An additional meeting of SGP Council has been called for 1 July to discuss a paper by SGP Executive:

https://members.greens.scot/file/sgp-exec-additional-council-meeting-paper-sgp-councildocx

The meeting was called on the same day as the AGM motions deadline.

This placeholder motion will allow members the time to propose how the Branch votes on this paper at Council, by submitting amendments to this motion.

At the councillor group AGM a motion to update the Memorandum of Understanding between the councillor group and branch was unanimously agreed, subject to branch agreement. This motion seeks the branch agreement to these changes.

To reflect current practice where this is agreed by the committee as part of branch budget setting.

To reduce administrative requirements and bring SO in line with current practice.

Currently reads as a responsibility but is not being carried out or being expected of sub-branches

To clarify rights of working group ordinary members.

Replace “Operations Committee” with “Executive”. Replace “Branch Committee Co-Convenors” with “Branch Co-Convenors” to reflect current terms.

To allow for accepting nominations during the AGM.

No number is given in the current text. 5 days is in line with the deadline for amendments.

It is fine in the national party constitution for these to be open to WL members only. However, in the branch SOs, it only refers to a quorum for selection meetings in terms of % of branch membership, so is ambiguous. This is aimed at addressing that.

To aid simplification of minute taking and reflect current practice.

This time constraint of 1 year is unnecessarily restrictive.

This year has seen two by-elections caused by the resignation or disqualification of a councillor less than a week after a previous by-election in the same ward (Colinton/Fairmilehead in Edinburgh and North East in Glasgow). This has forced a repeat selection to be held, which provoked questions from members about why the previous candidate could not automatically continue.

This motion would amend the party Selections Procedure so that if a by-election is held less than six months after a previous election in the same ward/constituency, the previous candidate could be automatically selected without the need to hold another selection.

This motion seeks to formally get the support of Edinburgh branch to submit to Party Conference. This would give it higher priority in the order of motions at Conference.

Preamble – Edinburgh Branch AGM

The above motion is intended for Autumn Conference, initially drafted by Kate Nevens, Edinburgh Branch Access and Inclusion Officer from 2023-present.

I (Kate) am bringing this to Edinburgh branch AGM to seek support from the branch, so that we can potentially bring this to Autumn Conference under the branch’s name.

So far, this proposal has been shared with Edinburgh Branch Committee, the national party’s current and previous EDI officers, and at least one Co-Convenor of each of our party Rep Groups. A small number of comments were received and incorporated so far. Following the Edinburgh Branch AGM, I will aim to share this on the party’s national policy forum for wider comment.

Preamble for SGP Conference Motion

It is vitally important that the Scottish Green Party puts Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at the heart of our party’s structure and operations, and seeks to take an anti-oppression and justice lens to all that we do.

We currently have one elected EDI officer who sits adjacent to our Membership Committee, who does not have a vote at either Executive or Council, has not generally been proactively invited to attend these meetings, and has not been actively represented by Membership Committee. The role has not been adequately supported by the party and has been unintentionally siloed from party activities.

Over the past year, it has been clear during meetings that the party lacks a clear voice on EDI and anti-oppression in many of our decision-making spaces, and we have not always been able to prioritise these issues as we should. While our Representative groups have been fantastic on this, a lot has fallen on their shoulders as individuals.

We believe that it is of urgent importance to have a greater emphasis on EDI and anti-oppression in the party, and believe that forming a national committee would be a step forward in this direction.

Relevant sections of the constitution:

https://members.greens.scot/file/sgp-constitution-oct-2024pdf

3.3.7 SGP Executive will consist of:

a. The Co-Leaders of the SGP;

b. The Co-Convenors of the SGP Council;

c. The Co-Chairs of the SGP Executive;

d. One Clerk of the SGP;

e. The Treasurer of the SGP;

f. A delegate from the SGP Standing Orders Committee;

g. A delegate from the SGP Conduct and Complaints Committee;

h. One delegate from each other SGP National CommitteesCommittee established by a General Meeting or SGP Council;

i. One delegate from each active SGP Representative Group;

j. One delegate from the SGP Parliamentary Group;

k. One delegate from the SGP Local Authorities Group;

l.. One delegate from the SGP TradeTrad e Union Group;

m. The senior member of SGP Staff, possessing no voting rights;

n. Additional members as defined by the Standing Orders for SGP Executive, possessing no voting rights.

3.6 Other SGP National Committees

3.6.1 A General Meeting or SGP Council may create such other SGP National Committees as they deem necessary to fulfil specific functions.

3.6.2 SGP National Committees created in this way will be accountable to SGP Executive unless otherwise specified by a General Meeting.

3.6.3 Standing orders must be produced for an SGP National Committee created in this way to be validly constituted. These Standing Orders must specify: a. The responsibilities of the committee; b. Any specific powers delegated to the committee; c. The composition of the committee and all voting rights; d. All rules and procedures pertinent to the committee; e. That all committee meetings must be minuted, and minutes made available to the membership with redactions as appropriate.

3.6.4 The Standing Orders for the committee must be approved by a simple majority vote of SGP Standing Orders Committee for the committee to be validly constituted. A current copy of the Standing Orders will be provided to SGP Standing Orders Committee. 3.6.5 The committee will maintain its Standing Orders and ensure their full and proper application. Amendments to these Standing Orders must be approved by a simple majority vote of SGP Standing Orders Committee.

3.6.6 SGP National Committees created in this way must be reviewed and approved at the subsequent annual General Meeting, after which point it will be fully constituted until such time as it is disbanded by a two thirds majority vote of a duly convened and quorate General Meeting.

Relevant section of Internal Elections Role Descriptions:

https://members.greens.scot/2400-internal-elections-committee-and-role-descriptions-2024

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Officer

The responsibilities of this role are:

Monitoring issues of equality, diversity and inclusion within the party, tracking progress, and recommending improvements;

• Suggesting and shaping possible EDI training sessions and events;

• Exploring areas relating to marginalised communities within the party;

• Contribute to the development of the SGP's party policy and internal processes to become more equitable and inclusive.

Expectations & Time Commitments:

• Attendance at monthly meetings of the Membership Committee (2 hrs/month)

• Allocating time to work on tasks in between meetings.

• Regular engagement with representative and special interest groups.

Things to note:

• This role currently sits adjacent to the Membership Committee, but the scope and workload can be informed by the office bearer and the SGP membership;

• This is a voluntary position and therefore, each individual has a responsibility to

• volunteer for the tasks and time that are manageable for their unique situations.

Committees & Working Relationships

• Work broadly with the Committees and Representative Groups;

• Work closely with the SGP Staff Events Officer to ensure events prioritise EDI;

• Work with relevant SGP Working Groups and the general membership.

Skills & Training Suggestions

• It is important that the office bearer acknowledges privilege and implicit bias;

• A good understanding of intersectional identities and barriers to access;

• A willingness to amplify the voices of underrepresented groups;

I've been events and engagement officer for the last two years and think I've become quite good at it in that time. Last year I've launched a lecture series 'Green Talks' which have been very successful, thanks to amazing quests I was able to convince to show up. Our membership was able to learn about various topics from vegan activism to the Black Panthers.

I also helped organized multiple branch socials like the Summer Picnic and the Christmas party as well as stalls at Leith Gala and Edinburgh Climate Festival.

At this point I've been organising different events for years and while I still have a lot to learn I think I can handle the role and bring multiple events to our members.

It'll be really exciting to be on the committee in the year ahead of Holyrood 2026. We'll be standing candidates in every constituency, effectively leading the way in raising the party's profile nationally. We'll be taking ever more space in the public discourse on deciding Scotland's future, in tackling the climate crisis, addressing global injustices, particularly the ongoing genocide in Palestine, and bringing the country closer to independence. The party is taking action to improve the diversity of our elected representatives. A lot of work will be needed to support our underrepresented Holyrood candidates and maintain equal gender representation in the councillor group as we select for local authority elections next year.

I have been on the branch committee for 3 years now, serving as a communications officer for the past 2 years. In this time, the comms team has worked effectively in a way that has let us engage in the roles that interest us and develop individually. Together we have made considerable progress in the quality of branch comms, in Green News, social media graphics, video production and member emails. I've also been the party clerk for over a year. My experience on the National Executive and Council will allow me to represent the branch effectively. I now seek the opportunity to facilitate the committee as a whole to continue to achieve great things! If elected onto the committee, I will not be running again for national officer/convenorship.

I am enthused by the prospect of increasing our Green vote count and representatives in the Holyrood 2026 elections, and in the following year's council elections. Achieving our potential in those elections will be a lot of work and I want to contribute as much as I can to that effort.

Close cooperation between between Comms and Elections & Campaigns will be crucial to our successes. I hope to build on the existing collaborations and help organise efforts such as:

• arranging the design and production of printed campaign materials, as well as Green News

• publicising campaign activities to members, and encouraging their involvment

• coordinating social media posts

• supporting sub-branches, candidates, and campaigns teams with their comms needs

The main things that I bring from my working experience, including having run a successful software agency for 10 years, is organisational and collaboration skills.

I am an active member of CEG sub-branch, have served as CEG Comms Officer for 2 years, as election coordinator for Westminster 2024, and have been organising warm-up canvassing sessions for Holyrood 2026.

I have two years experience as a Comms Ordinary Member and have been the main coordinator of Green News for the branch's wards during that time. I have been involved with a range of other group activities such as running the Twitter account (now abandoned), the BlueSky account, branch calendar maintenance, branch meeting tech-support, and attending working group meetings.

I have been an ordinary member of the campaign working group for the last year and I have played an active role in helping with preparing both the branch election strategy and the draft of the branch Holyrood campaign plan. With the focus of the next year on the Holyrood election I would like to help the campain team with delivering a successful outcome.

I was one of the branch organisers of the 2021 Holyrood election campaign and the 2022 council campaign therefore have experience of how campaigns work and the tasks which are needed to be undertaken at the branch level.

I have only recently moved to the city and it has been a huge perspective shift. I come from Moray originally and there is nowhere near the level of opportunity or community back home. This shocking contrast has really inspired me to get involved and take part in my commuinity where the opportunity wasnt available previously. I've always felt strongly about social issues but lacked the knowledge or direction to do anything about it. Now that I have this abundance of chances to do good locally and support those struggling much like I have I want to do so and a role within the green party represents a real, managable way to take action and develop my skills with others to look to for that much needed sense of organisation.

I believe between my growing up as someone effected by many of the social causes relevant to this party and my extensive practical skills I'm in a unique postion to fulfill my role exceptionally. In my career as a support worker I've developed strong ability to communicate with individuals of all abilities and interests as well as gained valuable experience creating written communications that are detailed and accessible such that professionals and families can make use of it. I have worked with teams to provide the highest quality of care under high pressure and often without the desirable amount of resources, this skill easily translates into other areas where I am now confident in my ability to manage high stress situations of all kinds.