has created a vacuum which Russia and China want to fill. iv) For the UK to best play its role on the world stage, it needs to restore its role as a development superpower. v) An independent department is the best way to ensure that the UK is a global leader on development. Conference reaffirms the Liberal Democrats' commitment to: A. Immediately reversing the international development cut, returning UK ODA spending to 0.7% of GNI. B. Ensuring that the use of ODA is consistent with the OECD/DAC rules/guidelines, and with UK legislation, and in particular that its primary purpose should remain the economic development of, and poverty reduction within, the partner country. C. Ensuring that the Sustainable Development Goals, which have universal applicability, lie at the heart of the UK's international development policy. Conference accordingly calls on the UK Government to restore the UK's development superpower status, including by: 1. Establishing an independent department for international development. 2. Immediately restore full funding for programmes supporting women and girls. 3. Creating the role of a UK Sustainable Development Goals tsar to drive delivery of the SDGs, in both domestic and international policy, including conducting a root and branch review of the allocation of UK ODA to maximise its impact on developing countries. 4. Restoring the humanitarian relief reserve fund, increasing the UK's ability to respond to conflict, such as in Sudan and Ukraine, as well as natural disasters. 5. Addressing the increasingly severe challenges of debt distress. 6. Recognising the role of education as a force for good and committing to spend 15% of ODA on education in the world's most vulnerable areas, with a fully funded Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Education Cannot Wait (ECW). 7. Restoring the cuts to water and sanitary health programmes, and health programmes. 8. Increasing the proportion of ODA committed to tackling climate change and environmental degradation. 9. Addressing the growing global crisis of food insecurity and malnutrition by restoring our commitment to nutrition and famine relief and increasing the proportion of ODA committed to delivering life-saving nutrition interventions. 10. Tackling the asylum backlog, and accordingly ensuring that ODA is not used to cover for a broken asylum system, as took place under the former Conservative Government. 11. Taking further steps to tackle economic crime, including the use of tax havens and money laundering, by passing further economic crime legislation. Applicability: Federal. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Sunday 15 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Monday's Conference Daily. 16.40 Policy motion Chair: Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed. Aide: Cllr Thom Campion. Hall Aide: Cara Jenkinson (Vice Chair, FCC). F36 A Fair Deal for Musicians London Region and Camden Mover: Charlie Clinton. Summation: Jamie Stone MP (Spokesperson for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport). Conference notes: I. The London Liberal Democrat motion A Fair Deal for Musicians passed in February 2024. II. That in 2022 the UK music industry contributed £6.7bn to the UK economy, employed 210,000 people, and generated £4bn in exports. III. That despite this, nearly half of UK musicians earn under £14,000 per year, and Grassroots Music Venues (GMVs) profit margins average 0.5%. IV. That in 2023 16% of GMVs were lost: 125 spaces permanently closed to live music. V. That the Agent of Change (AOC) principle was included in policy guidance in 2018, but developers are not always held to account and noise abatement notices are still being issued to longstanding venues. VI. The House of Commons DCMS Select Committee report Grassroots Music Venues, April 2024, which recommended: a) A voluntary industry levy on large venues to fund GMVs, or failing that for the government to introduce a statutory levy. b) A targeted and temporary cut to VAT for GMVs. c) Enshrining the AOC principle in statute. VII. That barriers to touring erected by Brexit have impacted 30% of musicians, with lowest earners losing 49% of EU revenue on average. VIII. That the courts have recognised that musicians have a right to practise at home for 5 hours a day, 3 on Sunday, but councils have not consistently applied these rulings, and musicians often do not have the resources to take legal action. IX. That music education investment is unequal and in decline, for example: a) Since 2011 GCSE participation has fallen by 25%, A-level participation by 50% and Arts hub funding been cut in real-terms by 17%. b) Only 15% of state schools pupils received sustained music tuition. The figure is 50% in independent schools. X. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's previous calls for all children to have the chance to learn a musical instrument at school. Conference believes that there are many challenges facing the music industry and the failure to address these challenges today will undermine the future of the music industry in the UK. Conference reaffirms the Liberal Democrat commitment to negotiating free, simple short-term travel for UK artists to perform in the EU, and vice versa, including transport of equipment and sale of merchandise. Conference calls on local councils to: i) Ensure that the AOC principle is applied in practice, in particular by: a) Withholding planning permission for developments next to venues in the absence of enforceable conditions for appropriate soundproofing. b) Rigorously enforcing such conditions. c) Additionally applying the AOC principle when reviewing noise complaints about venues, even when not a new development. ii) Move towards providing every primary school child with two years of free small-group instrumental lessons, and a free instrument, following the example of Newham's 'Every Child A Musician' programme. iii) Commit to upholding the common law position on musicians practising at home. Conference calls on the new Government to: 1. Reinvest in music education including: a) Training and recruiting 1000 music teachers. b) Delivering an Arts pupil premium with funding of at least £90m per year. c) Reverse real-terms cuts to Arts Hubs since 2011, with a 17% increase in funding followed by a commitment to annual increases in line with inflation. 2. Implement the following recommendations of the DCMS Select Committee report: a) Imposing the large venue levy if not done voluntarily by September. b) Reintroducing a VAT cut for GMVs. c) Enshrining AOC Principles on the statute book. Applicability: England only; except VI. b) (line 20), VII (lines 22-24), lines 41-44 and 2. b). (line 73), which are Federal. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Sunday 15 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Monday's Conference Daily. 17.20 Policy motion Chair: Cara Jenkinson (Vice Chair, FCC). Aide: Lucas North. Hall Aide: Matthew Palmer. F37 Reversing the Cuts to Bereavement Support Payments and Supporting Kinship Carers 10 members Mover: Wendy Chamberlain MP (Spokesperson for Work and Pensions). Summation: Christine Jardine MP (Spokesperson for Women and Equalities). Conference notes that: i) Losing a parent is one of the toughest moments it is possible for a child to experience. ii) Nothing was brought forward in the King's speech that would legislate to improve the lives of bereaved families or kinship carers, and the new Labour government has made no plans to increase funding for support. iii) Since 2017, the Conservative Government has cut funding for Bereavement Support Payments by around 50%. iv) Ed Davey MP successfully pressured the Conservative Government to ensure cohabiting couples are eligible for the Bereavement Support Payment - previously only married couples or those in civil partnerships were eligible. v) Around 26,900 parents die each year in the UK, leaving 46,300 dependent children. vi) Kinship carers most often women, in particular grandmothers. vii) 141,000 children are in kinship care. viii) Children growing up in kinship care have better educational and emotional outcomes than children in unrelated foster care, but worse than children in the general population. ix) An estimated half of the children in kinship care are there because their parents have had problems with drugs or alcohol, have died, gone to prison, or are abusive, neglectful, or unwell. Conference believes that: A. The Conservative's cuts to bereavement support payments were cruel and short-sighted. B. The Conservatives' cuts to bereavement support payments in 2017 have had an adverse impact on families who have lost a loved one. C. Providing financial support for families that have lost a parent is critical to ensuring that families are not left struggling to pay the bills at such a difficult period of time. D. Kinship carers play a critical and often unsung role in children's lives and ensure more young people can grow up in a loving, stable home. Conference calls on the Government to: 1. Double the funding for Bereavement Support Payments, reversing the Conservative party's cuts since 2017. 2. Use this extra funding to extend the amount of time that people receive payments for beyond the current 18 months and increase the size of payments. 3. Pass Christine Jardine MP's Bereavement Support (Children and Young People) Bill that would ensure that children and young people are aware of what support is available to them following the death of a parent. 4. Support the education of children in care, extend Pupil Premium Plus funding to children in kinship care, and guarantee any child taken into care a school place within three weeks, if required to move schools. 5. Appoint a Cabinet Minister for Children and Young People with specific responsibilities for closing the gaps in support for children who have lost a parent or both their parents. 6. Support children in kinship care and their family carers by: a) Introducing a statutory definition of kinship care. b) Building on the existing pilot to develop a weekly allowance for all kinship carers. 7. Make care experience a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 to strengthen the rights of people who are in or have been in care. Applicability: England only; except iii) and iv) (lines 8-13), A., B. and C. (lines 25-32), 1. and 2. (lines 37-41) and 7. (lines 57-59), which are Federal. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Sunday 15 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Monday's Conference Daily. 18.00 Close of session See the Conference Directory for our exhibition and fringe programme. Tuesday 17 September 09.00 Emergency motions or topical issue discussions Chair: Lucas North. Aide: Sam Barratt. Hall Aide: Fraser Graham. F38 Emergency motion or topical issue discussion This slot has been reserved for the debate of an emergency motion and / or discussion of a topical issues. The deadline for emergency motions and for suggestions for topical issues is 13.00 on Monday 9 September. The motion or topic selected for debate or proposed for the ballot will be printed in Conference Extra and Tuesday's Conference Daily. See pages 63 and 64 for further information. 09.30 Policy motion Chair: Professor Belinda Brooks-Gordon. Aide: Chris Maines. Hall Aide: Cllr Thom Campion. F39 The Clean Water Authority 10 members Mover: Tim Farron MP (Spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Summation: Josh Babarinde MP. Conference notes with concern that: I. Regulators and the former Conservative Government have not held water companies to account for their failures to maintain and improve water quality and create sustainable funding structures, whilst also stifling innovation within the industry. II. Water companies want to increase customer bills by an average of 33% by 2030 to fund improvements to infrastructure, when they have paid out millions in bonuses to executives and failed to make sound investments. III. The Conservatives in government repeatedly voted against providing Ofwat with more powers to hold water companies to account and end the sewage scandal. IV. Labour have pledged to increase Ofwat's powers but keep the existing regulator in place. V. Water company bosses in England and Wales received £54 million in benefits, bonuses and incentives since the 2019 election - in which period, sewage was dumped 1.5 million times, lasting over 11 million hours. VI. Millions of litres of water are lost every day through leaks and two of Britain's biggest water companies do not have complete maps of their sewer pipe network. VII. The quality and frequency of water monitoring is inadequate; there is no requirement on water companies to record the volume of sewage spills and water companies are self-monitoring pollution incidents. Conference believes that: A. As a point of principle, customers should not bear the brunt of costs for infrastructure improvements on account of the failings of water companies. B. Water companies should be more transparent about how bill payers' money is spent to restore customers' trust that water companies will invest in the system to reduce leakage, sewerage flooding and pollution. C. Nobody should be in water poverty. D. Effective regulation and investment to maintain and upgrade water infrastructure are key to restoring the natural environment and mitigating the risks of climate change, including flooding and water shortages. Ofwat has failed to be an effective regulator. E. Local authorities need more powers and resources to monitor the health of our waterways, hold water companies to account and work with them in catchment partnerships to prevent discharges and upgrade infrastructure. F. Citizens should be able to hold water companies accountable directly. Conference reaffirms calls for: i) Meaningful targets and deadlines to be set for water companies to end sewage discharges. ii) Water companies to publish 25-year investment plans to encourage sound investment and promote the use of nature-based solutions. iii) The implementation of a ban on water bonuses until sewage spills end and leaks are fixed. iv) The transformation of water companies into public benefit companies. v) A new Blue Flag status for rivers, streams and lakes. vi) A single social tariff for water bills to help eliminate water poverty within the next Parliament. Conference resolves to: 1. Replace Ofwat with a new regulator, the Clean Water Authority, taking on the relevant powers from the Environment Agency and working with Natural Resources Wales. 2. Provide more funding to regulators including the Clean Water Authority, the Environment Agency, the Office for Environmental Protection and Natural England to improve regulation and the enforcement of environmental laws. 3. Strengthen regulatory powers and resources for the new Clean Water Authority to: a) Mandate that water companies publish publicly accessible live time data on the recorded volume, duration and number of sewage spills. b) Set legally binding targets to prevent sewage discharges into bathing waters and highly sensitive nature sites by 2030. c) Revoke the licence of poorly performing water companies swiftly. d) Fine top executives of water companies and initiate prosecutions. e) Increase water monitoring with new Sewage Inspectors, including unannounced inspections, with the aim of ending water companies' self-monitoring. f) Better regulate the ownership of water companies. g) Reform water companies to put local environmental experts on water company boards. h) Lead the transformation of water companies into public benefit companies. Applicability: England and Wales. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Monday 16 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Tuesday's Conference Daily. 10.15 Party business Chair: Chris Maines. Aide: Eleanor Kelly. Hall Aide: Duncan Brack. F40 Reports of the Parliamentary Parties Movers: Wendy Chamberlain MP (Chief Whip of the Commons Parliamentary Party) and Lord Newby (Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords). The deadline for questions for F40 is 13.00 on Monday 9 September. Questions selected will be published in Conference Extra and Tuesday's Conference Daily. These questions will be guaranteed an answer, either in the session or in writing thereafter. Questions may also be submitted up until 09.15 on Tuesday 17 September; such questions are only taken at the discretion of the chair. See page 64 for further information. 11.05 Policy motion Chair: Cllr Nick da Costa (Chair, FCC). Aide: Cllr Hannah Kitching. Hall Aide: Sam Barratt. F41 Tackling Child Poverty Young Liberals and 10 members Mover: Cllr Hina Bokhari AM. Summation: Cllr Simon McGrath. Conference notes that: 1. Children are the most likely group in society to be in poverty. 2. DWP figures for 2022/23 show 3.6m children living in absolute poverty after housing costs. 3. 1.6m children in 440,000 families are affected by the two-child benefit cap and in over 59% of these families at least one parent is in paid work. 4. Abolition of the two-child benefit cap would take 300,000 children out of poverty. 5. The impact of the cap is greater on families with an ethnic minority background. Conference welcomes the establishment of a Ministerial Taskforce on Child Poverty, and notes that the organisations invited to the initial meeting with the Secretary of State have called for the abolition of the two-child benefit cap. Conference calls on the Government to immediately abolish the two-child benefit cap. Applicability: Federal. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Monday 16 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Tuesday's Conference Daily. 11.50 Policy motion Chair: Baroness Doocey. Aide: Cllr Darryl Smalley. Hall Aide: Lucas North. F42 A Fair Deal for Family Carers 10 members Mover: Daisy Cooper MP (Spokesperson for Health and Care). Summation: Alex Brewer MP. Conference notes that: i) There are 10.6 million people across the UK who give unpaid support to someone who is elderly, seriously ill or disabled. ii) Carer's Allowance, the main benefit for carers, remains the lowest benefit of its kind at £81.90 per week and 1.4 million full-time unpaid carers rely on the benefit. iii) Those caring for family members and friends are saving the taxpayer and state over £160 billion every year. iv) A Carers Trust survey shows that 14% of unpaid carers had to use a food bank this year. v) One in seven people in the workplace in the UK are juggling work and care and 59% of unpaid carers are women. vi) 52% of carers who apply for flexible working have their applications refused and 72% want to work or work more if they could access flexible working. vii) Too many carers are currently excluded from receiving Carer's Allowance due to the eligibility criteria being set too low. viii) The Conservatives failed to tackle the scandal of thousands of Carer's Allowance recipients being issued disproportionate fines for overpayments. ix) The Liberal Democrats secured a legal entitlement to unpaid leave for unpaid carers in the last parliament. x) The Liberal Democrats continue to call for cross-party talks to agree a long-term basis for sustainably funding social care into the future. Conference believes that: a) The Liberal Democrats must stand up for all carers, ensure their voices are heard in this new parliament, and work to build a more caring society. b) We can only tackle the crisis in our NHS if we fix social care and support the millions of unpaid carers across the country. c) Social care is an essential service, like healthcare or education, and should be designed to ensure that everyone is able to live with independence and in dignity. d) Unpaid carers deserve a fair deal for their skilled work that saves the country billions every year. e) All carers are too often ignored by government and left to fend for themselves. f) No one who cares for their loved ones should be living in poverty because the government has failed to support them. g) Supporting unpaid carers will create a fairer society and improve gender equality. Conference calls on the new Government to: 1. Ensure unpaid carers are at the heart of every announcement including any cross-party talks on social care. 2. Stop prosecuting and pursuing unpaid carers for overpayments of Carer's Allowance. 3. Raise the amount carers can earn before losing Carer's Allowance to be significantly higher than the current £151-a-week threshold and introduce a taper so that unpaid carers are not subject to a cliff edge removal of benefits. 4. Raise Carer's Allowance by £20 a week, reduce the number of hours' care per week required to qualify for it and extend it to carers in full-time education. 5. Introduce paid carer's leave, building on the entitlement to unpaid leave secured by the Liberal Democrats. 6. Introduce a statutory guarantee of regular respite breaks for unpaid carers. 7. Make flexible working a 'day one' right unless there are significant business reasons why that is not possible. Applicability: England only; except i) to vi) (lines 2-15), viii) and ix) (lines 18-23), 2. (lines 46-47), 5. (lines 55-56) and 7. (lines 59-60), which are Federal. Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 61-62. The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 on Monday 9 September; see page 64. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 on Monday 16 September; see page 61. Amendments and separate votes selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Tuesday's Conference Daily. 12.35 Speech Chair: Fraser Graham. Aide: Cllr Thom Campion. F43 Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP (Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats) @ agcolehamilton 12.50 Lunch break and fringe See the Conference Directory for our exhibition and fringe programme. 14.10 Party business Chair: Cllr Nick da Costa (Chair, FCC). Aide: Cara Jenkinson (Vice Chair, FCC). Hall Aide: Cllr Jon Ball (Vice Chair, FCC). F44 Party Awards The Belinda Eyre-Brook Award: Given to recognise and celebrate the efforts of people working for our elected representatives in their local areas. The Dadabhai Naoroji Award: Presented annually to the local Party that has done most to promote ethnic minority participants to elected office. The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award: Open to any Party Member never elected to public office recognised for outstanding commitment and service to the Party. The Patsy Calton Award: An award for exceptional women ranging from Councillors, to members, to Parliamentarians. The Penhaligon Award: Presented to the local party anywhere in the world which demonstrates the most impressive increase in membership and exemplary activities to deliver and involve members and supporters. The President's Award: Open to any Party Member elected to public office and who has demonstrated excellence and commitment. 14.20 Speech Chair: Cllr Nick da Costa (Chair, FCC). Aide: Cara Jenkinson (Vice Chair, FCC). Hall Aide: Cllr Jon Ball (Vice Chair, FCC). F45 Ed Davey MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats @edwardjdavey 15.30 approx. Close of conference Conference timetable 2025 21-23 March 2025, Harrogate Drafting advice deadline (motions):13.00 Wednesday, 18 December 2024. Motions deadline: 13.00 Wednesday, 15 January 2025. Drafting advice deadline (amendments, emergency motions): 13.00 Monday, 24 February 2025. Deadline for amendments to motions, emergency motions, topical issues, questions to reports: 13.00 Monday, 10 March 2025. Agenda information Debates and votes at conference Debates on policy and business motions are at the heart of federal conference. It is through them that the party sets its policy and future direction. Unlike in other parties, Liberal Democrat members are sovereign, and what they decide really matters. The structure of debate on policy and business motions: Proposer of the motion speaks V Proposers of any amendments speak in turn V Speakers called on all sides of the debate with the chair seeking to ensure balance V Summators of amendments speak in turn V The summator of the motion speaks V The chair takes votes for and against the amendments and separate votes (if any) in turn V A vote will be taken on the motion as a whole Interventions: concise (one minute) speeches made from the intervention microphone(s) on the floor of the auditorium, during debates where it is indicated in the Agenda. Amendments: all motions except emergency motions are open to amendment; amendments accepted will be published in Conference Daily. Voting: decisions on most motions and all amendments and separate votes are by simple majority of those voting (2/3 majority for constitutional amendments). To vote, voting members must show their voting badge whilst seated on the ground floor of the auditorium. Separate votes: a vote to delete or retain the specified words or section of of a motion or amendment. A request for a separate vote may be submitted by any party member by: - 09.00 on Thursday 12 September for debates scheduled for Saturday 14 September; or by: - 09.00 on the day before the debate for debates scheduled for other days. The request for a separate vote should be submitted using the online form at: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_submissions or in writing to the Speakers' Table in the auditorium. Counted vote: the chair of the session may decide that a vote needs to be counted. Any voting member may request a count from the floor; if fifty voting members stand and show their voting cards, a count will be taken. Communications with the chair and aide: the chair and aide team can be contacted at conference - solely for formal communication on procedural motions and points of order, via the Speakers Desk or via the link: www.libdems.org.uk/procedural-motions Speaking and voting at conference Eligibility to speak and vote All party members are entitled to speak and vote in conference debates, providing they are attending conference as a party member (and not for example as an exhibitor or observer). Party members fulfilling these criteria are known as 'voting members'. Length of speeches The length of speeches is shown against each motion in the Agenda. There are three lights on the speaker's rostrum and visible either side of the stage. The green light comes on at the beginning of the speech. The amber light comes on 60 seconds before the end of the allowed time (20 seconds before the end of an intervention). The red light comes on when all the time is used up, and the speaker must stop immediately. Applying to speak To make a speech in a debate you must: - complete a speaker's card, collected from and returned to the Speakers' Table at the front of the auditorium, an auditorium steward or the Information Desk; or - submit an electronic speaker's card, from Monday 9 September up to one hour before the start of the debate, online at www.libdems.org.uk/speakers-card Completing a speaker's card When completing a speaker's card, remember: 1 Submit your card well in advance. The chair and aide team for the debate will meet well in advance to plan the debate - sometimes the previous day. 2 Fill in your card completely. Complete the back of the card as well as the front. These sections are needed for the chair and aide to balance the debate, so they can call people with relevant experience and avoid a string of people making the same point. 3 Make sure it's readable! Don't fill every square centimetre of the card and write legibly - the easier you make it for the chair and aide to read the card the more likely you will be called. Interventions To speak during interventions, voting members should complete an intervention form, collected from and returned to a steward in the auditorium. Speakers will be chosen by the chair of the session by random. Other conference sessions Emergency motions Emergency motions are debated and voted on and make formal party policy like other motions, but refer to a substantial development since the deadline for submission of motions. There is a slot for emergency motions on any topic at F38 on Tuesday 17 September. The motions for selection by ballot will be printed in Conference Extra. The emergency motions ballot will be held electronically. Members of conference will receive a ballot by email at 17.00 on Friday 13 September, and should complete it online by 17.00 on Saturday 14 September. In addition, there is a slot for an emergency motion specifically on the topic of the Israel-Gaza Conflict at F32 on Monday 16 September. The FCC will select which motion is to be debated, and that motion will be printed in Conference Extra and Monday's Conference Daily. Topical issue discussions Topical issue discussions allow members and spokespeople to discuss and comment on a political issue live at the time of conference; they do not make party policy. Party members may submit suggested topics for a discussion, which will be considered by officers of the FCC and FPC. If a topical issue discussion is selected, it will be published in the relevant Conference Daily. Question & answer sessions Any voting member may submit a concise question (maximum 25 words) on any subject for the Leader's Q&A (F20). Questions will be selected by the chair and the questioner will be able to ask their question via the interventions microphone. Questions may be submitted by 13.00 on Monday 9 September using the online form at: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_submissions Questions may also be submitted on a form collected from and returned to the Speakers' Table in the auditorium by 12.50 on Sunday 15 September. In addition, there is a question and answer session on Defence and Veterans at F13 on Saturday 14 September. Any voting member may submit a concise question (maximum 25 words) on that topic. Questions will be selected and read out by the chair. Questions may be submitted by 13.00 on Monday 9 September using the online form at: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_submissions Questions may also be submitted on a form collected from and returned to the Speakers' Table in the auditorium by 12.50 on Saturday 14 March. Reports The reports of Federal Committees and Parliamentary Parties are printed in the separate reports document. Any voting member may submit concise questions on these reports. Questions may be submitted by 13.00 on Monday 9 September using the online form at: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_submissions Questions received by the deadline above will be published in Conference Extra and are guaranteed a reply, in the session or in writing thereafter. Questions may also be submitted on a form collected from and returned to the Speakers' Table in the auditorium until one hour before the start of the relevant session, but will only be called if time allows and at the discretion of the chair of the session. Submitting amendments, emergency motions, topical issues and appeals Amendments and emergency motions Amendments and emergency motions must be: - signed by 10 party members; or - submitted by one or more of: a local party, state party, regional party in England, Federal Associated Organisation or Federal Party Committee. And must be submitted by 13.00 on Monday 9 September online at: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_submissions Submitters should include: - For amendments - a short explanation of the intended effect of the amendment. - For emergency motions - a short explanation of its emergency nature. Topical issues Suggestions for topical issues may be submitted by any party member by 13.00 on Monday 9 September online at: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_submissions The title of the issue should be no more than ten words, and should not include an expression of opinion; please include full contact details of the submitter and up to 100 words explanatory background. Drafting advice Submitters are encouraged to use our drafting advice service: draft amendments and emergency motions should be submitted by 13.00 on Tuesday 27 August online at: www.libdems.org.uk/conference_submissions Appeals If you wish to appeal the FCC's decision not to select your emergency motion or amendment, follow these instructions. The appeal should come from the email address of the original contact for the motion and should be no longer than one side of A4. It should explain why you are appealing and any new information the FCC was unaware of when it made its decision. You should attach the full text of the original motion or amendment and the letter of rejection. The email should also contain a contact name and telephone number. Appeals should be emailed by 09.00 on Thursday 12 September to: appeals@libdems.org.uk Standing Orders Glossary of terms Business motion A proposal to conduct the affairs of the Party in a particular way or to express an opinion on the way affairs have been conducted. Business amendment A proposal to change a business motion. Any such proposal should be significant, should be within the scope of the original motion and must not be a direct negative. Committee Throughout these standing orders, Committee means the Federal Conference Committee unless otherwise qualified. Constitutional amendment A proposal to change the constitution of the Party. Secondary constitutional amendment An amendment to a constitutional amendment. This must not introduce new material. Consultative session A meeting where selected areas of policy or strategy are considered in greater depth than is possible in full debates. Day visitor Someone who has paid the appropriate day visitor fee. Day visitors are not entitled to speak or vote in full sessions of conference. Emergency motion A proposal which derives from a significant recent development which occurred after the deadline for submission of motions. Emergency motions must be brief (maximum 500 words). Emergency amendment An amendment to a motion which relates to a specific event which occurred after the deadline for the submission of amendments. It must be brief and uncontentious. Full session Any part of the conference agenda during which debates, topical issue discussions or discussion of business, including formal reports, takes place. This specifically excludes formal speeches such as those by the Leader or Party Officers. Point of order A suggestion to the chair of a debate that the conduct of the debate, as laid down in the standing orders, has not been followed correctly. Policy motion A proposal to adopt a new policy or reaffirm an existing one. This includes motions accompanying policy papers. Policy amendment A proposal to change a policy motion. Any proposal should be of significant importance, should be within the scope of the original motion and must not be a direct negative. Policy paper A paper prepared by the Federal Policy Committee and submitted to conference for debate under the terms of Article 7.4 of the Federal Party constitution. Procedural motion A proposal that the conduct of a debate should be changed in a specific way. Procedural motions are: Move to next business A proposal that the conference should cease to consider an item of business and immediately move to the next item on the agenda. Reference back A proposal to refer a motion or amendment to a named body of the Party for further consideration. Request for a count A request to the chair that a specific vote be counted and recorded rather than decided on the chair's assessment of a show of voting cards. Separate vote A request to the chair of a debate that a part or parts of a motion or amendment should be voted on separately. Suspension of standing orders A proposal to relax specific standing orders for a stated purpose. Special conference An additional meeting of the conference requisitioned by the Federal Board, Federal Policy Committee, conference itself or 2% of party members, in not fewer than 10% of local parties under the provisions of Article 6.3 of the Federal constitution. Standing order amendment A proposal to change these standing orders. Secondary standing order amendment An amendment to a standing order amendment. This must not introduce new material. Topical issue discussion A discussion on a policy issue of significant and topical relevance, conducted without a vote. Voting member A member attending conference who has satisfied the requirements for attendance and has paid the registration fee presently in force for party members as agreed by FCC, and who is not a day visitor [or observer]. Standing Orders for a conference held remotely A. In the event that the Federal Board determines it is impossible to hold a conference under the normal rules, and instead summons a special meeting of the conference to be held remotely, or the Committee otherwise directs that a conference shall be conducted remotely, these Standing Orders shall apply. B. A remote conference shall be conducted in accordance with the Standing Orders that apply to a conference not conducted remotely ('the original Standing Orders'), save that: i) All references in the original Standing Orders to votes, whether by ballot, show of hands or show of voting cards, shall instead be conducted via an online poll or alternative secure method of online voting, designated by the Committee; similarly all references to speakers cards shall be taken to mean electronic speakers' cards. ii) Any communications with the chair must be made via an online channel designated by the Committee for that purpose and advertised to voting members prior to the commencement of a debate. iii) In original Standing Order 6.2, the reference to the Chief Steward shall also include lead moderators designated by the Chief Steward. iv) Original Standing Order 8.7 shall apply save that the Committee may set a deadline in respect of any given full session for the receipt of electronic speakers' cards; the chair shall have discretion to accept electronic speakers' cards after the deadline. v) Original Standing Orders 9.1, 9.2, 11.5 and Procedural motion 3 (Request for a Count) in the Glossary of Terms, shall not apply; instead, voting members shall, when appropriate, be directed by the chair to vote using the online voting tool made available to them. Standing Order 2.3 shall not apply. vi) In original Standing Order 10.1, any voting member may signal to the chair via the designated online channel that they are moving a point of order, in lieu of rising in their place. vii) As, by necessity, all votes shall be counted votes, Standing Order 11.5 shall not apply; instead the chair shall ensure the result of the counted vote is publicised to members, via the appropriate online channel. Standing Orders for the Federal Conference 1. The Conference Agenda 1.1 What is on the Agenda The agenda for each meeting of conference, other than a special conference, shall include time for: a) One or more consultative sessions; save that the Committee may decide not to hold any consultative sessions at a spring conference; b) A business session or sessions for the consideration of reports from the Parliamentary Parties as listed in Article 6.5 of the Federal Party's Constitution, the Federal Board, the Federal Policy Committee, Federal Communications and Elections Committee, Federal International Relations Committee, Federal Council, and the Federal Conference Committee together with, when appropriate, reports from any other body the Committee considers appropriate, accounts, the annual report, a motion accompanying the proposed strategy of the party, business motions, constitutional amendments and standing order amendments; c) Policy motions (including motions accompanying policy papers); d) Emergency motions; e) Topical issue discussions; f) Any other business which the Committee thinks appropriate. The time to be allocated to each type of business and the order of that business shall be decided by the Committee provided that conference may decide not to take any particular item on the agenda. 1.2 Conference or council of state parties In addition, time before or after any meeting may be agreed with the relevant state party for a meeting of the conference or council of that party. 1.3 Right to submit agenda items a) Reports to conference may be submitted only by the bodies listed in paragraph 1.1(b). b) Business motions (including amendments and emergency business motions and amendments), constitutional amendments and secondary constitutional amendments, standing order amendments and secondary standing order amendments may be submitted by the Federal Board, Federal Policy Committee, Federal Council, Federal Conference Committee, state parties, regional parties in England, local parties, Affiliated Organisations and 10 party members. c) Motions accompanying policy papers may only be submitted by the Federal Policy Committee. d) Policy motions (including amendments, emergency policy motions and amendments) may be submitted by the Federal Policy Committee, state parties, regional parties in England, local parties, Affiliated Organisations and 10 party members. e) The Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons may submit a motion relating to supporting a government containing members of the other parties, in accordance with Article 24 of the constitution. f) Proposals for topical issue discussions may be submitted by any party member. 1.4 How motions and amendments are submitted All motions and amendments must be submitted to the Committee. They must identify a person authorised to agree to their being composited or redrafted. The detail of methods of submission will be notified for each conference via the party website. 1.5 The deadlines by which motions, amendments, reports and questions to reports must be submitted The Committee shall specify: a) The closing date for the receipt of policy motions (including motions accompanying policy papers), business motions, constitutional amendments and amendments to standing orders, which shall be at least eight weeks before the start of conference. b) The closing date for the receipt of amendments to motions published in the Agenda and emergency motions, which shall be at least two days before the start of conference. c) The closing date for the submission of written reports from the bodies listed in paragraph 1.1(b), which will be set so as to enable their distribution with the Agenda. Any supplementary report submitted later than this deadline may only be tabled at conference with the permission of the Committee. d) The closing date for the submission of questions to any of the reports listed in the Agenda, which shall be the same as the deadline for emergency motions. Questions submitted by this deadline are guaranteed to be asked. e) Notwithstanding 1.5 (d), questions may always be submitted to any of the reports listed in the Agenda, by the end of the preceding morning (for report sessions taking place in the afternoon) or afternoon (for report sessions taking place in the morning). Any questions submitted by this deadline will only be taken at the discretion of the chair. f) The closing date for proposals for topical issue discussions, which shall be at least two days before the start of conference. 1.6 Notification of deadlines All dates specified under Standing Order 1.5 shall be publicised to party members and bodies entitled to submit motions. Publication in the party newspaper/magazine and website may be treated as notice for this purpose. 1.7 Later deadlines in special circumstances In special circumstances the Committee may specify later dates than those indicated above. In particular, where developments which, in the opinion of the Committee, are of great importance have taken place after the closing date for emergency motions and questions to reports, the Committee may make time available for an additional emergency motion or for a statement to be made on behalf of the Party or for additional questions to be submitted to reports. 2. Consultative sessions 2.1 The subjects for consultative sessions The subjects for debate at consultative sessions shall be chosen by the Committee on the advice of the Federal Policy Committee and, where appropriate, the Federal Board, and published in the Agenda. Two or more such sessions may be held simultaneously. 2.2 Speaking at consultative sessions Any member of the Party may be called to speak at a consultative session and, with the approval of the chair, non-members with relevant expertise may also be called. 2.3 Voting at consultative sessions At the discretion of the chair a vote by show of hands may be taken to indicate the weight of opinion among members present on any issue that has been debated. 3. The Agenda 3.1 The shortlisting of motions The Committee shall draw up the Agenda and shall decide which of the motions duly submitted shall be included in it. The Committee may allocate time for one or more policy or business motions to be selected by ballot. Copies of motions not selected shall be available for inspection and will be supplied to any party member on payment of a copying charge and postage. 3.2 Motions for the amendment of the constitution or standing orders Save as detailed below in Standing Order 4.3, all proposed amendments to the constitution or standing orders must be selected for debate. 3.3 Balance between State and Federal policy debates The Committee shall, in drawing up the Agenda, have due regard to the balance of State and Federal policy debates and in particular shall as far as possible organise the agenda so that all matters which relate solely to one or more state parties but not all State Parties or the Federal Party shall be considered at either the beginning or the end of the conference. 4. Selection of motions and amendments 4.1 Compositing or otherwise altering motions In drawing up the Agenda the Committee shall seek to reflect the range of views in the Party as indicated by the motions and amendments submitted. The Committee may: a) Treat any severable part of a motion or amendment as a separate motion or amendment. b) Redraft a motion or amendment so as to improve expression, remove inaccuracy or superfluity or take account of new developments. c) Composite similar motions or amendments. 4.2 Selection of amendments The Committee shall decide which of the amendments duly submitted to each motion shall be selected. No amendment shall be selected if, in the opinion of the Committee it is insubstantial, outside the scope of the motion, or tantamount to a direct negative of the motion. 4.3 Motions for the amendment of the constitution or standing orders The Committee may refuse to select a motion for amendment of the constitution or standing orders if, in their opinion, it is: a) Similar in effect to another motion which has been selected for debate or ballot at the same meeting of conference. b) Similar in effect to a motion that has been rejected at either of the last two meetings of conference. c) In the case of amendments to the constitution, incomplete in that it leaves unamended some other part of the constitution which contradicts the meaning of the amendment. d) In the case of amendments to standing orders, incomplete in that it leaves unamended some other part of standing orders which contradicts the meaning of the amendment. e) Ambiguous. 4.4 Emergency motions The Committee may reject an emergency motion if: a) It is similar in effect to another motion that has been selected for debate or ballot. b) It is similar in effect to a subject chosen for a topical issue discussion. c) It is unclear as to its meaning or intent or is, in the opinion of the Committee, too poorly drafted to provide a sensible basis for debate. d) It falls outside the definition of emergency motions. No amendment shall be taken to any motion selected under this Standing Order. 4.5 Ballots for emergency motions All emergency motions, except those rejected under Standing Order 4.4, must be placed either on the agenda for debate or in a ballot for selection by Conference. The Committee may hold separate ballots to select which of a range of emergency policy motions and which of a range of emergency business motions to debate. If one or more ballots is held the Committee shall circulate the text of all balloted motions to the voting members as soon as practicable and shall specify a closing time for the ballot. Following the counting of any ballots the Committee shall decide how many motions shall be debated in the time available. 4.6 Emergency amendments The Committee shall have complete discretion whether to select emergency amendments for debate. 4.7 Topical issue discussions The choice of subjects for topical issue discussions shall be made by the Officers of the Committee in consultation with the Officers of the Federal Policy Committee. In choosing the subjects, the Officers shall have regard to the significance and topicality of the subjects proposed and whether they are likely to provoke a lively discussion. 5. Special meetings 5.1 Timetabling of special meetings The Committee shall, as soon as practicable after the requisitioning of a special meeting of the conference, fix a date for the meeting, draw up the Agenda and, if appropriate, specify a date for the submission of amendments. The meeting shall deal only with the business stated in the notice of requisition save that the Committee may allow time for emergency motions and for business which is formal or, in its opinion, uncontentious. 5.2 Preferred timescales for special meetings In setting dates for the submission of motions and amendments and giving notice thereof and of the conference itself the Committee shall endeavour to follow the timescales laid down elsewhere in these standing orders but, where this is not practicable, the Committee shall set such dates as it sees fit. 6. Appeals 6.1 Appeals against rejection of motions The Committee shall provide written reasoning to the nominee of the proposers for the rejection of any motion or amendment. The proposers may appeal, in writing, to the next meeting of the Committee. Any such appeal shall provide reasons why, in the opinion of the proposers, the expressed reasons for rejection are not valid. If the appeal is allowed, the motion or amendment shall be treated as an emergency motion or amendment according to the stage of the agenda-setting process at which the appeal has been allowed. 6.2 Appeals against exclusion from conference Any person excluded from conference by a decision of the Chief Steward shall have the right of appeal to the Committee at the next of its regular meetings. The exclusion shall remain in force pending the appeal. 7. The chair 7.1 Who chairs conference The President, if present, shall normally take the chair at the formal opening and closing of conference and when the Party Leader is making a formal speech from the platform. At all other sessions the chair shall be appointed by the Committee. Normally no person shall chair more than one session at any meeting. 7.2 The chair's aide The Committee may appoint an aide or aides to assist the chair of each session. 8. Conduct of debate 8.1 Variation in the order of business The Committee may propose to the conference a variation in the order of business as set out in the Agenda. Such variation shall be put to the vote and shall take effect if approved by a majority of those voting. 8.2 Withdrawal of motions and amendments Once the Committee has included a motion or amendment, or part of a motion or amendment, in the Agenda, may not be withdrawn except by leave of conference. A request to withdraw a motion may be submitted to conference either by the movers of the motion or the Committee 8.3 The order of debate The Committee shall direct the order of debate. Generally, however, a motion will be moved and immediately thereafter the amendments and options will be moved in the order directed by the Committee. There will then be a general debate. The movers of amendments and options (or their nominees) shall have the right of reply in the same order (except that where an amendment or option has not been opposed during the debate, the chair of the session shall have the right to direct that its movers shall not exercise their right of reply), after which the mover of the motion (or the mover's nominee) shall have the right of reply. Votes shall then be taken on the amendments and options in the order in which they have been moved and, finally, on the substantive motion. The Committee may direct that part of any motion or amendment or groups or amendments may be the subject of a separate debate. 8.4 Topical issue discussions The Committee shall direct the order of the discussion. Normally the proposer of the subject shall speak first, and a representative of the Federal Policy Committee shall speak last. 8.5 Who may speak All voting members may speak at a full session of conference. Additionally, the Committee may invite any person to address the conference as a guest. Neither such provision shall prejudice the right of the chair of a session to select speakers. 8.6 The special rights of the Federal Committees Provided that the Federal Policy Committee is not proposing the motion or any of the amendments to be taken in a debate on a policy motion or on motions relating to the policy-making processes of the Party it shall have the right to nominate a person to report its views on the subject before the conference. The Federal Board shall have similar rights on business motions or motions to amend the constitution, as shall the Federal Conference Committee on motions relating to the proceeding and procedures of the conference and to amend standing orders. Such a person shall be called to speak for the same length of time as the person replying on behalf of the mover of the motion. 8.7 The selection of speakers Voting members wishing to speak in any debate shall submit a speaker's card, prior to the commencement of the debate in which they wish to speak, stating whether they wish to speak for or against an amendment, the motion or part of the motion. The chair shall be responsible for the choice of the speakers and shall attempt to provide a balanced debate between the different viewpoints in the conference, but may announce a departure from this rule if there is an overwhelming preponderance of members wishing to speak on the same side. The chair shall have the discretion to accept speakers' cards after the start of the debate. Save as provided for in these standing orders, no person may speak more than once in any debate. 8.8 The length of speeches The Committee shall set out in the Agenda time limits for speeches. 9. Voting at Conference 9.1 The method of voting Voting cards shall be issued at each meeting to voting members. (The Committee may direct that voting on any issue be by ballot.) Subject thereto all votes at full sessions shall be taken by show of voting cards and by voting members voting securely online. 9.2 Counting of votes A vote by show of voting cards shall be counted: a) If the Committee has so directed. b) If the chair so directs. c) As the result of a procedural motion under Standing Order 11.5 below. A recount will only be held if the chair is not satisfied that the first count was accurate. 9.3 Separate votes A separate vote may be taken on a part of a motion or amendment: a) On the direction of the Committee. b) At the discretion of the chair. c) As a result of a procedural motion under Standing Order 11.4 below. 10. Points of order 10.1 Making a point of order Any voting member may rise on a point of order which shall be taken immediately except that, during a vote, no point of order shall be taken that does not refer to the conduct of the vote. The chair's decision on all points of order shall be final. 11. Procedural motions 11.1 Next business a) A voting member may, during any full conference session, submit, in writing, a request that conference move to next business, giving the reasons to do so. The submission shall not exceed 75 words. b) The chair may either take the request immediately upon receipt, or at the end of any speech currently being made. If more than one request is received the chair shall decide which to take. No more than one request may be taken in respect to any motion or report. c) When the request is to be taken, the chair shall read the statement of reasons and ask conference whether it wishes to consider the request to move to next business. If conference decides, by a simple majority of those voting, to do so, the person who made the request may speak. The chair may allow other speakers. All speeches under this standing order shall be limited to two minutes. If conference decides not to debate the proposal, it falls. d) The proposal shall require a two-thirds majority of those voting being to be passed. If it is carried the current agenda item shall be abandoned without any further debate or vote and, at the discretion of the chair, either the next agenda item shall be taken or there shall be an adjournment until the time at which the next agenda item was due to be taken. 11.2 Reference back (moved by a voting member) a) A voting member, who has not already spoken in the debate, may, at any time before the chair has asked the first speaker in reply to stand by, submit, in writing, a request to refer back the motion under debate. The submission shall state to whom the motion is to be referred and shall include a statement of the reasons, including reasons why voting against the motion would not achieve a similar result, not exceeding 75 words. b) The chair may take the request to refer back at whatever stage of the debate they consider appropriate. If more than one request is received, the chair shall decide which to take. No more than one request may be taken with respect to any motion. c) When the request is to be taken, the chair shall read the statement of reasons and ask conference whether it wishes to consider the request to refer. If conference decides, by a simple majority of those voting, to do so, the person who made the request may speak and the mover of the substantive motion, or their nominee, may reply. The chair may allow other speakers. All speeches under this standing order shall be limited to two minutes. If conference decides not to debate the reference back, it falls. d) The reference back shall require a simple majority of those voting to be passed. If it is carried the current agenda item shall be abandoned without any further debate or vote and, at the discretion of the chair, either the next agenda item shall be taken or there shall be an adjournment until the time at which the next agenda item was due to be taken. e) If the substantive motion is referred to the Federal Board, the Federal Policy Committee or the Federal Conference Committee that body shall, in its report to the next meeting of the conference, state what action it has taken on the reference. 11.3 Reference back (moved by the Federal Policy Committee) a) The Federal Policy Committee may, at any time before the beginning of the debate on a motion, submit, in writing, a request to refer that motion to the next meeting of the conference. The chair shall announce the existence of such a request at the start of the debate. b) The chair may take the request to refer back at whatever stage of the debate they consider appropriate. A nominee of the Federal Policy Committee will speak and the mover of the substantive motion, or their nominee, may reply. The chair shall have discretion whether to allow other speakers on the request. c) The reference back shall require a simple majority of those voting to be passed. If it is carried the current agenda item shall be abandoned without any further debate or vote and, at the discretion of the chair, either the next agenda item shall be taken or there shall be an adjournment until the time at which the next agenda item was due to be taken. d) If passed, the Federal Policy Committee shall, before the next meeting of the conference, circulate its reasons for acting under this section and its comments on the motion and any amendments thereto accepted for debate. 11.4 Separate vote A voting member of conference may request that the chair take a separate vote on a part of a motion or amendment provided that such a request is in writing and received by the commencement of the first conference session on the day before the debate is scheduled. If the debate is scheduled for the first day of conference, the request must be received in writing no later than 48 hours before the opening of conference. The Committee shall have complete discretion whether to take a separate vote. In exceptional circumstances, the Chair of the debate shall have discretion to accept a request for a separate vote if it is received in writing after this deadline. 11.5 Counted vote Any voting member may ask for a counted vote, which shall be taken if the request is supported by 50 members rising in their places and showing their voting cards. 11.6 Suspension of standing orders a) A voting conference member may, during any full conference session, move a motion for the suspension of standing orders. The mover shall submit the motion together with a written statement of its purpose, not exceeding 75 words, to the chair, who shall read them to the meeting. Such a motion may contain no more than one proposed change to the agenda or conduct of debate. The chair may either take the request immediately upon receipt, or at the end of the speech currently being made. b) No motion to suspend standing orders may suspend any requirement of the constitution, nor any part of these standing orders which govern: i) The rights of, or timetable for, submission of motions and amendments. ii) Consultative sessions. iii) Procedural motions for next business or suspension of standing orders. c) No motion to suspend standing orders to introduce a motion or amendment on to the agenda can be taken unless the motion or amendment has been submitted to the Committee in accordance with the published timetable and, where a right of appeal against non-selection exists, the right has been exercised. d) The chair shall read the statement of purpose and, if the suspension is allowable in the terms of this standing order, ask the conference whether it wishes to debate the request for suspension. If the conference decides not to debate the request, it falls. If the conference decides, by a majority of those present and voting, to hear the request the mover may speak and a representative of the Committee may reply. The chair shall have the discretion to allow other speakers. All speeches on the motion to suspend standing orders will be limited to two minutes. e) A motion to suspend standing orders shall only be carried if supported by at least two-thirds of the conference members voting. If the procedural motion is carried all standing orders shall remain in force except only for the purposes set out in the motion. 11.7 No procedural motions during votes No procedural motion can be moved during a vote. 12. Reports 12.1 Which reports are tabled The business session or sessions of the conference must include consideration of reports from the bodies listed in Standing Order 1.1 (b). 12.2 Submission and selection of questions A voting member may submit questions to any report tabled for consideration, by the deadlines set under Standing Orders 1.5 (d) and (e). The Committee shall publish in advance of the report session all the questions submitted under Standing Order 1.5 (d) which are in order, compositing similar questions where appropriate. Questions to the Federal Board report may include questions about the work of the Federal Audit and Scrutiny Committee and the work of the Federal People Development Committee 12.3 Whether questions are in order or not A question shall be ruled out of order if it asks the body submitting the report about issues which are outside its duties and responsibilities. If the question could be answered by another body reporting to the same conference, the Committee may transfer the question to that body. 12.4 How questions and supplementary questions are put and answered After the report is moved, the mover, or their nominee, shall answer the questions in turn. After each question has been answered, the voting member who submitted the question will be given the opportunity to put a supplementary question, speaking for a maximum of 1 minute, and the mover, or their nominee, will be given an opportunity to respond. The chair shall determine the time given to the mover in moving the report and replying to questions. The chair shall also determine how many of the published questions, and how many of the questions submitted under Standing Order 1.5 (e), can be taken. After the conference the Committee shall publish the answers to all questions submitted under Standing Orders 1.5 (d) and (e) which are in order, and to all supplementary questions asked. 12.5 Approval or rejection of reports from Federal Party committees or sub-committees Any report tabled by a Federal Party committee or sub-committee must be submitted for approval by the conference and must be voted upon accordingly. A voting member may move the rejection of any part of the report or of the report as a whole. A voting member wishing to move a rejection shall submit a speaker's card prior to the commencement of the consideration of the report, stating the section(s) which they wish to have rejected. All moves to reject a report must be debated (except that the chair shall have discretion to choose between moves to reject the same part of the report), at the conclusion of the question session. The person who made the request shall speak and the mover of the report, or their nominee, shall reply. The chair may allow other speakers, and shall determine the time given to all speakers. 12.6 Receipt of reports from other bodies Any report tabled by a body other than a Federal Party committee or sub-committee must be submitted for receipt by the conference and must be voted upon accordingly. A voting member may move not to receive the report, by submitting a speaker's card prior to the commencement of the consideration of the report. A move not to receive a report must be debated (except that the chair shall have discretion to choose between more than one move not to receive the same report), at the conclusion of the question session. The person who made the request shall speak and the mover of the report, or their nominee, shall reply. The chair may allow other speakers, and shall determine the time given to all speakers. 13. Amendment of standing orders 13.1 Amendment of standing orders These standing orders may be amended by a two-thirds majority of members of conference voting on a motion duly submitted and selected in accordance with standing orders. Subject to any amendment they shall remain in force from meeting to meeting. 14. The chair and vice chairs of the Committee 14.1 Chair and vice chairs At its first meeting after a new election the Committee shall elect a chair, who must be a member of the Committee directly elected by party members, and at least one vice chair, who must be members of the Committee either directly elected by party members or elected by one of the State Parties. The Federal Party The Federal Party is responsible for the Party's overall strategy, overall preparations for Parliamentary Elections; the overall presentation, image and media relations of the Party; and our international relationships. It has the following committee structure: Federal Conference Federal Board Federal Council Federal Conference Committee (FCC) Federal Policy Committee (FPC) Finance & Resources Committee (FFRC) Communications & Elections Committee (FCEC) People & Development Committee (FPDC) International Relations Committee (FIRC) Audit & Scrutiny Committee (FASC) The roles of each Committee are outlined in Articles 9 through 16 of the Federal Constitution. The Committees have the following Chairs: - Federal Board: Dr Mark Pack, Party President - Federal Council: Cllr Antony Hook - Federal Conference Committee: Cllr Nick da Costa - Federal Policy Committee: Ed Davey MP - Federal Finance and Resources Committee: Mike Cox, Registered Treasurer - Federal Communications and Elections Committee: Kath Pinnock - Federal People and Development Committee: Claire Hudson - Federal International Relations Committee: David Chalmers - Federal Audit and Scrutiny Committee: Dave Radcliffe Details of all the Committees, their functions and members can be found on the Party website at: www.libdems.org.uk/committees_organisations