Local Population Studies Society

Constitution

1. The name of the organisation shall be the Local Population Studies Society (hereafter the ‘Society').

AIMS OF THE SOCIETY

2. The Society exists to:

(i)	promote the study of local historical demography and associated sociological, economic and historical topics;
(ii)	promote education in local historical demography and associated topics in universities, colleges of further education, other educational establishments and among the general public;
(iii)	promote research in the fields described above;
(iv)	provide a Book Club to further the aims of the Society laid out above. The name of the Society's Book Club shall be the Local Population History Book Club.
(v)	publish a journal called Local Population Studies (hereafter the 'Society's Journal') and other occasional publications reporting the results of such research.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE SOCIETY

3. The Society consists of individual members.

4. Membership can be gained directly as specified in clause 5.

5. Individuals may join the Society on payment of an annual subscription. Such membership is open to all who wish to join. The subscription shall be payable on by 1^st May for each calendar year. It should be noted that members of the Editorial Board of the Society's Journel (see clause 28) would be ex officio members of the Society without paying the annual subscription fee.

6. Organisations or institutions subscribing to the Society's Newsletter publications are not eligible for membership.

7. All members enjoy the same benefits of membership.

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

8. The Annual General Meeting (hereafter AGM) of the Society is open to all members of good standing.

9. The AGM of the Society is held during the Society's conference if one is held in that year. If no conference is held in a given year, the AGM will be held by special arrangement by the Society's Committee (see clause 17).

10. Ten members in good standing shall form the quorum for the AGM.

11. If the quorum is not reached the Honorary Secretary will arrange a new AGM to be held within two months. For this meeting, a quorum of five members is required.

POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

12. The AGM decides the forthcoming year's subscription rates and elects the Society's Officers.

13. Items for the agenda of the AGM must be received in writing by the Honorary Secretary within two weeks of the date of the meeting.

14. The Honorary Secretary shall provide an agenda for the AGM at the beginning of the meeting. The Chairman shall present a report of the Society's activities at the AGM. The Society's audited accounts for the previous financial year shall be presented by the Treasurer to the AGM for approval.

15. Proposals for amendments to the Constitution must be made in writing to the Honorary Secretary two months in advance of the AGM. Such proposals require the written support of at least five members. The Honorary Secretary must publish the proposals at least one month before the AGM. Amendments to the Constitution may only be made at the AGM. Proposed amendments previously endorsed by the full support of the Officers of the Society require the support of a majority of those present and voting. All other amendments require the support of at least two thirds of those present and voting.

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY

16. The Officers of the Society comprise Executive Officers and Ordinary Officers. The Society's Officers shall collectively form the Society's Committee. Officers must be members of the Society in good standing.

17. Officers of the Society form the Committee of LPSS. The Committee will normally meet three times each year, and is responsible for all day-to-day activities of the Society. The committee (and its officers) report to the AGM.

18. The Executive Officers of the Society are the Chairman, the vice-Chairman, the Honorary Secretary, and the Treasurer.

19. In addition to the Executive Officers, no fewer than two and no more than six Ordinary Officers can be elected.

20. All Officers are elected for a period of up to four years by the membership, and are responsible to the membership for their actions. The election and retirement of Officers shall be in rotation; no more than three Officers shall retire in any one year. The Honorary Secretary shall announce vacancies and invite nominations at least one month before the AGM. Nominations for Officers must have the written support of at least five members of the Society, and must be received by the Honorary Secretary at least two weeks before the AGM. Executive Officers may not be re-elected to the same posts more than three times in succession.

21. The Trustees of the Society shall be the Executive and Ordinary Officers.

22. The Chairman of the Society shall be primarily responsible for the strategic planning and overall policies of the Society, and for its external relations.

23. The vice-Chairman shall be responsible for performing the duties of the Chairman in the event of the latter's unavoidable indisposition.

24. The Honorary Secretary is responsible for the general secretarial activities and the internal affairs of the Society. The Honorary Secretary is also responsible for registration of the Society under appropriate data protection and copyright legislation where necessary and communicating with the Charity Commission. The Honorary Secretary is also responsible for the organization of records of membership and subscription payments.

25. The Treasurer is responsible for the financial arrangements of the Society, appointing an independent auditor and for presenting audited annual accounts to the AGM.

26. The Chairman, vice-Chairman, Treasurer and Honorary Secretary shall jointly appoint nem. con. the Editor of the Society's Journal. The Editor of the Society's Journal shall not be either an Executive or an Ordinary Officer of the Society, but shall normally be invited to meetings of the Committee. The Editor will be appointed for a period of four years in the first instance with the option of reappointment. The term of office of the Editor may be terminated by either side with 12 months notice.

27. The Executive Officers will have powers via common consent to vote on expenditure in order to promote and achieve the Society's aims, as set out in clause 2 above. The accumulated amount of expenditure agreed by a majority vote of the Executive Officers without recourse to the Society's Committee in a single financial year should not exceed 20 per cent of the Society's monetary assets as recorded in the previous year's audited accounts. Expenditure in excess of this amount requires the majority agreement of the Society's Committee.

28. The Editor of the Society's Journal is responsible to the Society's Committee for all editorial activities concerning the Society's Journal and occasional publications of the Society. This will include the formation and management of an Editorial Board consisting of not more than twelve and not fewer than six individuals, including the Editor. The Editorial Board shall meet as often as is deemed necessary by the Editor for the timely production of the Journal. The Editorial Board can include any of the elected Officers, by invitation of the Editor. The Chair of the Society will not be a member of the Editorial Board. The Editorial Board of the Society’s Journal shall also be considered to be the Publications Committee of the Society. The Editor will report to each Committee Meeting of the Society on the activities of the Editorial Board. The Editor and the Editorial Board have responsibility for all day-to-day aspects of the Journal and Society publications, operating within a budget to be agreed annually by the Committee. All major changes in publication policy must be approved by the Committee.

29. Provided sufficient funds are available, the Society will employ an Administrative Assistant to provide clerical assistance for the General Office. The General Office will usually be located in the Editor’s home institution, and the Society will seek agreement with that institution as to terms and conditions. The Administrative Assistant will be responsible to the Committee, and will be managed on a day-to-day basis by the Editor.

30. Provided sufficient funds are available, the Editor of the Society's Journal may receive an honorarium for the work entailed in producing the Society's Journal. This honorarium will not be considered part of the accumulated annual expenditure of the Society as described in clause 27. The amount of the honorarium will be reviewed annually by the Society's Committee in good time for any proposed changes to be approved by the AGM.

31. Ordinary Officers shall be assigned roles on a year-to-year basis in agreement with the Executive Officers.

CONTINGENCY

32. All profits derived from the activities of the Society and all interest deriving from investments which the Society shall from time to time make shall be devoted to the furtherance of the aims of the Society as set out in clause 2 above.

33. In the event of the dissolution of the Society, its assets shall be given or transferred to some other charitable institution or institutions, or charitable object or objects, with aims similar to those of the Society.