General Secretary Election 11

Hi Jim,

My apologies to you and your readers for taking time to respond, unfortunately my mother has been unwell so I’ve been travelling between Kent and Hampshire a fair bit this week.

I’ve noted the questions that have been asked of me and I do not like dodging straight questions, in fact I believe straight questions always deserve a straight answer, however some of the deeper issues that I have been asked to respond to I believe would be better served if I am successfully elected and given access to historical information, Napo’s position on such issues via AGM motions and from speaking to a broad range of staff. Obviously I’ve not been in a position to access these three things routinely and I would very much like the opportunity, should I be successfully elected, to listen to members’ views on these issues and take a deeper look into what branches have raised on behalf of their members via AGM motions and start to take those motions forward with the various employers to try and achieve the desired outcomes.

One of the things that previously struck me as an issue from my trade union work is the lack of direct approach in trying to achieve motions that come from branches via their members, after all they are properly debated by conference, passed by those delegates that have attended and then seem to fritter away into the wilderness, ultimately the membership set the business of the union and it is the leadership’s job to try and make those things happen and if successful in this election I welcome those issues and debates setting the order of business.

There have been several highly critical posts about the current election process and the seemingly poor communication, whilst I cannot comment on what individual members have been told or have read I understand that the NEC are constricted in their approach due to the rules that have previously been set and in ensuring that they do not fall fail of employment law, Tulcra and other legislation that dictates the election process.

From my perspective it certainly feels a very restricted process. I have stood in quite a few different elections and it is usually down to the candidate to make contact with branches and members and to actively promote themselves to any potential voter. In this election however a very short timeframe has been set in which to gain any knowledge of candidates, following my application for the role I was then required to attend an interview with a panel to select candidates suitable for election in London, next in the process a limited 500 word election statement was sent to the branches and a request that branches nominate a candidate. Some branches requested the attendance of both candidates so that branch members could scrutinise and cross examine each candidate but this could only happen if the branch contacted Napo HQ to make the request, if the branch met the costs associated with each candidate’s attendance and moreover only if both candidates could attend would the meeting go ahead, from my view this has obviously placed many restrictions on me being able to meet potential voters, branches or else and offer my views opinions and get my message to potential voters. If successful in this election then this is something that I believe would need to be addressed for future elections to ensure that anyone standing as a candidate is able to actively run their own campaign and send out their own message to try and gain support.

It is clear to me that the key priorities for any General Secretary for the next 5 years will be to;

Ensure Napo is financially sustainable for the future.

Take on key issues for members such as pay, privatisation, excessive workloads and maintaining professionalisation of the employed roles that Napo represents.

Improve services to members and make obvious strides to support members concerns.

Restructure the union to ensure best value for money and that internal policies and rules are fair, transparent and tailored to Napo’s core values of equality.

Take a more robust approach to members concerns with the various (24) different employers that Napo has recognition with.

Over the next few weeks I will continue to communicate via this forum and I believe it will be worthwhile that I setup a social media page where potential voters can find out a bit more about me, my beliefs and my priorities if successful as your next General Secretary.

Kind regards

Mike Rolfe