Background:

• As set out in our Constitution, “all members have a right to attend and vote at the Annual General Meeting.”
• As an organisation that seeks to cultivate democratic participation and decision-making, TaPRA will enable any member, or group of members, to propose a motion to be voted on by the membership at the AGM. This could include both non-Exec members and Exec members acting in their individual capacity as members of TaPRA.
• Motions are a way of getting a meeting to make a decision. The decision once taken is a resolution of the organisation.
• The process to be followed in the case of any member-led motion is set out below, drawing from existing parameters set out in TaPRA’s Constitution (2020) and examples from other member-focussed organisations including UCU.
• It is our experience that a concrete set of guidelines such as these enables transparent decision-making and facilitates open, diverse discussion at large meetings.

Steps to take if you are a member, or group of members, who wish to submit a motion to the AGM:

 Ahead of the AGM:

1. Please first consult TaPRA’s Constitution and Manifesto to ensure any potential motion works in line with the organisation’s parameters, aims and values.
2. Next, as you draft your motion, please collate responses to the set of practical questions contained in the Motion Submission Form.
3. Dialogue with the Executive Committee is encouraged at this stage, via the TaPRA Chairs, who can advise on: (a) matters relating to the TaPRA Constitution; (b) regular AGM processes; and (c) any guidance on preparing a motion in relation to TaPRA’s broader activities and membership needs.
4. Submit finalised motion + completed Motion Submission Form to the Chairs no later than six* weeks before the date of the AGM. This enables the Exec to address any questions and then share these documents with the full membership four weeks before the date of the AGM.
5. Motions should follow a standard template, outlined on the Motion Submission Form, with a maximum word-count of 350 words.
6. You are welcome to provide supplementary material to accompany or contextualise the motion, or to propose a membership discussion ahead of the AGM, if you believe such steps are necessary to ensure a democratic, informed and deliberative process.

Please find TaPRA Motion Submission Form downloadable here. If you have any problem accessing this document, please contact us at: exec@tapra.org

At the AGM:

1. The process for discussing and voting on the motion should be chaired by a person not involved in proposing the motion. If the Chair of the AGM is involved in proposing the motion, a substitute should oversee the process.
2. Time will be set aside for the motion to be (a) proposed and (b) discussed ahead of (c) taking a vote.
3. The motion-proposer/s will briefly propose the motion to the meeting, taking no longer than 5 minutes.
4. The Chair will call for a member (separate from the proposer/s) to second the motion.
5. The Chair will then call for any members who wish to speak for or against the motion and facilitate a discussion in the time remaining.
6. The Chair will ensure that each person speaking in this discussion will have a maximum of 2 minutes in which to make their point. They will also notify members at the start of the meeting the full length of time allocated to discussion, including voting.
7. At the end of the discussion the proposer/s has the right of reply. This means that they can quickly deal with points raised during the discussion. They cannot introduce new points at this stage. The right of reply will have a maximum of 2 minutes.
8. Amendments to a motion can be proposed, and agreed on formally by vote of the meeting, if that amendment is deemed friendly by the motion-proposer. I.e. if that amendment is not deemed to change the spirit of the motion, then the meeting will first vote on the amendment to arrive at a final version of the motion to be put to the vote.
9. The meeting will then move to a vote on the motion.

Voting:

1. Voting will take place online, anonymously, via a link which voters can access and through which they can submit one vote each.
2. The motion will carry if it is voted for by 51% or more of those voting, providing that a quorum of at least 15% of the membership submit a vote.
3. Voting is undertaken by those who attend the AGM. This enables members to listen to and engage in the discussion relating to the motion, ensuring a deliberative and informed collective decision-making process. Therefore, the voting takes place synchronously, and the decision is arrived at before the end of the meeting.

After the AGM:

1. If the motion passes, motion-proposer/s arrange to meet with Executive Committee to discuss any implications not already considered earlier in the process, and determine any actions required.
2. If the motion does not pass, motion-proposer/s may if desired arrange a debrief with Executive Committee.

The TaPRA Executive Committee discussed and approved this process at our December 2024 Exec Meeting. A record of that discussion and framing papers is available to any member who wishes to see it, and will be shared as part of our regular AGM papers in 2025.

*Please not that this timeframe has been updated since the post was first shared to reflect the window of time available for members to comfortably contribute to the 2025 AGM.