General Assembly Motions - guidance for authorities

The LGA is the membership organisation of local authorities in England and Wales. The Association is there to support Authorities who can at any time seek advice or raise any matter of concern. Where appropriate, such matters will be put before the relevant Board.


The deadline for submission of any Motion is 5pm, Wednesday 1 May 2024.

Introduction

  • The LGA is the membership organisation of local authorities in England and Wales. The Association is there to support Authorities who can at any time seek advice or raise any matter of concern.  Where appropriate, such matters will be put before the relevant Board.
  • The General Assembly is the only LGA decision making forum which all authorities in membership are eligible to attend and to vote.  As the majority of principal local authorities in England and Wales are in fact in membership, the General Assembly is the one gathering of the whole of local government in England and Wales and the one opportunity for the membership at large to determine LGA policy.  The Assembly meets yearly.  The role of the General Assembly is to consider strategic policy of national significance to local government. 
  • The LGA Board is responsible for selecting motions which are debated at the Assembly.
  • Should the number of motions submitted by authorities exceed the time available at the General Assembly to enable a proper debate of all the issues raised, the Executive Advisory Board must decide which motions are most relevant for the membership as a whole to debate.

Criteria for Selecting Motions

  • Only motions which meet the under-mentioned criteria will be considered by the Executive Advisory Board for debate at the General Assembly: -

A) The motion calls upon the Association to change the Articles of Association and Governance Framework or the way it relates to and provides services to its membership; 

Or

(B) The motion raises issues of national importance to local government -

(i)  on which the Association does not have a policy and is not already taking action in accordance with that policy; and

(ii)  asks the Association to pursue a course of action rather than just express a view on an issue.

Those motions which have already received the support of several local authorities e.g. have been agreed by a regional grouping are the most likely to be selected.

Deadline for submission and next steps:

  • Local Authorities are invited to submit Motions for consideration at the 2 July 2024 General Assembly by competing the template at Appendix A of this guidance note and submitting it to [email protected]

    The deadline for submission is 5pm on Wednesday 1 May 2024
  • The LGA Executive Advisory Board will meet on Thursday 6 June 2024 to consider all Motions that have been submitted and will decide what Motions - if any - should be debated at General Assembly.  Authorities that have submitted Motions will be informed of the LGA Executive’s decision and next steps following the meeting.    

Advice 

  • Authorities requiring any advice regarding the suitability of a Motion for the General Assembly should e-mail [email protected]