Party Councils are the adminstrative unit of the Co-operative Party, made up of branch delegates to support and plan member activity in the area.

Party Councils approve the procedures for selecting candidates, allocate funding for branches, elect delegates to Annual Conference and provide general support for their branches.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have a single party council. In England a party council will cover one or more counties or a full region.

There are three or more key posts that should be filled for a branch or Party Council to operate effectively - Chair, Secretary, Treasurer (or a Secretary/Treasurer).

These office holders form a core team that helps the party work effectively, and are the basis of the Party Council (or branch) Executive, should it have one. These officers should work together to create an annual development plan that ensures the party or branch is a dynamic and campaigning force in the Labour and co-operative movements and wider community. The party council officers also play a key role in liaising with the local branches and their officers.

It is possible to change the names of these posts, or to redefine what they do.  For example, the Chair need not chair all of the meetings.  The Secretary may not be the one who takes the notes of the meetings.  Both of these tasks can be shared with other members or rotated.

There will be a number of other roles that can assist the party’s development e.g. membership officer, assistant secretary, campaigns officer, education officer, co-operative liaison Officer, youth officer, equality officer.  You should also bring other people into the branch or Party Council team for specific tasks or campaigns to make the best use of the skills and enthusiasm of the members – there doesn’t need to be a previous job title or vacancy to do this.

Importantly, do ensure that you have a succession plan for key roles and that you include and engage as many members as you can in the work and the decisions of the branch and party.  Whilst experience is valuable, it isn’t sustainable for a branch or party council to be reliant on the same two or three individuals over a long period of time.

Party Council Secretary - duties

The Party Council secretary has a key role to play in supporting the chair in the leadership of the party. S/he will usually be the person who:

• Convenes meetings and circulate the agenda
• Ensures that actions decided are followed through
• (with the other officers) drafts the annual development plan
• Liaises with branches on campaigns and activity
• Liaises with local CLPs on delegates and selections
• Ensures that the local Party participates fully in the work of the Party nationally e.g by organising delegates for Annual Conference, contributing to the policy process
• Ensures that the Party’s rules and procedures are followed on recruitment, selections, discipline, conduct of meetings etc,– see Rule Book

Your key sources of information will be the monthly Officer Support Mailing, which will remind you of forthcoming tasks and deadlines, and the Rule Book.  For anything that is not in the Officer Support Handbook or Mailings or Rule Book or that you don’t understand, the Party Support Team are here to help.

The Party Council secretary should ensure the local party is:

• Keeping in contact with branches through a regular branch mailing
• Producing and keeping an up-to-date Party Council directory with details of Party Council and branch officers, delegates to the Party Council and regional advisory committee, and delegates to the Labour Party and other bodies
• Drafting and implementing an annual development plan to promote the Party’s policies and campaigns and recruit members.
• Affiliated to all Constituency Labour Parties in its area, working with branch secretaries to nominate delegates, submit motions, influence local Labour policy and recruit members to the Co-operative Party. NB the affiliation fee for all CLPs is now paid centrally by Head Office and recharged to local parties.
• Seeking and supporting co-operators to stand for elected office and managing parliamentary and councillor selections in the area in accordance with the rule book.
• Working closely with your local Labour and Co-operative MPs, councillors, MSPs or AMs or candidates
• Working closely with local Co-operative Societies and other co-ops and mutuals in the area.
• Taking part in national campaigns, sending delegates to Annual Conference and submitting policy

When preparing for meetings the Party Council secretary should:

• Plan the agenda with the chair, checking anything from the Officer Support Mailing, previous actions agreed and the development or campaign plan that should be included
• Circulate papers for Party Council meetings to delegates
• Prepare for the executive committee, where a Party Council has one
• Select items that require a committee decision only, circulating other items in a correspondence file
• Prioritise party business including head office and regional communications and matters affecting branches and the local party

Following meetings the Party Council secretary should:

• Produce concise action orientated minutes
• Communicate relevant items to branches

Useful to note -

Head Office issues a lot of e-mails to members, and especially to officers. The monthly Officer Support Mailing (OSM) is intended to consolidate these, highlighting important information you may have missed and drawing attention to tasks and deadlines.  Please check the OSM before each Party Council meeting.

The treasurer shares the legal responsibility for the Party Council’s finances with the Party Council Secretary, who is also the deputy treasurer/second officer notified to the Electoral Commission.

Responsibilities

As well as working as part of the Executive, the treasurer is responsible for managing the finances of the party council. Specific responsibilities include:

• Ensuring the Party Council and its branches comply with the provisions of the PPERA (Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act) – (see ‘reporting requirements’ below);
• Ensuring the Party Council plan is underpinned by an appropriate budget, prepared in consultation with other officers;
• Assessing planned expenditure, for example, on supporting candidates, affiliations, expenses, conferences, branch grants, etc.
• Supporting branch treasurers to ensure they adequately manage their finances and report to the Party Council;
• Overseeing all Party Council bank accounts and investments, and reporting on them to the party council on a regular basis;
• Preparing audited accounts for the AGM and Head Office, as well as the Electoral Commission (if your income or expenditure is over £25,000) and to Subscribing Societies where relevant.
• Reporting donations and loans (see separate guidance)
• Developing fundraising plans to increase the party council’s income.

Party Council income

There are four main sources of income for party councils:

• A core grant from the supporting Co-operative Society, which will be paid when you have submitted your Annual Statement of Accounts and may come in two parts. If the Society is the Co-operative Group or East of England Co-operative, this grant will be paid through Co-operative Party Head Office
• A share of the membership fee relating to each paid up member. The amount is set by the NEC and is paid from April each year by Co-operative Party Head Office
• Some Party Councils will be eligible to apply for additional funding to support one-off projects or campaigns, for example the Campaign Fund (Midcounties Co-operative parties), and the Activity Fund (Co-operative Group parties);
• Fundraising through raffles, dinners, ticket sales, sponsorship, donations and joint events with other organisations. Branches can also fundraise through raffles, dinners, ticket sales, sponsorship, donations and joint events with other organisations.  You don’t need to register with your local authority to hold a raffle, but before doing so check here to ensure that you are complying with the statutory requirements (‘private society lotteries)

 Reporting donations and loans

If your Party receives a donation of £500 or more, other than your annual grant from the Society you must contact Karen Wilkie straight away so that the donation can be verified as permissible.  Do not wait for the end of the quarter.

Report all cash and in-kind donations over £500 to Karen Wilkie within two weeks of the end of each quarter (e.g. by the 15^th of January, April, July, October).

During the General Election period we must report weekly as well as quarterly.

Party Council Expenditure

Some of the main sources of expenditure Party Councils can expect each year include:

• Affiliation to all Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) within your party council area – to make this easier for you this will normally be paid by Head Office on your behalf.  CLPs will see this on their bank statements as ‘Co-op Affiliation’.
• Constituency Plan Agreements (CPAs) cover the campaign costs related to having a Labour and Co-operative MP or candidate – this is paid by Head Office on your behalf;
• Delegation fees for Annual Conference are paid to Head Office who may also arrange accommodation for your delegates – you will need to budget for the delegate fees and accommodation and also to pay for travel costs for delegates;
• Funding to support Co-operative Party council candidates in your area, the level of which will be set by the Party Council in consultation with Head Office;
• Branches are funded by the party council, who also decide how much to pay – the recommended level is £4 per member plus £100 for each branch.

Party councils may not enter into any contract with a value in excess of £1,000 without the express permission of the NEC.

Keeping accounts

• The Party’s financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December, not AGM to AGM.
• Keep your records up to date to make it easier to make regular reports to the rest of the party council.
• The treasurer must be a signatory on all bank accounts held by the party council and receive the bank statements. The signatories should be at least 3 current officers with 2 signatures being required on cheques.
• The Annual Statement of Accounts should be prepared and approved by the Party Council in the first quarter of the year and forwarded to Head Office by 30 April.
• Party Councils with income and/or expenditure greater than £25,000 must also send a copy of the Annual Statement of Accounts to the Electoral Commission by 30 April or risk a fine.
• You must keep records of your accounts for six years.
• Party Councils should appoint 2 members to act as auditors at its AGM who should audit the accounts before they are approved by the party council.

The Electoral Commission recognises Party Councils as ‘Accounting Units’.  You can find detailed guidance on the responsibilities of a Party Council (‘Accounting Unit’)Treasurer from the Electoral Commission here

IMPORTANT: The Electoral Commission requires the Co-operative Party to keep an up-to-date list of all Party Council treasurers and secretaries, who are legally responsible for the Party Council’s finances. If you have a change of officers, make sure Head Office is notified promptly so the changes can be made with Electoral Commission.

Actions

• Ensure that the Party Council agrees an annual budget to match predicted income and the Party’s plan for the year.
• Keep clear accounts, with income and expenditure supported by the budget, minutes, cheque stubs, bank statements.
• Submit quarterly donations returns promptly.
• If your income or expenditure exceeds £25,000, ensure that you submit your accounts to the Electoral Commission by the deadline.
• Prepare an annual statement of accounts for the Party Council’s auditor and forward to Head Office.
• Let us know straight away if the Treasurer or Secretary changes.

For further information contact:  Shane Brogan

Date last updated: January 2018

Additional links:

Electoral Commission Guidance