REDESIGN – BRANCH CONSULTATION – SPECIAL CONFERENCE 3RD AND 4TH NOVEMBER 2018
The purpose of this LTB is to provide Branches with some initial findings of the Branch Consultation and explain our current approach to the Redesign Special Conference in November 2018.
Initial findings of the Branch Redesign Consultation
The Branch Consultation on Redesign of CWU Structures closed on 11 May 2018 and we would like to thank each Branch who took the time to consider these issues and submit responses.
The overall response rate has been encouraging with 83% of Branches making a submission. This has provided us with a very large amount of data, which is now being analysed in detail.
However, some early work has been carried out on the responses to the questions which simply required a straightforward “YES/NO” answer. This was shared with the NEC when it met on the 31st May and in the interests of transparency we have attached these results for Branches.
Please note that these are only initial findings and we are not viewing this as a referendum on the questions posed. Instead, these are indicative results of where there may be support for certain changes to our structure, albeit subject to a number of caveats and reassurances that some Branches have put forward. We are now in the process of undertaking further detailed work to ensure that a comprehensive and objective assessment is made on all the information gathered.
Once the detailed analysis is complete it will be shared with the NEC, alongside a series of future policy papers with appropriate recommendations.
The NEC has agreed to make available the complete submissions to any Branch who wishes to view them and in due course we will advise Branches on how they can access this information.
The Publication of Future Policy Papers
The process outlined above and the output of the consultation will help the NEC produce a series of proactive policy papers, that taken together, will shape key elements of the Redesign Project and will enable Branches to have a clear understanding of what the union could look like in the future. These papers will be published to Branches in advance of the Special Conference in November and will cover the following areas.
• NEC structures
• Regions
• Branches
• Conferences
• Equality
• Training, Education and Learning. With regard to the Industrial Executives, further discussions will continue.
Special Conference 3rd and 4th November
Branches will be aware that the date and venue of the Special Conference was published in LTB 321/18. However, in terms of how the Conference will operate including its structure, format and delegation strengths etc., this is work in progress and discussions on this are continuing with the Standing Orders Committee and further information on this will be published in due course. Finally, for you information, we have also attached a list of those Branches who responded to the Redesign Consultation.Any enquiries on the Branch Consultation Exercise should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Office c/o Trish Lavelle at the following email address re-design@cwu.org. Any enquiries on the Special Conference should be addressed to the SDGS Department sdgs@cwu.org.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Redesign Branch Consultation Early Findings
As at 22/5/2018 108 Branches had responded to the consultation. An 83% response rate is extremely high in research terms and is very useful in terms of the quality and reliability of the data provided.
These initial findings set out the early quantitative findings of the consultation. These results are limited at this point to questions where there was a clear Yes/No response option. We also include the number of Branches who completed the consultation but did not provide any response to a given Yes/No question and the number of comments that these questions elicited.
Further analysis of the comments provided will produce a qualitative assessment of the views of Branches.
Number of branches
Number of responses
%
Overall
130
108
83
Postal
88
78
89
Telecoms, Financial Services
42
30
71
Do you agree that we should move from an annual to biennial General Conference?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
45
58%
17
57%
62
57%
No
30
38%
13
43%
43
40%
No response
3
4%
0
0%
3
3%
Comments
75
96%
30
100%
105
97%
Do you believe conference should be about setting long term strategic goals and policies?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
65
83%
24
80%
89
82%
No
6
8%
0
0%
6
6%
No response
7
9%
6
20%
13
12%
Comments
64
82%
21
70%
85
79%
Is a motion-based conference the best way of developing policy?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
57
73%
20
67%
77
71%
No
11
14%
5
17%
16
15%
No response
10
13%
5
17%
15
14%
Comments
63
81%
24
80%
87
81%
Should all existing equality conferences be replaced with a single conference and how do we ensure polices on equality issues are debated by the whole union?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
54
69%
17
57%
71
66%
No
17
22%
11
37%
28
26%
No response
7
9%
2
6%
9
8%
Comments
74
95%
28
93%
102
94%
Should we review the way in which motions are tabled for debate within the conference agenda pad?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
51
65%
16
53%
67
62%
No
20
26%
9
30%
29
27%
No response
7
9%
5
17%
12
11%
Comments
68
87%
27
90%
95
88%
Considering the Branch structure as a whole and not just your own Branch, is our current Branch structure fit for purpose in terms of the ability of all Branches to adequately organise and represent our members now and in the future?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
36
46%
10
33%
46
43%
No
30
38%
11
37%
41
38%
No response
12
15%
9
30%
21
19%
Comments
71
91%
26
87%
97
90%
Do you agree with the 14 measures of success for an effective Branch set out on pages 11 and 12 of the Branch Section of the document?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
62
79%
19
63%
81
75%
No
11
14%
5
17%
16
15%
No response
5
6%
6
20%
11
10%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Should we encourage Branches to lease rather than purchase premises?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
25
32%
11
37%
36
33%
No
36
46%
10
33%
46
43%
No response
17
22%
9
30%
26
24%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Note: low response rate. As there was no place to comment lot of branches responses have been added to the “General comments” section
Should we encourage Branches and Regions to better share and pool resources such as premises and office facilities?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
52
67%
14
47%
66
61%
No
8
10%
1
3%
9
8%
No response
18
23%
15
50%
33
31%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Note: low response rate
Would there be savings and benefits for Branches in moving to a more centralised purchasing system for some resources and services that we currently purchase, lease and contract.
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
58
74%
18
60%
76
70%
No
14
18%
6
20%
20
19%
No response
6
8%
6
20%
12
11%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Would a single online system for storing all data relating to case work be beneficial to Branches in terms of consistency and the legal obligations that we have to comply with data protection legislation?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
62
79%
20
67%
82
76%
No
10
13%
7
23%
17
16%
No response
6
8%
3
10%
9
8%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
As there was no place to comment lot of branches responses have been added to the “General comments” section
Is the current Regional structure fit for purpose?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
50
64%
10
33%
60
56%
No
19
24%
7
23%
26
24%
No response
9
12%
13
43%
22
20%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
With regard to the role and status of the Regional Secretary, should it be appointed or elected?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Appointed
3
4%
3
10%
6
6%
Elected
72
92%
20
67%
92
85%
No response
3
4%
7
23%
10
9%
Comments
Na
Na
Na
Na
Na
Na
The document sets out plans to reduce the number of Regional Sub-Committees. In your view do these plans provide adequate and appropriate structures for the Regions?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
38
49%
11
37%
49
45%
No
27
35%
7
23%
34
31%
No response
13
17%
12
40%
25
23%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Is there any benefit to the union that the principle of decisions by consensus continues in the Regions?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
25
32%
13
43%
38
35%
No
41
53%
10
33%
51
47%
No response
12
15%
7
23%
19
18%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Should the Regional Secretary be responsible for carrying out a regular health check on Branches to ensure consistency and adherence to rules, and policies?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
63
81%
15
50%
78
72%
No
10
13%
9
30%
19
18%
No response
5
6%
6
20%
11
10%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
In line with the union policy on proportionality, do you believe the current structure of the NEC is reflective of our membership?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
29
37%
8
27%
37
34%
No
42
54%
16
53%
58
54%
No response
7
9%
6
20%
13
12%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Should the CWU now review the roles of the Advisory Committees (including composition, structure and objectives)?
Postal (78)
T&FS (30)
Overall (108)
Yes
59
76%
21
70%
80
74%
No
7
9%
3
10%
10
9%
No response
12
15%
6
20%
18
17%
Comments
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Branch Responses
NAME OF BRANCHES
01001 ESSEX AMAL BRANCH
01002 COLCHESTER & DISTRICT BRANCH
01003 EASTERN NO 3 BRANCH
01004 EASTERN NO 4 BRANCH
01005 EASTERN NO 5 BRANCH
01006 EASTERN NO 6 BRANCH
01008 SUFFOLK AMAL BRANCH
01009 SOUTH CENTRAL POSTAL BRANCH
02001 BIRMINGHAM DIST AMAL BRANCH
02002 SOUTH MIDLANDS POSTAL BRANCH
02003 LEICESTERSHIRE BRANCH
02005 WOLVERHAMPTON & DIST AMAL BRANCH
02006 DERBYSHIRE BRANCH
02007 MIDLAND NO 7 BRANCH
02008 NOTTINGHAM & DIST AMAL BRANCH
03001 DONCASTER & DISTRICT AMAL BRANCH
03002 SOUTH YORKSHIRE & DISTRICT AMAL BRANCH
03003 BRADFORD & DISTRICT AMAL BRANCH
03005 LEEDS NO 1 AMAL BRANCH
03006 YORK & DISTRICT AMAL BRANCH
03007 HULL/EAST RIDINGS AMAL BRANCH
03008 NEWCASTLE AMAL BRANCH
03009 DARLINGTON AMAL BRANCH
03010 CLEVELAND AMAL BRANCH
03011 DURHAM COUNTY BRANCH
04001 NORTHERN IRELAND COMBINED BRANCH
04003 NORTHERN IRELAND WEST BRANCH
05003 CHESHIRE NO 1 AMAL BRANCH
05004 NORTH WEST CENTRAL AMAL BRANCH
05006 GREATER MANCHESTER BRANCH
05007 NORTH WEST NO 1 BRANCH
05010 EAST LANCS AMAL BRANCH
05011 NORTH LANCS & CUMBRIA BRANCH
05012 DARWEN CAPITA BRANCH
05013 WARRINGTON MAIL CENTRE BRANCH
06001 GLASGOW DIST AMAL BRANCH
06002 SCOTLAND NO 2 BRANCH
06003 GRAMPIAN/SHETLAND AMAL BRANCH
06005 SCOTLAND NO 5 BRANCH
06006 CLYDE VALLEY AMAL BRANCH
06008 HIGHLAND AMAL BRANCH
07002 PORTSMOUTH & DISTRICT POSTAL BRANCH
07004 KENT INVICTA BRANCH
07005 SOUTH EAST NO 5 BRANCH
08001 WESTERN COUNTIES BRANCH
08002 PLYMOUTH/EAST CORNWALL AMAL BRANCH
08003 BOURNEMOUTH & DORSET AMAL BRANCH
08004 WESSEX SOUTH CENTRAL BRANCH
08005 BRISTOL & DIST AMAL BRANCH
08006 GLOUCESTERSHIRE AMAL BRANCH
08007 SOUTH WEST NO 7 BRANCH
08009 JERSEY BRANCH
08010 GUERNSEY BRANCH
08011 WORCESTER & HEREFORD AMAL BRANCH
08012 CORNWALL AMAL BRANCH
09001 NORTH WALES & MARCHES BRANCH
09003 SOUTH EAST WALES AMAL BRANCH
09004 SOUTH WEST WALES AMAL BRANCH
09005 GWENT AMAL BRANCH
10002 MOUNT PLEASANT BRANCH
10004 LONDON PHOENIX BRANCH
10009 NHC POSTAL BRANCH
10011 LONDON PARCELS & STATION AMAL BRANCH
10012 NORTHERN/NORTH WEST LONDON BRANCH
10013 EAST LONDON POSTAL BRANCH
10016 SOUTH EAST LDN PTL & CTR BRANCH
10017 LONDON SOUTH WEST BRANCH
10018 KINGSTON AREA BRANCH
10020 HARROW & DISTRICT BRANCH
10021 SOUTH & EAST THAMES AMAL BRANCH
10022 CROYDON & SUTTON AMAL BRANCH
10023 S W MIDDLESEX AMAL BRANCH
21006 SOUTH CENTRAL MT BRANCH
21819 CENTRAL COUNTIES & THAMES VALLEY BRANCH
21827 SOUTH EAST ANGLIA BRANCH
21831 NORTH ANGLIA BRANCH
22032 MIDLAND NO 1 BRANCH
22238 LEICESTER & MIDSHIRES BRANCH
22239 MIDLANDS MT BRANCH
22601 ALGUS NATIONAL BRANCH
22803 EAST MIDLANDS BRANCH
22809 COVENTRY BRANCH
23404 SOUTH YORKSHIRE BRANCH
23669 TYNE & WEAR CLERICAL BRANCH
23727 BRADFORD FINANCIAL SERVICES BRANCH
23808 NORTH EAST BRANCH
23817 LINCOLNSHIRE & SOUTH YORKS BRANCH
23830 WEST YORKSHIRE BRANCH
24024 NORTHERN IRELAND TELECOMS BRANCH
25274 MANCHESTER COMBINED BRANCH
25730 BOOTLE FINANCIAL SERVICES BRANCH
25732 Northern and National Financial Services Branch
25821 LANCS AND CUMBRIA BRANCH
26156 GLASGOW & MOTHERWELL BRANCH
26157 SCOTLAND MT BRANCH
26825 EDINBURGH DUNDEE & BORDERS BRANCH
26829 SCOTLAND NO 1 BRANCH
27049 SOUTH EAST CENTRAL BRANCH
27353 PORTS W SUSSEX & I O W BRANCH
28459 SOMERSET DEVON & CORNWALL BRANCH
28828 GREAT WESTERN BRANCH
29807 MID WALES THE MARCHES & N STAFFS BRANCH
29823 SOUTH WALES BRANCH
30122 LDN REGIONAL MT BRANCH
30252 GREATER LONDON COMBINED BRANCH
30255 LONDON POSTAL ENG BRANCH
30811 LONDON AND WEST BRANCH
30834 SOUTH LDN SURREY & NORTH HAMPSHIRE BRANCH
45001 GREATER MERSEY & S W LANCS AMAL BRANCH
18LTB 343 Redesign Branch Consultation Special Conference 3rd and 4th November 2018
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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