New members of the team Our most recent meeting saw two new members join the committee.

Shelley Snelson takes up a new position as Deputy to the Registered Party Treasurer. In this role Shelley will provide support to the Chair in committee work in particular managing communication to sub-committees, special projects, and communications with the Parliamentary Office of the Liberal Democrats (POLD). Following the loss of Paul Fox who needed to step down for personal reasons, Dave Hodgson was returned to the committee in a by-election. Don't forget, you can find opportunities to run for committee posts, volunteer elsewhere, and apply for paid positions, on the website here.  We welcome both Shelley and Dave to their roles and look forward to working with them. Lib Dem HQ in Westminster Many will be aware that the landlord was unwilling to extend our tenancy in Great George Street and hence we needed to seek an alternative location. There has been a lot of debate over the type of accommodation needed following changes to working practices forced on us by Covid-19. We have been supporting the staff in understanding the financial and contractual elements of the move and are optimistic that, subject to continuing negotiations, we know that we will be able to secure something suitable for the staff and delivering a significant reduction in our fixed cost base. Annual accounts Operations updates continue to highlight the pressures on the Compliance team. This year’s financial account for Local Parties, without a requirement for audit, should all now be with Compliance. The focus now is on supporting those who need to submit audited accounts to the Electoral Commission. Compliance have rolled out significant levels of support to local party officers through their ’28-day Challenge’ in February. There is much work still to be done in managing finances and Compliance through the elections across Great Britain in May. We remain, as always, grateful for the efforts of local party officers in maintaining compliance and avoiding sanctions. Financial report The situation with Covid-19 remains challenging and we are still spending significant effort on understanding the impacts on membership and donations. We realise that during this election period members will be receiving many requests for support, but if we are to succeed in May then every contribution matters.  Fundraising At the last meeting we gave our thanks to Mike German who leaves his role as Party Treasurer after some five and a half years! The next meeting will see us welcoming Tilly McAuliffe to the committee as the new holder of that position – taking over as we continue to go through challenging times.