Staffordshire Moorlands Climate Action Community Constitution

Organisation Name: Staffordshire Moorlands Climate Action Community (also known as “Moorlands Climate Action”)

To see the document version of this constitution see: CONSTITUTION

1.    Purpose:

To work with Staffordshire councils and other organisations to develop and deliver a plan to work towards a more sustainable Staffordshire Moorlands, and reach Carbon Neutrality by 2030.  

2.    How we will do it (Group objectives):

1. Work with councils to help them to understand their impact on climate, reduce carbon emissions from their direct activities, their plans, policies and strategies, and their decision making.
2. Hold councils and their members to account when not enough is being done quick enough.
3. Work to engage, educate, and enthuse local communities to take action against the climate emergency.
4. Liaise and work with schools to help educate children and youth about the climate emergency.
5. Promote positive action towards tackling the climate emergency and the benefits of a Carbon Neutral future.
6. Hold events to communicate, listen, engage, inform, and educate people.
7. Create and organise various topic-based Project Teams to deliver actions aimed at tackling the climate emergency.
8. Work across all boundaries; geographical, social, and political to deliver action.
9. Seek to educate ourselves more and more so we understand the issues and can communicate them to others.
10. Seek out and share information about the ways in which other people and groups are taking action that we can learn from.
11. Work with local business to encourage and promote their sustainability efforts.

3.    Format of the group:

We are a not-for-profit organisation. We will have a Group Management Team (GMT) who are responsible for the overall running of the group including financial responsibility and ensuring the group has appropriate governance rules and policies in place. The group will have liability insurance in place for the protection of the GMT members (this insurance is in place for events through Friends of the Earth).

4.    Group Management Team:

The group management team will consist of:

All the positions for the committee are voted for at the AGM by paid-up members. Any paid-up member is free to stand for any position. A member can hold more than one position or positions can also be shared. If a member is interested in a position they should speak to a member of the current committee to find out more about the role. The interested person must have been a member of MCA for 3 or more months before applying for a role.
To apply for the role, the individual requires a proposer and a seconder.
The individual can stand for the role at the AGM / EGM.

Moorlands Climate Action members may be appointed or removed at any AGM or EGM. All members of the committee shall step down at the AGM but may be re-appointed. There is no limit to the number of times a member may be reappointed in the position on the committee.

5.    Membership:

Membership is open to anyone with an association with the Staffordshire Moorlands (work, live or own property in the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council area). Councillors may become members only as individuals and not in their official capacity.
Membership fees are payable annually by the anniversary of the member paying their subs (notice – this is not their joining date, but the anniversary of when they first paid their subs).
The membership fee is agreed at the AGM.
The fee from 2019/22 will be £10/annum (waged) and £5/annum (low wage/ retired).

6.    Project Action Teams:

Our work will be delivered through Project Action Teams consisting of members who volunteer to support the actions of the teams. Project Actions Teams will be created by members who will communicate the formation of groups to the GMT.

Project Action Teams are established in the following areas:

• Nature
• Sustainable Consumer
• Youth Engagement
• Energy
• Transport

7.    Support Teams:

These teams will consist of volunteer members who wish to provide support to the Project Action Teams:

• Events Support Team - The Events Support Team will help the group to establish and run events, provide materials, resources, and advice.
• Communications Support Team - The Communications Support Team will help the group to promote, advertise, and communicate our activities.
• Council Liaison Team (e.g., Chair, Community outreach lead, professional environmentalist)
• Business Liaison Team
• Fundraising Team

8.    Meetings and rules:

We will hold an open meeting every four months throughout the year which will be open to the public. At this we will review our actions and progress and plan future activities.
We will hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for members to agree group decisions and vote for roles in the group. Every member will have one vote. All decisions will fall in favour of the majority. In the event of a tied vote, the Chairperson will have the deciding vote.
Every AGM shall be held for the purposes of:
A presentation of a report of work which has been carried out over the year.
Presentation of the financial statement for the year
Election of the Committee
Agreeing the cheque signatories
Reviewing strategy and setting goals for the following year and beyond
Any other business on the agenda (to be determined in the same way as for a monthly meeting).
Emergency General Meetings (EGM) will be called by the Chairperson, where critical and immediate issues arise that require the full vote of all members. This could include the need to vote for new members of the General Management Team (GMT), dissolution of the group etc.
The group shall give members a minimum of 21 days in writing (written direct communication including electronic communication) for any General Meeting (AGM or EGM). We will hold monthly meetings of the GMT and Project Team members who will represent their project team, plus additional subject experts as required. The GMT meetings will aim to ensure that the group is delivering its objectives and purpose through its activities and ensure correct management of finances. At least three of the GMT members must be present to hold a GMT (and form a quorum); this should include the Chair or Deputy Chair.
At GMT meetings, each role (not person) in the GMT will have one vote. Each project team represented will have one vote and each support team will have one vote (currently therefore 5 GMT votes, 6 Project Team votes and 2 Support Team votes; 13 in total).
The quorum of an AGM shall be 10 members of MCA or 25% of members of MCA (whichever is smaller).
GMT meetings will be minuted and made available on request to the Secretary.
Project teams will hold meetings when they agree they are needed.
Ongoing collaborative working between meetings will be supported by use of a dedicated Slack environment – all members will be encouraged to register for access and fully participate in discussions. Training will be provided to any member who wishes to take advantage of the platform.

9.    Finances:

Any monies collected or held by the group will be administered by the Treasurer. All spending decisions must be countersigned by one other signature from any other member of the GMT.
The group financial policy will prohibit the borrowing of monies.
The group may receive and expend monies on account and contract loans and grants from members or any other persons for the purposes of furthering the objects of the group.
The treasurer can have support from another to look over the books at least annually.

10.    Policy and Constitution:

The constitution can be provisionally changed and agreed by the committee. A copy of this amended constitution is then sent out to the membership, stating clearly where the changes were made. The membership then have the opportunity to comment.
The committee will then follow the provisionally updated guidance on the constitution until the AGM when it will need to be formally agreed through a motion.

11. Dissolution:

Dissolution of the group will be at an AGM or EGM. In the event of a majority of members voting for dissolution of the group, all finances accrued will be donated to a Staffordshire Moorlands based charity chosen by a group vote.