Annual General Meeting (Leeds, 2015)

Annual General Meeting of IIPPE (Members Meeting): LEEDS, 10/9/2015

In attendance:

Dimitris Milonakis, Niels Hahn, Ben Fine, Al Campbell, Johnna Montgomery, Simon Mohun, Asimina Christoforou, Werner Raja, Trevor Evans, Galip Yalman, Bruno Tinel, Lucisa Pradella, Abelardo Manina-Flores, Matthew Ryan, Deniz Kallesioglou, John Weeks, Yvonne Fianke, Mathis Heinrich, Samuel Decker, Mary Robertson, Tomas Rotta, Sergio Camara Izquerdo, Susan Newman, Elisa Van Waeyenberge,  Kate Bayliss, Sue Himmelweit, Jerry Prybys, Alfredo Saad-Filho.

1. The AGM approved the IIPPE Council Annual Report (available on request).
2. The AGM expressed its gratitude to the Leeds Conference Programme Committee (Al Campbell, Alfredo Saad-Filho and Niels Hahn), the Local Organising Committee (Annina Kaltenbrunner, Mary Robertson), and the local support workers for the excellent job in preparing another very successful IIPPE Conference. There was a proposal to move the AGM in the morning in order to help with the attendance and another proposal to put the Council Meeting after the AGM. Both proposals will be discussed in the next Council Meeting.
3. The AGM expressed its gratitude and pleasure to FEPS for its generous contribution of 7,000 Euros, to the IIPPE Leeds Conference (with half paid before the Conference and half afterwards) and expressed the desire to strengthen the relationship between the two organisations (Al Campbell, Ben Fine, Elva Bova). But there also remains the need to strengthen our relations with our sister organisations. We should do even more to welcome and integrate overseas representatives and plenary speakers.
4. Our 7th Annual Conference will be a joint conference co-organised with the Critical Political Economy Research Network and is scheduled to take place at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG) of the University of Lisbon between 7-9 September 2016, with Professor Francisco Louça taking the lead. The Conference title is “Political Economy: International Trends and National Differences”, and the Conference Programme Committee consists of Alfredo Saad Filho (chair), Al Campbell and Niels Hahn, with some commitment for one or more to rotate off for the following year.
5. This has been the most successful year so far as far as Training Workshops are concerned. The AGM expressed the need for a wider variety of presenters and a greater diversification of topics discussed. Also needed is greater participation of Working Groups in organizing Training Workshops.
6. There was a proposal that there should be a Working Groups Meeting in every IIPPE conference which was approved. Susan Newman to post on the Working Group page instructions on how to set up new Working Groups. There was also discussion about the possibility of a new Working Group on Gender and of the need for all working Groups to incorporate a gender dimension.
7. In August 2015 we submitted an application to the Charity Commission to register IIPPE as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. We will hear from them in October 2015. The AGM approved the need to appoint an accountant.
8. Our mailing lists are to be used only for our own purposes, while our Website, Newsletter and Twitter can be used more widely.
9. We need another person (preferably equivalent of an English native speaker) to help Susan Newman in the editing of our Newsletter.
10. We are also on the look-out for another person to help with our Website.
11. We reaffirm that our general panel policy in our conferences is to have either two-hour panels with 4 speakers or 1.5-hour panels with 3 speakers, with 5 speakers in two hours only as an exception to manage the programme.
12. A set of accounts was not presented for approval as a full financial year had not passed. An Annual Report was presented and approved as such and had been distributed to the membership in advance of the AGM, although it too could not cover a full year since adoption of the Constitution.
13. It was agreed that the following resolution for a change in the constitution be proposed at the AGM:

It is proposed that Clause 10.1 paragraph 5 of the IIPPE Constitution:

“The Treasurer and one other Member of IIPPE voted by the Council will be joint signatories of IIPPE’s bank account and jointly responsible for the use of that account. In particular the Treasurer will be responsible for keeping a detailed account of any transactions conducted in the name of IIPPE as well as all income and expenditure, to be presented in summary form in the Annual Report. “

Is changed to:

“The Treasurer and two other Members of IIPPE voted by the Council will be joint signatories of IIPPE’s bank account and jointly responsible for the use of that account. In particular the Treasurer will be responsible for keeping a detailed account of any transactions conducted in the name of IIPPE as well as all income and expenditure, to be presented in summary form in the Annual Report.”

The resolution was passed unanimously.

It was also decided that the third signatory, in addition to the IIPPE Chair and the IIPPE Treasurer, will be one of the organisers of the IIPPE Workshops.