London Labour adopts radical resolutions on housing - will local Labour led councils respond?

It has been clear for some time that there is a divergence between what Jeremy Corbyn said about housing and local estate regeneration at the national Labour Party Conference and what actually is happening in London councils controlled by Labour.  Clearly national policy change is also required but councils do have some room for  action and the ability to put pressure on the government through the LGA and other bodies.

At the weekend two detailed motions on housing were passed overwhelmingly at the London Labour Party Regional  Conference which should cause some rethinking of Brent Council policy. Whether it will or not is of course a matter for the rank and file members of the Brent Labour Party and the attitude of theLabour Group on the council.

Motion 1
 

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End the freeze to local housing allowances (LHA) which is making London increasingly unaffordable to people on low incomes. Shelter’s research shows that the LHA rates have already fallen behind actual rents in nearly 70% of England, meaning families are chasing an ever smaller number of properties at the bottom of the market covered by housing benefit, or are having to make up the difference by cutting back on essential spending elsewhere. The freeze will simply exacerbate this.

Shelter’s model suggests that after two years nearly all of the country will be unaffordable and the bottom third of the market will be affordable in just 20 local authorities.

Shelter defines an area as very unaffordable to benefit claimants when LHA rates fall below the 10^th percentile. Their research shows that by 2019 60 local authorities will be very unaffordable, including most of London and large parts of the Home Counties, as well as towns like Reading.

Conference supports the following actions in the Private Rented Sector:

·       Introduce controls on future rent increases, extending or a ‘system of rent caps’ to limit rent increases and ensure predictable rents.

·       Increase security through longer term tenancies and strengthening tenants’ rights not to be automatically evicted.

·       Improve standards through measures that include borough-wide licensing schemes, landlord accreditation and guaranteed minimum standards for private tenants.

·       Councils could be encouraged to introduce voluntary Rent Stabilisation Schemes, such as Camden Council’s scheme, to control rents and make them more affordable.

·       Improve industry practices through a ban on letting agents’ fees and consider the creation of council run letting agencies to promote best practice.

·       London Labour Conference will work and campaign with our Branches, forums, Affiliates, MPs, Assembly members and Councillors to achieve these aims. 

Motion 2

The London Labour Party Conference demands access to decent housing as a human right and believes that the housing needs and aspirations of Londoners should have priority over a market approach.

Conference welcomes the overwhelming support for Composite 5 at our Party’s National Conference. We also note the bold and unequivocal statements by our Party Leader on estate regeneration where he made two clear points:

·       …people who live on an estate that is redeveloped must get a home on the same site and on the same terms as before

·       …councils will have to win a ballot of existing tenants and leaseholders before any redevelopment scheme can take place

This conference supports full binding – ballot rights for estate residents in future regeneration projects in London and calls for current regeneration schemes to be stayed until councils have held ballots of all those affected.

Conference notes Shelter’s investigation, released on 28^th September 2017, where it raised concerns that Housing developers are using viability assessments to build fewer social/council homes that they had initially promised.

Conference calls upon the Mayor of London, the Greater London Authority and Labour controlled borough councils in London to maintain the existing stock of council and Housing Association housing and to work to increase it by:

·       Retaining full ownership and control of available public land

·       Increasing publicly led and controlled investment in new and existing Council and other commonly owned housing, including housing bonds alongside other direct investment.

·       Directly delivering construction and maintenance services and to commit to a training scheme for direct labour to build and maintain council housing with guaranteed jobs within the council workforce upon successful completion.

·       We need high quality council and Housing Association housing with secure lifetime tenancies and genuinely affordable rent (i.e. council target rents or Mayor of London living rent). All future developments should ensure levels of accessibility, adaptable and lifetime homes for disabled people that are all based on a clearly evidenced understanding of disabled people’s needs in each London Housing authority.

·       Exploring and promoting, where appropriate, the use and development of 100% council-owned development vehicles to build and provide at council (target) rents.

·       Supporting communities by requiring at least 1:1 advance replacement, within the same neighbourhood of council homes sold or demolished under regeneration schemes, with a minimum of 50% of any additional housing for council rents.

·       Ceasing and prevent the transfer of land to either private developers or joint venture development vehicles which cede an ownership and /or control to property developers

·       Ensure complete transparency of viability assessments – the Government’s planning guidance should make clear that viability assessments will be considered public documents.

·       The Mayor of London, in his London Plan, London Boroughs, in their local planning polices, should include residents’ consultation, and any subsequent Ballot Process in new regeneration of Council/Housing Association stock. Residents should be given full financial information on all possible options at the “appraisal” stage, not just those assessed as “viable”.

·       Promoting Co-operative housing managed by residents; development of new co-operative and mutually owned housing where supported by local communities.

·       Campaigning for a Land Value Tax for vacant or underutilised land and seeking to end the “Right to Buy”.

We further call on the Mayor of London, the GLA and councils to ensure that brownfield land, including that owned by TfL, is made available to councils for council housing development and is not sold or transferred to private developers.

This Conference:

·       Urges CLPs to campaign on estates around the capital explaining Labour Policy to support tenants’ rights when confronted with regeneration and calls on the London Labour Party to support such campaigns through any practical means.

·       Calls for all Labour Councillors to support and campaign around our Party’s policy on estate regeneration.

·       Demands the policies outlined above be prioritised in Labour’s Manifesto for London and Borough Manifestos for the 2018 Council Elections.

Climate Jobs - Not Bombs Lucas Plan Conference Nov 26th

Leading figures from the left, trade union, environmental and peace movements are coming together at a conference on November 26th with a fresh perspective on tackling current crises, using the ideas of socially useful production pioneered in the Lucas Plan. The Plan, produced by workers at the Lucas Aerospace arms company, showed how jobs could be saved by converting to make socially useful products, rather than weapons. See www.lucasplan.org.uk, or the notes below for more information on the Lucas Plan.

The conference will focus on 5 key themes:

The Lucas Plan and socially useful production.
Arms conversion and peace.
Climate change and a socially just transition to sustainability.
The threat to skills and livelihoods from automation.
Local/community economic and industrial planning.
Linking all these issues is the need to rethink how we can produce what people and society actually need and overcome corporate domination through their control of technology.

Highlights of the conference will include:

Talks by Phil Asquith, Brian Salisbury and Mick Cooney (Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Combine).

Screening of a new film on the Lucas Plan by Steve Sprung.

Contributions from: Chris Baugh (PCS), Suzanne Jeffery (Million Climate Jobs Campaign), Hilary Wainwright (Red Pepper), Natalie Bennett, Molly Scott-Cato and Jonathan Essex (Green Party), Philip Pearson (Greener Jobs Alliance), Romayne Phoenix (People’s Assembly Against Austerity), Mary Pearson (Birmingham Trades Council), Tony Kearns (CWU), Mika Minio-Paluello (Platform), Philippa Hands (UNISON), Stuart Parkinson (Scientists for Global Responsibility), Dave Elliott (Open University), Liz Corbin (Institute of Making), Tony Simpson (Bertrand Russell Foundation), Dave King (Breaking the Frame), Simon Fairlie (The Land magazine), Karen Leach (Localise West Midlands), Marisol Sandoval (City University), Tom Unterrainer (Bertrand Russell Foundation), John Middleton (Medact), Gail Chester (Feminist Library), Julie Ward (Labour Party), David Cullen (Nuclear Information Service) and Richard Lee (Just Space).

The conference on the Lucas Plan 40th anniversary will be held at Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (138 Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR) on November 26, 2016.

See www.lucasplan.org.uk.

The conference is being organised and sponsored by: former members of the Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Combine, Breaking the Frame, PCS, UCU, Million Climate Jobs Campaign, Green Party, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Campaign Against Arms Trade, CND, Left Unity, Quaker Peace and Social Witness, Red Pepper, War on Want, Conference of Socialist Economists, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Newcastle TUC, Medact, and Momentum.

Tickets are £10/£5 concessions: To book for the conference, visit www.lucasplan.org.uk/tickets. For more information, email info@breakingtheframe.org.uk

BACKGROUND INFO: The Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Combine’s Alternative Corporate Plan (‘The Lucas Plan’) was launched in 1976 and became famous worldwide, sparking an international movement for socially useful production and workers’ plans. Facing the threat of redundancies, the Combine collected 150 ideas from shop floor workers about alternative socially useful products that could be produced by the company, instead of relying on military orders. Many of the innovations in the plan, such as hybrid car engines, heat pumps and wind turbines were commercially viable and are now in widespread use. Although the Alternative Plan was rejected by Lucas Aerospace managers, it was instrumental in protecting jobs at Lucas in the 1970s. The Combine was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and Mike Cooley received the Right Livelihood Award in 1982. More information about the Plan, including the 53-page summary of the five 200 page volumes, can be found on the conference website, www.lucasplan.org.uk.

Getting to the Conference

The conference venue, Birmingham Voluntary Service Council at 138 Digbeth B5 6DR, is very close to central Birmingham stations, click here for map. We'll be starting at 10am sharp and we have a packed programme, so please be on time.

Progressive Alliance Panel at Green Party Conference

Friday 2 September, 18.30-19.45
Progressive Alliances: The case for cross-party working and why it could be a game-changer for the Green Party

This session will explore the various options that collectively get called a 'progressive alliance'. It will launch a new book on this, “The Alternative”, which has been co-edited by 3 of our panellists. Signed copies will be available for sale afterwards. It will also launch the Green House report, The Green Case for a Progressive Pact, which will also be on sale at the event.

	Chair - Zoe Williams has been a columnist on the Guardian since 2000 - previously, she wrote a column for the London Evening Standard.  In her ceaseless endeavour to smash the patriarchy, she contributes to various magazines and news weeklies, including Marie Claire, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, Red and Grazia.  Broadcasting includes Question Time, the Daily Politics, The Politics Show and Newsnight for the BBC; Dispatches and the Channel Four News for Channel Four; a paper review for Sky News; and appearances on the Today programme, Any Questions, Woman's Hour, PM and the World Tonight for BBC Radio Four. She was 2014's Restaurant Reviewer of the Year, 2013's Print Journalist of the Year for the Speaking Together Awards, 2011's Columnist of the Year at the Workworld awards and is author of three non-fiction books, Get It Together: Why We Deserve Better Politics, The Madness of Modern Parenting and Bring It On, Baby.
	Rupert Read chairs Green House (www.greenhousethinktank.org ). He co-authored Green House's report on prospects for a progressive pact and was the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Cambridge in 2015.
	Caroline Lucas was elected as Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion in 2010. She served as leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2008 to 2012. From 1999-2010 she served as one of the Party's first MEPs and represented the South East region until becoming the UK's first Green MP in 2011.
	Neal Lawson is Chair of the good society pressure group Compass and was author of All Consuming (Penguin, 2009) and co-editor of The Progressive Century (Palgrave, 2001). He serves on the Advisory Board of We own it!, is a Contributing Editor of the social democracy journal Renewal which he helped found and is an Associate Member at the Bauman Institute at Leeds University. He writes regularly for the Guardian and the New Statesman.
	Chris Bowers is a writer and broadcaster, specialising in tennis, environment and politics. He commentates on tennis for radio and television, has written several books, and counts as a tennis historian; he was the founder of the Environmental Transport Association in 1990, and works as a communications consultant for the European Federation for Transport and Environment; and he is the biographer of Nick Clegg. He is a former Liberal Democrat councillor on Lewes District Council, and stood for Parliament for the Lib Dems in 2010 and 2015. More on www.chrisbowers.org.
	Lisa Nandy is the Member of Parliament for Wigan. Since being elected she has campaigned in Parliament to tackle child abuse, to save the Education Maintenance Allowance and against human rights abuses in Palestine. She has fought against low pay and zero hours contracts and campaigned against growing poverty in Wigan and across the country. In September 2015 Lisa was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Hampstead & Kilburn Labour calls for economic sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements

Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Party passed the following resolution on Tuesday. It was considered for submission to the Labour Party Conference but lost out on two other motions on the recent rise in anti Semitic incidents and the NHS. The NHS motion will go to Conference.

Israeli-Palestinian relations

Conference welcomes the Egyptian brokered ceasefire of 26^th August 2014 that brought to an end to fighting in Gaza.

Conference is alarmed by Israeli TV reports on 1^st September 2014 Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that Israel would not be sending a delegation to Cairo to participate in further negotiations over the reconstruction of Gaza’s air and sea ports and the demilitarization of the area as stipulated in the ceasefire conditions.

Conference also notes that on Sunday 31^st August Israel announced the expropriation of almost 1000 acres of Palestinian privately-owned land, their declaration as state land and the intention to build the largest Israeli settlement on the land, being contrary not only to international but also Israeli law.

Conference suggests that this is an indication that the present government of Israel is not genuinely interested in a two state solution, despite surveys of the Israeli and Palestinian publics consistently showing majorities in favour of such an outcome.

Conference further notes that while past announcements of a similar nature have been condemned, deplored, described as unconstructive and harmful to a two state solution by the UN, the EU, the White House and UK government, the expansion of illegal settlement activity has continued, leaving the goal of a peaceful two state solution hanging by an ever thinner thread.

Conference therefore believes that these illegal settlements should be subject to not merely political censure but also economic sanction and that all commercial activity with them should be as illegal as the settlements themselves and therefore banned by a future Labour government.

Greens show why they are different on the first day of conference

The Green Party Conference assembled in confident mood yesterday with membership growing, especially amongst young people and the party polling at its highest in recent times.

Natalie Bennett made a speech extolling the Green Party's vision of a socially,economically and environmentally just society and contrasted this with the neoliberalism  of the other parties. She was particularly scathing about the Labour Party and set out policies far too the left of that party.

Her speech can be read in full here: http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/09/05/natalie-bennetts-green-party-autumn-conference-speech-%28full-text%29/

In true Green Party fashion a particularly tricky debate, with lots of procedural motions, on issues of local party autonomy, was skillfully handled by a chair who while dealing with points of order was suckling her contented baby.

An emergency motion on Gaza was overwhelmingly carried. It called on the membership to get active supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns and opposing arms sales to Israel.

Although it was clear that an amendment to today's Energy motion, which would commit the party to supporting nuclear power, had very little support, Conference rejected attempts to have the amendment ruled out of order. It was seen as a victory for democracy rather than for the pro-nuclear position.

Where next for Green Party policy on education?

My motion instructing the Green Party Policy Committee to initiate a policy development process in the light of Coalition policies, which would result in a  a redrafted Education Policy being presented to a future  Conference, failed to win a majority today. Part of the process I suggested was  to invite contributions from relevant teacher unions, educators and parent campaign groups to help shape the review.

One of the arguments against was that there had been a full and very thorough review in 2007 and that this should not be thrown away. Instead it was argued that a series of amendments should be tabled at a future Conference. It was also argued that the review would take time and may not be ready for the election period.

I believe something far more fundamental is required as you'll see from my speech notes, particularly as the ful schope of the Tory strategy was not evident at the time. . I wanted a far broader and participatory process but if we are to have a relevant policy in place for local elections in 2014 and the General Election in 2015 we must start thinking about amendments for Spring Conference now. The policy is 15 pages long so it is a substantial task. The current policy can be read HERE

These are the notes of my speech (not all of which may have been delivered as set out because of  the time constraints in a very rushed debate at the en of the morning session).

I want to start by acknowledging the work that went into the current policy and the many good and innovative ideas it contains. Don't blame me for the need for revision - blame Michael Gove!

The problem is, as Melissa Benn said at the panel on Friday, we are in a period of profound and unprecedented educational change in terms of both speed and ruthlessness. The post - war  settlement is being bulldozed into oblivion.

This is not just about individual policies but the neoliberal framework - subordination of education to economic aims and accompanying privatisation and profit making and the commodification of childhood.

Michael Gove is stealing our schools, our teachers' professionalism and our children's childhood.

Teachers 'deliver' lessons to deliver higher test results to deliver higher league table position and thus deliver us from Ofsted! (Prayer)

I am involved with many campaigns with parents, governors and teachers and am often  asked, where do you stand, what would you do? I have found the present policy wanting in giving a response.

The foundation of our policy needs to be strengthened - rejecting the Coalition's ideology and linking our approach to alternative views on the economy as well as the aims of education and the defence of childhood.

Although our policies are Green Government 'aspirational' they have to start with present realities and counter them. Don't protest -demand!

Areas for revision:

Local authorities fast disappearing regarding role in education   - academies & free schools and diminishing school improvement services.  We need to think about the 'middle tier' and role of Secretary of State. What democratic structures do we propose beyond the school level. What powers should the Secretary of State have?

We need to sharpen our critique of free schools and academies to stress issues around accountability, reinforcing social divisions and marketisation. Do we propose reintegration into a locally accountable community school system as we do with private schools? Should all schools have the same 'freedoms' as academies and free schools.

Sure Start - reducing and nature of early years education changing. We need more than 'continuing successful schemes such as Sure Start' what is our vision for the early years?

Ofsted - we say 'inspections will be revised' but we need to take account of its increasingly politicised role, the fact that it is privatised (Serco, Tribal) and overlaps with academy chains. What sort of school improvement service do we envisage - role and powers? How does this relate to institutions such as the HMI?

In our policy we say that the Inspectorate and LAs will be involved in the monitoring of governing body accountability structures - revision needed in the light of academies and free schools and decline in role of LA.

Pupil population expansion - because the Government has said any new school should be an academy or free school, LAs are being forced to expand primary schools with some in urban areas having more than 1,000 4-11 year olds and losing play space and additional rooms such as libraries and halls in the process. Again the role of LA in planning and provision has been undermined so we need to reaffirm their right to build new community schools to cope with the rising population.

Teacher education - university level teacher education is rapidly disappearing and being replaced by various 'on the job' training schemes with a neglect (and disparagement) of research, cognitive psychology, philosophy of education etc.   

I hope I have demonstrated sufficient grounds for revision, but more than this I am convinced that with the right policy, actively campaigned for in communities, teacher organisations, parent groups that we have a chance of building massive support and contributing to success in the forthcoming elections as well as having people flocking to support our campaigns. (I mentioned the successful NUT 'It's Time to Stand Up for Education' rallies aimed at parents, governors, teachers and pupils that were held in Brighton, Nottingham and London yesterday)

Declaration of Interests: I am a retired member of the NUT and a retired primary headteacher. I am currently chair of governors of two Brent primary schools and help convene the Brent Governors' Forum.  I am a trustee of the Brent Play Association and run Brent School Without Walls, a voluntary organisation that provides free nature and outdoor activities in Fryent Country Park for primary classes and out of school clubs. 

Greens discuss key issues on academies and free schools

Introducing the Free Schools and Academies Panel at the Green Party Conference, Natalie Bennett said Green Party policy was simple: we don't agree with free schools and academies and are in favour of community comprehensive, and local and democratically controlled schools Dr Susanna Wiborg from the Institute of Education spoke about Swedish Free Schools from which Michael Gove derives his model. They have been established for 20 years and are growing quite quickly. They are not just niche schools but a movement spreading rapidly. Why was a social democratic country establishing profit making schools? It was a right wing government that believed that choice was needed.

In the beginning they were seen as way of getting parents involved but actually there was not much interest from parents and there was a move to private providers for profit. In terms of attainment levels, one large research project said pupils did a little better at lower secondary level but this was cancelled out at higher secondary level. There has been discussion about grade inflation accounting for the achievement levels at the lower secondary level and there was a similar pattern in Denmark and Norway. Evidence on comparative cost is not definitive but in some municipalities there are higher costs because of over supply of places due to the free schools and the authority paying for extra spaces in their schools. 

Looking for positives, some parents were more involved as they had chosen school at the beginning, and some schools initially were more innovative but now more similar to state schools.

 Melissa Benn looked at free schools and academies in broader context of what is happening in English education. It is an exceptional period in terms of the speed and ruthlessness of the 'reform'. The government claimed to be doing it in the name of greater freedom and parents' choice. Free schools get more publicity but academies are more important. Most 'voluntary' conversions were for the additional money not freedoms. Forced academies increasing as a result of the government using the standards agenda for political ends. This produces instability and the government's strategy is changing the life and craft of teachers. They are using the 'enemy of promise' label for an enormous and increasing number of groups including the NAHT, governors and academics. The Canadian ideal is 'reform without rancour. Ours is reform with rancour.

 In the UK we set up a divided system post-war and this led to resistance to comprehensivisation. Labour was divided with Blair and Adonis against comprehensives. Benn said her allies on education were in the Green Party rather than the Labour Party. We need to look at the increased segregation caused by academies and free schools and look over the horizon to what we want: less test based, less rote learning, stronger teacher education system, emphasis on the oral and a return to every school having a balanced intake.

 Commenting on Green Party policy she said there was a contradiction between locally based schools and having a balanced intake. She emphasised the importance of funding as an issue. 

 Sue Shanks, Brighton and Hove lead member for Children and Young people said she joined the Green Party because of its education policy. There were no free schools then. She said the problem is that we have a policy against free schools and academies and a Govenment that wants us to have them. She had been accused locally of having principles that get in the way of school place provision. The city had no converter academies and there was no great push from parents for academisation. The DfE were trying to persuade them to have academies and free schools. At present there was no major pressure on school places in comparison with the crisis elsewhere but there were some areas of difficulty. Shanks said there was great concern about the issue in local government. She recognised that the Green Party want more diversity but LA can't decide what free schools to approve. She finished by saying that Brighton and Hove Council were determined to keep the role of the education authority and maintain core services to schools. 

Discussion afterwards included some affecting descriptions of the impact of Gove's policies from education practitioners and parents as well as testimony from a former student of an 'outstanding' school whose personal experience was that it may have done well academically but it cared little for pupils' well being.

 Contributions were made about the problems faced by pupils with special needs under the current regime as well as some parents rejecting state schools for their children because of the testing regime and narrow curriculum. One core issue was that we have never had fully comprehensive education in this country and another that some schools managed to be creative with a broad curriculum despite the current setup.

 I asked what sort of structures we wanted to ensure democratic accountability in the light of increasing numbers of academies and shrinking of local authorities.

Disappointingly, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the NUT was unable to join the panel.

Natalie Bennett rounds on Labour and the Iraq War

Natalie Bennett's leaders speech (extract) at today's Green Party Conference in Nottingahm

The fight against austerity a major focus for Green Party Conference this weekend

I will be off to the Green Party's Spring Conference this weekend and hope to see the party strengthening its opposition to austerity, privatisation and cuts and committing to building broad alliances with others fighting on these issues.

In that regard one of the most important fringes will be on Saturday afternoon on Building the Movement Against Austerity and Privatisation with Sylvian Savier of Front de Gauche and Peter Allen of Green Left. An emergency motion will propose the Green Party  support the Coalition of Resistance's People's Assembly Against Austerity which will take place on 22nd June 2013.

Cuts will remain a controversial issue in the light of the decisions facing the minority Green Council in Brighton and Hove and support for Councillors Against the Cuts. There is a fringe on Sunday which will focus on 'the way the Greens (in Brighton and Hove) have sought to resist town hall cuts, the compromises that have to be made and how the wider party in the city has been galvanised into taking the arguments back to Secretary of State for Local Government and Communities Eric Pickles and the city's Tory MPs.'

Significantly the blurb adds, 'This won't be a debate about the merits or otherwise of the council's budget decisions'. It may not happen in that forum but the debate will certainly take place.

I will be hoping to gather support for my own emergency motion on forced academies which I reproduce below:

Conference recognises that Michael Gove has recently escalated his policy of forcing primary schools to become academies so that now only one poor Ofsted report is required to trigger such a move. This has currently resulted  in several strong parent-led campaigns in defence of  community schools.

The Green Party believes forced academisation:

• Undermines the role of local authorities and school governing bodies in school improvement
• Undermines local democratic accountability of schools
• Ignores the wishes of major stakeholders including governors and parents
• Hands over local assets to an external provider without recompense
• Opens the school to eventually being run on a profit-making basis

Conference therefore instructs the GPEX campaigns coordinator to facilitate a campaign against this policy at national level over the next 6 months and calls on  local parties to take up the issue where appropriate.

The failure of the Green Party to make much impact in the polls despite the Coalition's unpopularity and Labour's lack lustre performance will merit some soul-searching. The fact that an ex-Green Party parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh, Dr Iain Maclennan,  is standing for National Health Action in the current by-election and gaining broad-based support is also worth discussion.

The Green Party holds conferences twice a year and remains a conference that actually makes and debates policy rather than one which merely  showcases the leaders which is increasingly the case with the major parties.