Annual General Meeting 2004

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Saturday 15 May 2004 at the Birmingham and Midland Institute, Birmingham

 Present:        Paul Walker (Chair), Val Bayliss-Brideaux, Huw Davies, Christine Dore, Brian Flood, Mair Garside, Christine Hay, Constance Hunter, Tony Jewell, John Lipetz, David Mattocks, Joy Mostyn, Linda Pepper, Mike Roberts, Gavin Ross, Rosemary Ross, Hiren Roy, Rita Stringfellow, Ali Syed MBE, Peter Viggers, and Mike Young.

In attendance:        Judith Blakeman and Martin Rathfelder.

1. Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from David Amos, Dave Backwith, Judith Bates, John Biggs, Richard Burden MP, Audrey Chamberlain, Mel Chevannes, Anne Davis, Terry Davis MP, Geraint Day, Sanjay Dighe, Julia Drown MP, Steph Elsy, Paul Flowers, Philippa Ford, Judy Foster, Jean Gaffin, Barbara Gaunt, Helen Gordon, John Grayson, Karen Greenwood, Dianne Hayter, Joan Higgins, Lizi Irvine, Sheila Jones, Nikki Joule, Louise Kilbride, Simon Kirk, Joyce Leeson, Jenny Knight, Derek Marcus, Florence Matthews, Peter Mayer, Patricia Moberley, Catriona Morton, Doug Naysmith MP, Stan Newens, David Pickersgill, David Player, Val Price, Ruth Pushkin, Suresh Pushpananthan, Emma Reed, Tony Ryle, Janet Seymour Kirk, Peter Weston, Maggie Winters, Rosie Winterton MP, Carol Wood, Pat Woodside, Katherine Wright and Simon Wright.

2. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 2003

The minutes of the 2003 Annual General Meeting were agreed as a correct record.

3. Matters arising not elsewhere on the agenda

There were no matters arising.

4. Appointment of SHA Officers 2004-05

Tony Jewell took the Chair, and the following were elected as officers for the coming year:

Chair:                     Paul Walker

Vice Chair:             Mike Young
Vice Chair:             Rita Stringfellow
Secretary:              Tina Funnell
Treasurer:              Gavin Ross

5. Appointment of Central Council 2003-04

 Paul Walker took the chair and the following were elected to serve on Central Council for the coming year:

Val Bayliss-Brideaux, Huw Davies, Christine Dore, Brian Flood, Paul Flowers, Mair Garside, Christine Hay, Tony Jewell, John Lipetz, Joy Mostyn, Doug Naysmith MP, David Pickersgill, Suresh Pushpananthan, Mike Roberts, Rosemary Ross, Ali Syed, Peter Viggers.

6. Appointment of Auditors

Edward Ashley and David Mattocks were appointed as auditors for the coming year. The meeting placed on record its grateful thanks to retiring auditor Dianne Hayter for the exceptional work she had done on behalf of the SHA.

7.  Labour Party Conference delegate

Martin Rathfelder was appointed as delegate to the 2004 Labour Party Conference.

8. Annual Report 

Commenting on the Annual Report, Mike Young said that as delegate to the 2003 Labour Party Conference he had been very upset by the way the platform and some speakers in the health debate had condemned Unison and ordinary health workers. He pointed out that one of the speakers called in the debate to support the platform had been a delegate from Scotland, where foundation trusts were not to be established.

It was reported that the SHA is looking at new ways of communicating with members. Traffic on the website has doubled each year since 2001, and in future Socialism & Health will be sent in electronic form to all members with e-mail. Hard copies will continue to be mailed to those without e-mail.

The Annual Report was accepted.

9. Annual Accounts

Treasurer Gavin Ross thanked the auditors and the officers for ensuring that the SHA had lived within its means during the year. The 31 December 2003 deficit had been mitigated by a late grant from the David Stark Murray Trust. As a result of the postal strike, the flyer in the Health Service Journal had not been effective in recruiting new members. SHA events could be risky but usually provide an income for the Association, and legacies have been another source of funds.

The AGM was asked to consider new ways of raising income, and suggestions included a legacy leaflet, and recruiting all Labour members of health overview and scrutiny committees.

The Annual Accounts were accepted.

10. Policy and recruitment leaflet

The draft policy and recruitment leaflet was endorsed, and the new slogan commended in particular.

11. Response to the Choosing Health consultation

A first draft of the response was tabled and approved. Members were invited to send any final comments to the office by the following weekend.

12. Affiliations

It was agreed to affiliate to the national, Scottish, Cymric, Northern and London Labour Parties, to Medact and to the UK Public Health Association.

13. Resolutions
There were no resolutions for debate.

14. Any other business

There was no other business.