1. Definitions

1.1 ‘NBTA’ and ‘the National’ means the National Bargee Travellers Association.

1.2 ‘NBTA London’, ‘NBTAL’ and ‘the branch’ mean the London branch of the National Bargee Travellers Association.

1.3 “Member” means a member of the NBTA.

1.4 ‘Ordinary Member’ is a full member of the NBTA. To be a full member of NBTA , the person must be boat dweller without a home mooring 

1.5 ‘Associate Members’ are members of the NBTA which aren’t itinerant liveaboard boat dwellers

1.6 ‘nbta-london@lists’ is an email list for email discussions and organising ourselves.

1.7 ‘nbtalondonannouncements’ is an email list for monthly or bimonthly email about meetings and events. 

2. Decision making

2.1 NBTA London decisions are made in NBTA London meetings, the nbta-london@lists and as long within the remit of the Working Group, a Working Group.

2.2 Decisions of NBTA London are made by consensus wherever possible. Where consensus can’t be reached, decisions are made by majority votes. If the vote is split the chair has the casting vote.

2.3a) In any vote each Ordinary Member shall have one vote.

2.3b) Associate Members are not entitled to vote, unless the Associate Member is elected to an Officer. 

2.3c) All Officers are able vote. 

2.3d) Associate Members can vote if the Ordinary Membership agrees. 

2.3e) It’s assumed the Ordinary Membership agrees that Associate Members can vote unless stated otherwise.  

2.4 Every Ordinary Member shall be entitled to take part in the decisions of every meeting.

2.5a) Decisions can be made on the  nbta-london@lists by emailing motion(s)/proposal(s) to the nbta-london@lists. Motion(s)/proposal(s) are automatically agreed if no disagreements are raised to the nbta-london@lists within 2 days. 

2.5b) If a disagreement to the motion(s)/proposal(s) is raised, it should be met with a counterargument or compromise. The 2 days restart each time compromise is raised and progress repeats itself each time someone shows a disagreement. Motion(s)/proposal(s) are agreed by consensus, unless a fair online voting mechanism is provided.

2.5c) A fair online voting mechanism must give the ability for people to vote for or against a motion(s)/proposal(s). This can include a vote for or against amendments of the motion(s)/proposal(s). A deadline to vote of at least 2 days must be given. At the end of the vote, the results must be sent to the nbta-london@lists.

2.5d) Newsletters, posters and leaflets of NBTA London should be emailed to the nbta-london@lists with a reasonable deadline for comments given. After the deadline the editor/person working on the newsletters, posters or leaflet must try to reflect in some way the comments in the final item. Urgent posters and leaflets should always be sent to the email list for a minimum of 12 hours, as long as they do not contain a policy change.

3. Meetings

3.1 Normally NBTA London meetings are every month; however they can happen as often as NBTA London wants. NBTA London should endeavour to inform the members of the meetings at least 7 days before a meeting.

3.1a) The purpose of the NBTA London meetings is to:

i) ensure the decisions of the General Meetings are being carried out;

ii) ensure the branch is functioning;

iii) co-ordinate the Working Groups.

3.1b) Decisions made in the NBTA London meeting must not be contrary to a decision made at a General Meeting or by the NBTA National Committee or by an NBTA National General Meeting.

3.1c) A decision of the NBTA London meetings are not valid unless there is a quorum of 3 members.

4. Officers

4.1 NBTA London can elect as many Officers as it likes. The point of an Officer is to carry out key roles in NBTA London.

4.2 Election of Officers shall be agreed by consensus of the General Meeting. Where consensus cannot be reached, decisions shall be made by majority vote.

4.3 Officers are reviewed by the General Meeting at least every 18 months.

4.4 Officers can be recalled at any General Meeting by a consensus decision, or where consensus cannot be reached, by a 2/3rds majority vote. An Officer who is recalled is not entitled to be included in the decision to recall but is entitled to present their case for continuing to be an Officer.

4.5 Until such time as a General Meeting can be called, acting Officers can be voted in, by consensus of an NBTA London meeting.

5. Working Groups

5.1 NBTA London shall appoint Working Groups. A Working Group must comprise at least 2 Members.

5.2 An official NBTA London Working Group may be formed by a proposal to the nbta-london@lists or an NBTA London meeting, in line with Article 2 (Decision making) of the NBTA London constitution.

5.3 A Working Group’s remit is agreed by proposal to the nbta-london@lists or at an NBTA London meeting.

5.4 All Working Groups must be listed on the NBTA London website.

5.5 Any Member is entitled to join any Working Group.

5.6 The purpose of a Working Group is to:

a) Carry out the decisions of NBTA London within the remit of the Working Group;

b) Carry out the objectives of NBTA London within the remit of the Working Group; and

c) Advise the NBTA London in matters within the remit of the Working Group.

5.7 Decisions can be made by Working Groups if:

a) The decisions are within the remit of the Working Group;

b) The decisions are not contrary to decisions made at nbta-london@lists, NBTA London meetings, General Meetings, NBTA National Committee or NBTA General Meetings;

c) The decisions can’t be to:

i) communications outside the NBTA, unless it is included in the remit of the Working Group; or

ii) the using of funds.

5.8 Decisions of Working Groups shall be made according to the principles in Article 2 (Decision making) of the NBTA London constitution.

5.9 Working Groups should report back to NBTA London when necessary.

6. General Meetings

6.1 NBTA London shall aim to convene General Meetings annually. There shall be a General Meeting at least once every 18 months.

6.2 NBTA London shall give at least 3 weeks notice to NBTA London members of a General Meeting.

6.3 A decision of the General Meeting is not a valid decision unless there is a quorum of 3 Ordinary Members.

6.4 When and where a General Meeting takes place must be decided by NBTA London according to Article 2 (Decision making) of the NBTA London constitution.

6.5 A General Meeting may be called by a petition of a minimum of 10 members.

7. Mailing Lists

7.1 The organisation of the branch shall be facilitated by Mailing Lists.

7.2 The current ‘News’ Mailing List shall be for the purpose of communication with interested non-members and all members for the main reason to publicise events / newsletters / important information. Used on average once per month.

7.3 The current ‘Organisational’ Mailing List shall be for the purpose of communication with members who want to be involved in organisational matters and discussions.

7.4 Any Member shall be entitled to join any Mailing List.

8. Changes to the Constitution

8.1 Changes to the constitution may happen at any NBTA London meeting as long as the changes are publicised to members at least one month before the meeting. The fact that changes to the constitution might occur must be stated in the ‘subject’ part of the email to all members.

9. Winding up

9.1 NBTA London lasts as long as its members want. NBTA London’s dissolution can be decided at an NBTA London meeting as long as the members are notified at least one month beforehand.

Not part of the constitution but important to know:

– The main roles of NBTA London right now are as follows;

Chair– send out suggested agenda to email list 1 week before the nbta London meeting

-check minutes of NBTA London meeting and send them out to email list

-book meeting room

-make sure NBTA London tasks get done

Secretary – Check email addresses which NBTA London receives emails and deal appropriately. To help branch cohesion and remind members of branch decisions and constitutional rules.

Membership officer– add in new members to gmail account, texting phone and email lists appropriately

-take people off list appropriately

– try to find where we can involve members in more stuff

Treasurer – collect and keep account of NBTA London money

-send a report of the money we have at least one day before nbta London meeting

-to do payments for NBTA London

Communication officer– Advertisement of our events on Facebook a week before and a day before the event

-Advertisement of our events on our email a week before the meeting

-Update website of next meeting

– Put agreed articles on the website

–Send texts for events one day before the event, sometimes also a week before the meeting as well.

-Do social media stuff if they wish within the remit of the consultation

Data protector officer

-To make sure we are protecting people’s personal data.

Fund raiser -to organise collecting money at our events and do crowd funding etc

Press officer – to help with press relations of the branch

Working groups and their remits

·         Caseworkers: delegating casework and supporting caseworkers

·         National press group – formulates press releases inline with national policy and answer press interview requests

·         Public Outreach – communicating to public the plight of boaters –
getting support from non boaters and organisations.

·         Social media – to aim social media campaigns in line with NBTAL/NBTA
policy. To be approved by list if proposing anything beyond agreed policy

·         Poster group – formulate poster designs for the delectation and approval of the list and NBTA London open meetings

·        Fundraising group – Remit to raise funds to support the objectives of NBTA London. The group can make decisions over how to fundraise, the
group won’t have access to the money raised.

·         ‘Safety zones’ working group is to take the lead on the issue of ‘safety zones’