LMC conference 2005
September 2004
Please email info.web@bma.org.uk if appendices are required.
Dear Sir/Madam,
LMC conference: Thursday 16 and Friday 17 June 2005
The 2005 LMC conference will be on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 June 2005, in London at Logan Hall, The Institute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1. We have arranged for the conference to be held on a Thursday and Friday because we received of favourable comments about these days in this year’s feedback questionnaire change last year.
A timetable for the submission of motions is appended (appendix I), and LMCs are asked to arrange their meetings accordingly, taking care not to arrange them within one week of the date of despatch of the agendas, to allow for any unforeseen postage difficulties.
Thank you for your assistance in confirming the number of GPs your LMC represents. The Agenda committee has allocated the 365 seats for representatives according to Standing Order 4:
“4 a. All local medical committees are entitled to appoint a representative to the conference.
4 b. The agenda committee shall each year allocate any remaining seats for representatives amongst LMCs. Allocation of additional seats shall be done in such a manner that ensures fair representation of LMCs according to the number GPs they represent. Each year the agenda committee shall publish a list showing the number of representatives each LMC is entitled to appoint and the method of allocating the additional seats.”
Standing order 4(a) provides for 1 representative per LMC which accounts for 125 representatives. The Agenda Committee has carefully considered the allocation of representatives per LMC and has determined that the most equitable method is to allocate an each additional representative for each 138 or part of 138 GPs which an LMC represents, with any remaining representatives being allocated to LMCs with a high GPhas been allocated using a quota of 138 per seat. to representative ratio.
If you have any queries concerning your allocationthe allocation process, please contact Dr Canning, the Chairman of Conference, will endeavour to assist at the end of the LMC Secretaries’s Conference on 11 November, or by e-mail at jtcanning@btopenworld.com.
All representatives must, at the time of their appointment, be general medical practitioners (whether practising or not) who are either members or officials of an LMC. Representatives elected to act at an annual conference continue to hold office until the start of the succeeding annual conference unless the GPC is notified to the contrary, and LMCs may wish to bear this in mind when appointing representatives. LMCs may appoint a deputy for any of their representatives who are unable to attend.
LMC Secretaries are asked to forward the names and addresses of appointed representatives on the attached form (appendix III) as soon as possible, and in any event not later than Friday, 31 December 2004. It is necessary to fix this deadline to enable us to complete the election of representatives to attend the annual representative meeting (ARM) and it will be strictly adhered to.
Secretaries of LMCs, who are not members of the conference, and any other individuals the LMC chooses to nominate, may attend the conference as observers, subject to it being established beforehand that space is available for them, but no part of their expenses will be reimbursed. Any secretary or other individual wishing to attend the conference in this capacity should complete the appropriate section on the form.
Annual Representative Meeting – Manchester International Conference Centre, 27th June – 30th June 2005
Details regarding the number of seats allocated to each region are in appendix IV. If the number of BMA members of conference who wish to attend the ARM exceeds the number of seats allocated, it will be necessary to conduct, on a regional basis, a postal ballot. Scotland will be divided into five electoral constituencies, as in the GPC elections.
Please advise, therefore, on the attached form (appendix III):
(a) whether your committee’s representatives appointed to attend the 2005 annual conference are members of the BMA; and
(b) whether the representatives who are members wish to attend the 2005 annual representative meeting, as representatives of the conference.
If LMC representatives are already attending the ARM in another capacity, it is for their LMC to decide whether they wish them to attend also as representatives of the conference.
Submission of motions
To assist the agenda committee and the office in preparing the agenda for the LMC conference, LMCs are asked to submit motions on the form at appendix V.
Please note that the last date for receipt of motions is noon on Monday 25 April 2005. Our motions have to be typed, sorted by subject matter and be with the joint agenda committee secretariat by 5pm that day. This year we received almost 900 motions and were very grateful to those LMCs who sent their motions well in advance of the deadline. Could all LMCs please assist the GPC secretariat by sending in their motions (one copy of the final version only please) as early as possible next year. Motions received after the noon deadline will not be accepted and there can be no exceptions. Postal delays can and do occur so, if your motions are not available until mid-April, we suggest that you fax or e-mail them to us requesting a telephone acknowledgement. The email address is kday@bma.org.uk. We would very much appreciate your help in enabling us to meet the JAC’s very tight deadline. A number of problems arose this year as a result of individual LMC representatives sending in motions on behalf of their LMC, without notifying their LMC office. Where possible, we would be grateful if you could ensure that we receive motions directly from the LMC office.
To reduce the number of motions on the agenda, LMCs are invited to consider joining other LMCs in agreeing motions. These can then be submitted in the name of one LMC, with a note to confirm the names of other LMCs which support these.
Distribution of agendas
The conference agenda will be sent to chairmen and secretaries of local medical committees and conference representatives only. Secretaries are therefore asked to bear this in mind and ensure that they order, on the attached form (appendix III) sufficient copies for their needs. If no figures are indicated on the form, no additional copies of the agenda(s) will be sent.
LMCs will know that we have to reduce our printing and postage costs. As the conference agenda will be ‘on line’ via the BMA’s web pages on the internet it would be helpful if LMCs could indicate, on the attached form (appendix III), whether they would be prepared to accept the document ‘on line’ and by email only.
Details of the arrangements for the conference dinner, on Thursday 16 June 2005, will be sent in due course.
The membership of the conference agenda committee 2004-2005 is attached (appendix VI).
Yours faithfully,
Matthew Isom
Senior Policy Executive
Distribution:
Chairmen of LMCs
Secretaries of LMCs
Members of the GPC
Members of the GPC’s registrars subcommittee