Federal Conference Committee: agenda selection report

The Federal Conference Committee (FCC) met on Saturday to run through a number of items leading up to this year’s Autumn Conference in Bournemouth (23-26 September).

If you are yet to register for Conference, please do so via this link. As in Spring, there’s an online-only option, which includes streaming of the auditorium and online voting. 

Looking ahead, the FCC has announced next year’s conferences:

• Spring Conference

15-17 March 2024, York

• Autumn Conference

14-17 September 2024, Brighton

This Saturday, the Committee discussed a number of items relating to forthcoming conferences including agenda selection (details below); set-piece speeches; and the structure and format of Conference. We also reviewed some of the options for future conferences and will make further announcements once venues and options are confirmed. 

As part of the agenda selection process, we looked at a number of standing order amendments which the FCC will be submitting ourselves, as part of our Constitution and Standing Orders Tidy Up Working Group. This initial round is based on feedback from both members and the Committee. 

The FCC’s Innovation Working Group meets again in the next few weeks for preliminary work on ideas and concepts to be introduced at Conference from 2024 onwards. One of the areas the Working Group will most certainly consider are further enhancements to hybridisation at Conference.

Conference is an excellent opportunity to engage with members from across the country; influence Party policy and strategy; and to take advantage of a huge array of fringe and training events. 

The agenda for Conference, including the text of motions, policy papers and timings, will be published soon. As per usual, Conference will include a variety of interesting policy motions and debates; the Leader’s Speech; various committee and parliamentary reports; the Leader’s Q&A; plus a couple of policy consultations and set-piece speeches. As confirmed earlier this year, Kira Rudik (Leader of our sister party in Ukraine; member of the Ukrainian Parliament; and Vice President of ALDE) will be speaking at Conference and taking part in a Q&A fringe session. 

This could be the last Autumn Conference in advance of a general election, so we have asked the Chair of the Federal Communications and Elections Committee (FCEC), Baroness Kath Pinnock; Director of Field Campaigns, Dave McCobb; and the Party CEO, Mike Dixon, for a general election briefing as an auditorium session. 

We received many motions from across the Party and are extremely grateful for the time and effort that members take in formulating policy motions and ideas for debate at Conference. Unfortunately, we are unable to take all the motions submitted as time is at a premium. A large number did not make the second round when we looked at reducing timings. 

In total, we received 54 policy motions; two constitutional amendments; five standing order amendments; and three business motions. We’ve provided a summary of reasons for motions not selected and given further information to those who put them forward. In some instances, there are working groups established by the Federal Policy Committee (FPC) who will cover similar topics in the near future, so do reach out to them. 

Whilst the FCC offer drafting and language advice on motions submitted to Conference, they cannot always cover advice on policy matters. I recommend contacting members of the FPC; spokespeople; and the Party’s Affiliated Organisations (AOs) for specific policy expertise and assistance with formulating policy. If you’d like to learn more about how to write policy, the FCC are undertaking a training session at Conference on how to write a good conference, details of which are in the Conference Directory. 

Of the submitted motions, we selected nineteen policy motions; one business motion; one constitutional amendment; and three standing order amendments. The Committee went through various rounds of selection – it’s always very challenging to select which motions should or should not be added to the agenda. I’d like to thank staff who attended the full-day meeting and committee members for their contributions and hard work.

We have selected an Ukraine motion and due to the continual changes in the situation there, the FCC has agreed a later deadline of 21 September at 13:00 for amendments to this motion.

Below is the list of motions submitted, including names of motions, whether selected/not selected and brief reasons for non-selection. Please note that some of the names of motions may vary between now and publication of the agenda. 

We look forward to seeing you at Conference, here’s the link again if you have not yet had a chance to register: https://www.libdems.org.uk/conference