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Motions Online: electronic submission of motions for 2010 conferences

 

Introduction

Last year, the National Standing Orders Committee (SOC) piloted "Motions Online" for national conference. The system allows branches to submit motions, emergency motions and references back online via the PCS website.

The SOC are aware that some branches have difficulty accessing the internet from office computers (although the system can also be used from home computers) so electronic submission is optional and branches wishing to use the postal system can do so. However, motions must not be submitted both electronically and in hard copy.

After a review of the first year the NEC have agreed the system will continue to be employed for national conference in 2010 and also to pilot its expansion to group conferences. Seven SOCs volunteered to take part in the pilot of which IPS and DWP are involved in 2010. Thank you to the other SOCs who expressed an interest. If all goes well we will be seeking NEC approval to roll out Motions Online further in 2011.

Where do I submit motions?

The system is accessible via the PCS website. A link can be found embedded on the homepage of the site or you can go there directly there by typing http://www.pcs.org.uk/motions into the address bar. We suggest you add this page to your favourites/bookmarks.

How do I submit motions?

Once your general meeting has agreed the text of the motion, two branch officers are required to make the submission. Both branch officers will need their membership numbers, hold activated passwords (which can be obtained through the member login page) and must have separate email addresses.

The submitting officer

The submitting officer should enter Motions Online via one of the routes outlined above which lead to the member login page. Once logged in, follow each step as they appear, completing all required fields. Only one motion can be entered per submission form, but after you have completed all the fields once, they will repopulate automatically for each successive motion that you submit.

Once you have inserted a motion into the text box (simply copy and paste your motion which will be converted to a standardised font) and click on the submit button. This will store the motion and you can later visit to check progress while the second branch officer (the confirming officer) is notified by email that a motion requires their attention.

Here (the Actions page) you will see a reference number allocated to each motion (eg ID 144) which you should quote if, for any reason, you need to contact the relevant SOC about it.

You should avoid the use of sub-bullet points. The standard font will accept bullet points, but sub-bullet points may be lost in translation.

The confirming officer

The confirming officer will receive an email containing a link in respect of each motion that your branch wants to submit. Follow the link and log in.

Once through member login, the confirming officer will be able to see details of the motions submitted, and has the option of confirming that the motion can be submitted or rejected. The number of motions awaiting confirmation should mirror the number of emails received.

If you confirm that the motion is as agreed at your general meeting it will be forwarded to the relevant SOC and an email will automatically be generated to the submitting officer showing that it has been received. 

If you spot an error you can reject the motion and the submitting officer will be advised by email that appropriate corrections need to be made and the motion resubmitted. The confirming officer will also be asked to enter a reason for the rejection which can be viewed by the submitting officer.

It is strongly recommended that if both officers are using the same PC/terminal the submitting officer logs out of the PCS website before the confirming officer logs in and vice versa.

Motions Online can be used from any PC with web access. Branch officers do not have to be co-located in the same place and at the same time to complete the process.    

Emergency motions and references back

Motions Online allows branches to submit both emergency motions and references back once the conference agenda has been published in April. Submissions will be made by the same method as laid out above.

Seconding a motion, withdrawing as seconder and withdrawing a motion from the conference agenda

An increasing number of branches each year contact the SOC after the publication of SOC report no.1 to ask to second, withdraw as seconder or to withdraw a motion from the conference agenda. An enhancement to Motions Online in 2010 enables branches to make these requests via the website ahead of conference. Seconding slots will be handled on a first come first served basis and branches will be advised as soon as possible if their request was successful.  

Branches will still be able to submit these requests during conference in the usual way.

Deadlines

Motions Online is live from Monday 1 February and will be closed for receipt at 5pm on Thursday 4 March 2010. This deadline applies to motions for national and group conferences. 

Other information

If you experience difficulties in using the system please email James Patterson (PCS web officer) at jamesp@pcs.org.uk.

It is recommended that you submit your motions no later than two days before the closing date. If  technical problems develop with the system this will still allow time for the motions to be sent via Royal Mail guaranteed overnight delivery.

If you have any queries for SOCs on conference-specific issues please contact:

National conference - Steve Farley at stevef@pcs.org.uk.

DWP conference - Dave Wilkinson at davidw@pcs.org.uk

IPS conference - Alan Brown at alanb@pcs.org.uk

Remember:

• Don’t leave submission of your Branch motions until the last minute
• Don’t use Motions Online and the postal system as this slows down the processing of your motions
• Don't use sub-bullet points in the text of your motion
• Do log out of the PCS website before the next officer logs on
• Do submit your motions no later than two days before the closing date if, and whenever possible.

National Standing Orders Committee:

  • Derek Mellor (Chair)
  • Ian Fitzpatrick
  • Jon Gamble
  • Gordon Rowntree
  • Calum Walker
  • Steve Farley (Secretary)
  • Laure Mague (Admin)

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