Prospect National Conference 2026: Monday motions
Each day at National Conference the delegates, comprised of more than 400 reps across each of Prospect’s different sectors, will be debating and voting on motions to set the union’s policies for the next two years.
Members can download the Conference Agenda, which includes the full wording of all motions up for debate, as well as the voting rules and procedures, from the Prospect and Bectu Libraries.
On Monday, Conference debated and voted on:
Rules
Motion 46
Fines for members appealing NEC disciplinary decisions (Writers, Producers and Directors)
This Conference agrees to amend Rule 6.1 in Appendix A of the Prospect Rules 2024, namely:
“The Appeal Committee shall only be entitled to annul or uphold the decision of the National Executive Committee but have no right otherwise to amend or vary the same. If the Appeal Committee uphold the decision of the National Executive Committee they may require the appellant to pay the whole or such part of any fine as it shall in its sole discretion consider just and reasonable having regard to all circumstances of the case, and to the expenses involved in the appeal incurred by the Union.”
Delete entirely the second sentence.
CARRIED
Motion 47
Electronic balloting – NEC and GS elections (National Executive Committee)
This Conference agrees to amend the relevant rules… to allow for electronic balloting in statutory trade union elections once these measures have been introduced as a result of the implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025.
CARRIED
Motion 48
Updating legal reference (National Executive Committee)
Rule 2.9
This Conference agrees to amend Rule 2.9 to delete “ the Data Protection Act 1998 (as amended from time to time)” and replace it with “the Data Protection Act 2018 (as amended from time to time).”
CARRIED
Motion 49
Subscriptions (National Executive Committee)
Amended rule to read as follows:
“2.19 A fully paid up member may at any time after giving notice to the General Secretary change from one method of payment to any other method of payment from those specified by the National Executive Committee provided that there shall be no arrears of subscription after the change has been effected.”
CARRIED
Motion 50
Subscriptions (National Executive Committee)
Amended rule to read as follows:
“2.22 (1) (c) if the subscription of a member who has ordinarily paid by a single yearly payment has not been received by the General Secretary within 2 months after the same is due, that member shall cease to be a member of the Union at the expiration of such period of 2 months.”
CARRIED
Motion 51
Branches – (National Executive Committee)
Amended rule to read as follows:
“4.4 Employer Based and Occupation Based Branches
(1) Except in the special circumstances of any particular case no Employer Based Branch or Occupation Based Branch shall normally be formed to which there would belong less than 21 members at the date of its formation.
(2) If the number of members belonging to any Employer Based Branch or Occupation Based Branch falls below 21 the National Executive Committee may transfer the members to other branches.”
CARRIED
Motion 52
Branch duties (National Executive Committee)
Amended rule to read as follows:
“4.7 (5) to hold an Annual Delegate Conference or General Meeting in accordance with the Branch Rules at which to elect or make arrangements for the election of Branch Officers and any Negotiation Committee specified by the Branch Rule, to receive a Branch Annual Report and Statement of Accounts and to determine Branch policy to submit Motions and nominations to National Conference, Sector Executive(s) and the National Executive Committee.”
CARRIED
Motion 53
Sectors – rule 6.2 (2) (National Executive Committee)
Amended rule to read as follows:
“6.2 (2) consist of one, or more, representative of each branch or division that falls within the sector, as selected by that branch or division in line with their rules. The method for determining the number of representatives per a branch or division shall be set out in the sector rules and agreed by the NEC.”
Rule 16.1 (16) – new rule
Add new Rule 16.1 (16) as follows:
“Division means part of a Sector where members either work for the same employer or work within a sub-sector of a specific industry.”
and to renumber as appropriate.
CARRIED
Motion 54
Sectors – Rule 6.3 (National Executive Committee)
Add new rule 6.3 (2) “to organise a biennial sector conference” and renumber as appropriate.
CARRIED
Motion 55
Part 7 Professional and employer based groups (National Executive Committee)
This Conference agrees to amend Part 7 Professional and employer based groups as set out… and to make the further consequential amendments to Rules 9 and 16.
CARRIED
Motion 56
Rule 8.3 (1) (d) Composition of National Conference (National Executive Committee)
This conference agrees to delete Rule 8.3 (1) (d) and to renumber accordingly.
WITHDRAWN
Motion 57
Retired Members’ Group card vote (National Executive Committee)
Rule 8.13 (4)
This conference agrees to delete Rule 8.13 (4) and replace with new Rule 8.13 (4) as follows:
“8.13 (4) On a card vote the Retired Members’ Group card vote shall be restricted to a) Rule changes relevant to Part 5 of the Rules of the ‘Retired Members’ Group, b) any proposed changes to the Retired Members’ Group subscriptions and c) such policy motions that the Standing Orders Committee determines have an equivalence of impact on working and retired members. The Retired Members’ Group shall not have a card vote on any other rule changes or motions whose instructions specifically refer to working members or workplace policy or activity of the Union.”
Rule 8.3 (f)
Amend Rule 8.3 (f) as follows:
Delete and replace with:
“8.3 (f) Where a card vote is called, the Retired Members’ Group card vote shall be restricted to those items set out in Rule 8.13 (4)”
CARRIED
Motion 58
General secretary and employees of the union (National Executive Committee)
Rule 10.1 (1) (b)
This Conference agrees to amend Rule 10.1 (1) (b) as follows: After employees delete “and officers” Amended rule to read as follows:
“10.1 (1) (b) such other persons as employees as it may determine as provided for in these rules.”
CARRIED
Motion 59
Part 16: Interpretation (National Executive Committee)
Rule 16.1 (23)
This Conference agrees to add new Rule 16.1 (23) as follows:
“16.1 (23) Union journal means an appropriate means of electronic communication to all members.”
CARRIED
Motion 60
Disciplinary regulations (National Executive Committee)
Appendix A 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3
This Conference agrees to delete from Appendix A, rules 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 and to renumber as appropriate.
FALLS
Organisation, recruitment and resources
Motion 61
Support For Representatives (Nuclear Waste Services Limited)
Conference instructs the NEC to explore options for Prospect to provide enhanced support to representatives undertaking casework on behalf of individual members.
CARRIED
Motion 62
Increase Resources for Public Promotion (National Physical Laboratory)
Conference instructs the NEC to increase the efforts and resources dedicated to raising the visibility of the Prospect union and promoting our shared values in public forums.
CARRIED
Motion 63
Apprenticeship funding (Historic England)
Conference instructs the NEC to create a guide explaining the changes to Government Apprenticeship funding, seek to get commitment from organisations and employers to ensure apprenticeship programmes are available and explore alternative funding avenues (e.g. industry institutions, foundations, charities, employers) for Level 7 apprenticeships.
CARRIED
Motion 64
Establishing a Civil Service Trade Union Forum (UKAEA)
Conference instructs the National Executive Committee to:
- Establish a quarterly Civil Service Trade Union Forum, attended by reps from Prospect branches at these employers. This Forum would allow the development of common strategy across branches and better sharing of information.
- Facilitate civil service branches inviting guests from other branches to visit their workplaces to discuss common issues.
CARRIED
Motion 65
All working members in Prospect – Equality (Scotland Regional)
This conference instructs the NEC, as this issue is primarily a Prospect Organisational one, to ensure immediately every working member of Prospect has the same services and equal opportunities, within Prospect, to participate in all the activities of the Industry/Sector/Groups within which they are employed.
REMITTED
Motion 66
Common Debate on Motions 66 and 67. If Motion 66 passes, Motions 67 passes.
M66 Prospect IT Systems (Telecoms)
Conference instructs the NEC to commission a full independent, external, expert investigation to determine what went well and what went badly with Prospect (and in particular its management and governance) since its inception in 2019, how much spend could have been avoided, why the project took years longer than was originally planned, and what lessons must be learned for the future.
FALLS
M67 External Review Of New IT Systems (Writers, Producers and Directors)
Conference instructs the NEC to commission an in-depth independent external review of the project covering, in particular, timescales, systems functionality, management, governance and costs, with resulting detailed information and “lessons learned” being provided to branches.
FALLS
Motion 68
Prospect Information Technology Transparency, Accountability and Deliverables (Scotland Regional)
Conference therefore instructs the NEC to commission an independent external audit of all IT spend since 2016.
WITHDRAWN
Motion 69
Ending the Member Recruit Member (MRM) Policy and all recruitment schemes based on personal gain (BBC Corporate Functions)
Conference instructs the NEC to:
- End the current MRM policy and halt all individual reward schemes for recruitment.
- Ensure that all future recruitment initiatives are not based on individual personal gain.
REMITTED
Motion 71
General Secretary and NEC elections processes (EFRA)
Conference instructs the NEC to establish a task-and-finish group to consider the current General Secretary and NEC elections processes with a focus on all forms of bias, including incumbency bias. This group will recommend practical and equitable measures to support the overall democracy of the process including accessibility, transparency and improved election turnout.
CARRIED
Common Debate on Motions 72 and 73.
M72 Setting Prospect policy between National Conferences (EFRA)
When new topics arise between conferences which have not been previously debated, and where Prospect needs to respond to a consultation or decide on a voting position (e.g. for TUC Congress), conference instructs Prospect National Executive Committee to:
- Consult with the relevant sub committees (e.g. EOAC, the LGBT+ Committee) and working groups to inform Prospect’s position.
- Carry out member consultation, in the way of formal or informal member consultation, such as a survey, opinion poll, or listening event.
FALLS
M73 NEC Agreeing policy between conferences (National Trust)
In order to facilitate a full representation of branch opinions, conference instructs the NEC to implement a system whereby it can consult swiftly with branches via their Secretaries (or other officers as appropriate) on the small number of motions where there is not considered to be sufficient clarity in existing policy to support or oppose at TUC, STUC and other similar bodies.
FALLS
Motion 74
Distribute conference information directly to members (Post Production and Facilities)
Conference instructs the NEC to request that Prospect Officials and Staff send future conference agendas, action taken reports and conference recommendations directly to members.
CARRIED
Motion 75
Send communications to Chairs, Vice Chairs and Assistant Secretaries as well as Secretaries (Post Production and Facilities)
Conference instructs the NEC to request that Prospect Staff and Officials to send all communications that were previously sent to Secretaries, to Secretaries, Chairs, Vice Chairs, Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries.
CARRIED
Motion 76
Adobe Creative Cloud Pro subscription offer to members (North West Freelance)
That conference instructs the NEC to examine providing members with the full version of Adobe Creative Cloud Pro programmes that would be offered at a substantial discount to its current subscription rate.
CARRIED
Motion 77
Membership Database (Air Traffic Control Officers)
Conference instructs the NEC to work with membership services and IT to amend the membership database access rights so that Branch Organisers / Secretaries can amend Branch members’ sections and sub sections allocations.
CARRIED
Motion 78
Branch structure (London Live Events Network)
Conference instructs the NEC to investigate how union business affecting members whose work would qualify them for membership in multiple branches can be better achieved by formalised relationships between branches, and giving members access to business affecting them but managed by another branch.
CARRIED
Motion 79
Campaign for Prospect Democratic Processes (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)
In order to facilitate full representation of branch opinions throughout the cycles of the conference, the NEC and the sub-committees, the NEC is instructed to lead a campaign which informs members of its democratic processes, encourages and empowers members’ participation, and reviews how these processes can be improved.
CARRIED
Motion 80
Cyber security at Prospect (EDF Energy)
Conference instructs the NEC to develop a member centric cybersecurity policy as a matter of urgency.
WITHDRAWN
Motion 136 (Reference Back 25)
Reaffirming Prospect’s trade-union character and ethos (Writers, Producers and Directors)
This conference instructs the NEC to amend the Prospect and Bectu website governance pages which refer to the Prospect General Secretary “who acts as the CEO of the union”.
FALLS
Media, training and communication
Motion 8
Prospect web service improvements (EFRA)
Conference instructs the NEC to ensure that Prospect staff engage with branches to assess what improvements can be made to the Prospect online web services and underlying database, in order to deliver the best user experience possible. This engagement should include arranging focus groups which include membership and other relevant reps to identify priority areas for improvement.
CARRIED
Motion 9
Clear language in all official documents and communications (London Live Events Network)
Conference recognises that written communication to members cannot fall below governmental accessible documents guidelines… Conference instructs the NEC to ensure these standards are upheld as a matter of union wide-policy.
CARRIED
Affiliations
Motion 81
Expand & Secure Workers’ Rights (Tech Workers)
Affiliate to the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom.
REMITTED
Appointments
Motion 1
Prospect Trustee Alan Grey (National Executive Committee)
Conference, in accordance with the provisions of Rule 11.5, resolves to appoint Alan Grey as a Prospect Trustee.
CARRIED
Artificial Intelligence
Motion 23
Artificial Intelligence (Telecoms)
Conference notes that excellent and systematic communications are currently issued on other topics, e.g. Prospect Research pay briefings.
Conference instructs the NEC to take clear steps to, on a regular basis, demonstrate progress on existing AI policy (and new AI policy carried at this Conference) to reps and the broader membership, e.g. through appropriate written communications and other mechanisms such as webinars.
CARRIED
Motion 24
The Right to Opt Out of Generative AI in Creative & Technical Roles (Channel Four)
Conference instructs the NEC to do the following:
- Campaign for a statutory Right to Opt Out of Generative AI in creative and technical roles, enabling workers to refuse the use of generative AI systems
- Seek amendments to forthcoming AI and employment legislation… to require explicit worker consent
- Support members in negotiating… Clear contractual protections against compulsory AI substitution and fair compensation
- Establish a Prospect task force on Generative AI in Creative Work to monitor developments, understand impact of technical skills including editing, design, social media managers, etc gather member evidence, and coordinate campaigning and legal strategy
CARRIED