Governance

BGIPU Annual General Meeting

The BGIPU AGM will take place from 4pm on Wednesday 13 November in the IPU Room, off Westminster Hall chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP. The 2024 Annual Report will be launched at the meeting and a new Executive Committee for 2024/25 will be elected by ballot from any nominations received.  Voting will take place from 12 noon in the IPU Room with further advice on voting arrangements to be circulated in due course.

As a result of the general election, all 5 Officer posts, including Chair (Party of Government), three Vice-Chairs (Party of Government, an Opposition Party and one Peer) and Treasurer (Opposition Party) are vacant along with the 21 other Executive Committee positions (comprising 11 Government MPs and four Opposition MPs and six Peers).  Party balance will be indicated on the ballot paper and guided by the proportion of members in the House of Commons following the 2024 general election as set out in the BGIPU Rules.  All members of the House of Commons and House of Lords are eligible to vote in this ballot.   Members wishing for further information on voting arrangements or to confirm attendance at the AGM should contact Henry Collison at collisonh@parliament.uk

The Annual Report of the BGIPU for 2023 was published on 8 November 2023 in advance of last year’s AGM as required under BGIPU Rules:

BGIPU’s activities are guided by a three-year Strategic Business Plan 2022/23-2024/25 adopted by the Executive Committee on 7 June 2022 in line with the requirements set out by our funding bodies in the Financial Memorandum.

The current Strategic Plan is available for download by clicking on the image below;

Details of Governance

Governance of the BGIPU is exercised through a 26-member Executive Committee (ExCo), appointed by its entire membership. The ExCo manages a Forward Programme of engagement with counterpart parliaments under the auspices of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

The Executive Committee is led by the Chair, three Vice-Chairs and a Treasurer. They are appointed annually at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) as stipulated in the Rules of the BGIPU. It is supported by a Secretariat, led by a Director, a Deputy Director and programme advisory and management staff.

Arrangements for funding Inter-Parliamentary Groups in the UK Parliament have evolved over many years. While funding of the BGIPU originally came from member contributions, and later the FCO and Treasury, in recent years the funding has been provided directly by both Houses of Parliament with 70 percent from the House of Commons and 30 percent from the House of Lords.  Public funding of BGIPU’s activities, including its annual membership contribution to the IPU is legislated through the International Parliamentary Organisations (Registration) Act 1989.

A Financial Memorandum (FM) was first produced in 2009 to underpin this funding relationship. The current financial memoranda requires the preparation of detailed and costed annual business plans, regular reports of outturn figures and limits on reserves as recommended by Internal Audit. BGIPU is also required to follow specific administrative, financial and human resources policies, analogous to those currently held by the House of Commons and the House of Lords, but proportionate and relevant to BGIPU’s own unique circumstances.

Financial oversight is exercised by a twice-yearly Audit Committee selected from members of the Executive Committee. The BGIPU also has an annual external audit, with authorised financial statements, an explanatory commentary, and a key issues memorandum presented to the Audit Committee in mid-year for consideration and referral to the Executive Committee.  In accordance with the rules of the Group, the BGIPU produces an Annual Report, comprising report and summaries of activities and financial reporting, in advance of the Annual General Meeting and from time to time undergoes a periodic internal audit by funding bodies from either House of Parliament.