National Equal Rights Advisory Committees/Conferences

Formation and Meetings
1. There shall be a National Women’s Advisory Committee, a National Black and Ethnic Minority Members Advisory Committee, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender + Advisory Committee and a Disabled Members’ Advisory Committee. Each Committee will meet three times per year. Each Committee will advise the National Executive Committee and organise activities, which are in line with Union policy, on matters germane to that Committee.

Items Germane
2. The National Women’s Advisory Committee shall deal with items relating to women members, submitted by Branches and Regional Councils. The Committee must conform to Union policy and its reports shall be submitted via the General Secretary to the Equal Rights Sub-Committee.

3. The National Black and Ethnic Minority Members Advisory Committee shall deal with items relating to Black and Ethnic Minority members, submitted by Branches and Regional Councils. The Committee must conform to Union policy and its reports shall be submitted via the General Secretary to the Equal Rights Sub-Committee.

4. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender + Advisory Committee shall deal with items relating to LGBT+ members, submitted by Branches and Regional Councils. The Committee must conform to Union policy and its reports shall be submitted via the General Secretary to the Equal Rights Sub-Committee.

5.     The Disabled Members’ Advisory Committee shall deal with items relating to disabled members, submitted by Branches and Regional Councils. The Committee must conform to Union policy and its reports shall be submitted via the General Secretary to the Equal Rights Sub-Committee.

Constitution, Secretarial services etc
6.    The General Secretary shall provide administrative services to each Committee. Each Committee shall adopt standing orders and a constitution, subject to these being approved by the General Secretary or the National Executive Committee and being strictly consistent with these rules.

Annual Conference
7.    Each Committee shall also have an annual conference, which will deal with items germane to that group. The Conferences must conform to national policy as determined by the decisions of the Annual General Meeting or the National Executive Committee.

Powers
8. These Conferences shall not have any executive authority and shall not conduct negotiations with any employer or group of employers. Subject to the other provisions of these Rules, the matters to be dealt with by each Conference will be determined by Branches and Regional Councils, who will be invited to submit resolutions for consideration.

Liaison Committees
9.  Each Conference shall have a Liaison Committee elected at the Conference each year, comprising three members of the relevant advisory committee. Arrangements will also be made for one member of each Liaison Committee to Chair the respective Conference and Advisory Committee.

Secretarial Services and Expenses
10. The General Secretary shall provide secretarial services to each Conference and the expenses of the four Conferences will be met by Head Office.

Delegates, Date & Venue of Annual Conference
11. Each Branch and Regional Council will be entitled to send women, black and ethnic minority, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender + and disabled members to each Conference respectively. The number of delegates to each Conference shall be determined by the National Executive Committee. The date and venue of each Conference will be fixed by Head Office following consultation with the Committee. 

Dissolution etc
12. The provisions of Rule 12, Clauses 2, 7, 9, 15 and 16 shall apply to these Conferences, and for the purposes of such application, the Conferences shall be deemed to be Industrial Organising Conferences within the meaning of the Rule.