Dear Members,
Thank you to those Reps of you who have already confirmed their attendance at this year’s Annual Delegates Conference and CPD event to be held at: *** Venue *****between Tuesday 12th October 2021 and Wednesday 13th October 2021. To confirm, the event will commence promptly at 1pm on the 12th October, with registration from 12noon, the NCOA will be providing a buffet lunch at 12noon.
For your information, the ** Venue *** has some COVID-19 specific requirements as well as their normal hiring conditions .In summary, as other persons may also be using the venue, we are encouraged to wear masks when in communal areas and follow any designated routes. Whilst I recognise that most of us have now got used to having our own masks always with us, there will also be some available to collect at registration. The NCOA has booked sufficiently large rooms to maintain social distancing; we also have use of the garden area for use during breaks. For completeness the additional requirements can be found at: Available to NCOA Reps
Besides these specific venue requirements, all delegates may wish to consider taking a lateral flow test prior to the ADC, as a courtesy to the other reps and the guest speakers attending.
Standing Orders Committee
A number of Motions have now been submitted by the Regions and the NEC. I anticipate that there will be some lively debate on matters which have a real impact for NCOA Members!
The Standing Orders Committee (SOC) will be meeting this week and the ADC Motions Booklet will be published in early October 2021 and in sufficient time for workplace representative to engage with the members on the motions which have been tabled for debate.
A number of guest speakers have also been secured to deliver professional development inputs to NCOA Reps.
Emergency Motions (EM).
These can be submitted on the appropriate form (available to Reps), if the information, contained within the emergency motion was not known before the 24th August 2021 or, as a consequence of an ordinary motion being submitted, new information is revealed which is both relevant and current. Emergency Motions should clearly report on the EM form, how the EM criteria are met.
All emergency motions must be forwarded to the National Officer sbond@ncoa.org.uk and copied to membership@ncoa.org.uk by 1pm on the 7th October 2021.
Referencing Back.
Any Region wishing to reference back a motion must make an appointment to meet the SOC. ‘Referencing back’ a motion is the process by which a Region can attempt to change the marking that has been put against a motion by the SOC.
Workplace Representatives wishing to reference back a motion should only do so if they have met with the SOC first and attempted to resolve their concerns. The SOC will be meeting at 11am on the 12th October 2021 at the conference venue, to make an appointment to meet the SOC, the Regional Rep or mandated delegate should contact the SOC at sbond@ncoa.org.uk.
Again, I recognise that this is a lot of information for Reps to take in and I thankyou in anticipation of your support for this important event in the NCOA calendar. Please feel free to come back to me should you require any further information or guidance in the run up to this year’s ADC.
Kind regards,
Steve BOND
National Officer
NCOA.