CDPs came about after recent changes in the law with regard to donations to political parties. They enable trade unions to invest in CLP development over the long-term.
A CDP is an agreement between the General Secretary of an affiliated trade union, the Chair of a CLP, and the relevant Regional Director of the Labour Party, and also has to be ratified by the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party.
If a CLP has a CDP in place with a union, then the TULO Officer should take an active role in ensuring that the terms of the agreement are fulfilled by both the CLP and the union, and take responsibility for writing the 6-monthly activity reports.
If there is no CDP in place, then a TULO Officer should work with other officers of the CLP to identify a union to approach in order to sign an agreement.
CDPs strengthen links between a CLP and a trade union, provide an action plan for developing a CLP, and union resources to back it up. The content of a CDP can vary – some are lengthier documents than others – but, generally speaking, they outline activities that the CLP has agreed to undertake, and the support that the union has agreed to provide in return.
Unions generally make the decision about how much money they will give to a CLP to finance a CDP – but it is generally up to £2000 a year. Ideally, a CDP will also include a commitment to supporting the CLP through other means too – by providing the contact details of local officers and branches, for example.
Many CDP agreements are signed for the lifetime of a Parliament, but some unions prefer to negotiate them on an annual basis.
A robust CDP agreement will also include targets and activities that the CLP pledges to undertake. These will vary according to local circumstances, but as a minimum will usually include:
- submitting an activity report to the union every 6 months;
- appointing a TULO Officer;
- holding regular Labour Forums;
- inviting a representative of the union to sit on the CLP’s Executive Committee (EC);
- promoting trade union membership to Labour Party members; and
- working with the union to promote Labour Party membership to trade union members.
In addition, a CDP should ideally include other activities, that are negotiated between the CLP and the union to reflect the CLP’s specific situation. These activities could include:
- conducting polling or opinion surveys amongst the electorate;
- recruiting and retaining members;
- organising local policy forums;
- producing and distributing literature informing and encouraging dialogue between the party and the community;
- funding organisers and field workers;
- organising activities aimed at increasing voter turnout, such as registration and postal vote
campaigns; and
- organising political education and training events in line with the party’s objectives.
It is important to state from the outset that setting up a new CDP from scratch can be a difficult process. It is only likely to be achieved if a CLP has a very strong relationship with a particular trade union.
There is no set procedure for setting up a CDP – each union manages its CDP agreements in different ways. However, the first step should be identifying a potential union to approach – this is likely to be the union that the CLP has the closest links with. Establishing which union it is most appropriate to approach will involve speaking to local CLP activists, and looking at the results of your union involvement audit. You will need to find out if your CLP has had a CDP with a particular union before.
It is also worth thinking about whether one union has significantly more members living in the constituency than the other unions. You should also find out if your MP, MSP or AM is a member of a particular union’s Parliamentary Group (although it is important to remember that the MP, MSP or AM can have no role in the CDP – this should just be background information).
When you have consulted with other CLP Officers to decide which union to approach, you should speak to the Labour Party’s regional office, and a full-time officer of the union (with which you already have a relationship) for advice on how to proceed. At that point the best way forward will likely be to contact the relevant union’s regional political contact.
Some unions make decisions about CDPs at a national level, some at a regional level, and some at both. At this point, it is a question of finding the right person to speak to within the union to help you progress your request, and making a strong case for why both the CLP and the union would benefit from the agreement. This will not be an easy task, and it is important to be aware from the outset that the CDP may not come to fruition.
It is worth considering that a CLP can have CDP agreements with more than one union, but the convention is that the total amount the CLP receives from both unions should not be more than £2000.
In addition, the General Secretary of the first union has to agree to a second union signing a CDP with a CLP, and some unions are unwilling to do this. However, if you have one CDP for an
amount that is significantly less than £2000, it is worth thinking about the possibility of setting up a second CDP – although doing this may be even more difficult than setting up an initial one.
It is also important to remember that all donations received by a CLP in excess of £1000 have to be declared to the Electoral Commission – although it is generally worth declaring all donations, whatever their amount, for the sake of transparency.
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