2026 Annual Delegate Conference Report

The 2026 PCS Annual Delegate Conference took place in Brighton between 19 - 21 May. This article focuses primarily on Proud members' work in writing and moving motions which are important to our community, though throughout the week we provided support and advice to members.

Read our report from last year’s Annual Delegate Conference.

A69

A69 was written by H Sheridan, Proud's Trans+ Representative. It was written to commemorate Chris Wood who passed away last year. The motion was moved by Adele Berry of R&C Preston. In their contribution, H remarked that Chris would have appreciated that a motion written in his memory was 'A69'.

The motion dealt primarily with the mental health and wellbeing of the reps who carry out the day to day casework that PCS is built on and encourages PCS to provide additional support. It was carried overwhelmingly.

A199

Motion A199 instructs the NEC to issue guidance about Work Related Stress and to call on the government to make stress reportable to HSE if it results in an absence of 7 days or more.

Steve Griffiths, Proud Treasurer, spoke on this motion about the importance of workplace wellbeing and how employers need to move toa more preventative model.

Given that Trans, Intersex and Non-binary people (and the wider LGBT+ community) are particularly facing increasingly hostile workplaces and society, proactive support and management of wellbeing is crucial.

A315

It's a basic democratic principle that motions should be put before conference where elected delegates can debate them and decide what they want to do with them. - Liat Norris

Motion A315 was moved by Liat Norris, Proud’s Secretary. When moving the motion, Liat asked “are we a reading club, or a trade union? Do we accept bad law, or do we challenge it? Do we roll over to legal threats, or do we challenge them? Do we sideline members who are fearful, or do we stand in solidarity with them?”

For context, over thirty motions relating to Trans+ liberation were not printed in the Conference agenda across years 2025 & 2026.

Rule SR6.22(g) allows the union to not publish motions written by members and submitted by branches if they could pose a legal risk to PCS, its agents or printers. The National Standing Orders Committee (NSOC) is responsible for setting the Conference agenda, and will identify motions which pose risk. These motions are sent to Thompsons for legal advice and if Thompsons determine that the motion could pose a risk for PCS, the motions are not printed in any of the Conference material.

We operate within the law but still campaign in line with union policy to get these abolished. - Liat Norris

Last year, the rule was primarily used to rule out motions relating to Trans+ issues following the UK Supreme Court ruling on April 16 2025 which rocked the community to its core. This year, the rule was used to rule out not just Trans+ motions but on motions relating to the union’s finances, and even this motion itself was sent for legal advice as the union’s bureaucracy sought to remove the challenge this motion presented. The union’s bureaucracy has, in effect, sought to defeat motions before they are even given the opportunity to be debated by Conference delegates.

Motion A315 itself became a case study in the very problem it sought to address.

The NSOC sought legal advice under 6.22(g) for this motion too, and it wasn't published in SOC1 under Standing Order A40. The legal advice didn't give grounds to rule it out of order, but the NSOC then X-marked the motion as unclear in intent (and also identical to A314, which it wasn’t) in SOC2. The branch moved a reference back which wasn't accepted initially in SOC3, but, finally, NSOC gave the motion an A marking and moved it to the top of the Rules section after representations from the branch.

A315 required a change to the union’s rules, which means it required a two thirds majority of Conference to be carried. While there was clearly a majority in favour, there was not the two thirds required. 

Opponents to the motion spoke about protecting the union. The key question in regards to this motion is: protect the union from whom? Its own members. It is Proud’s view that this rule has been misused to curtail debate on Trans+ liberation and to rule out motions that would provide protections for LGBT+ community in PCS.

The increasing and escalating use of this rule is a symptom of a democracy in crisis. Where the conference floor isn't trusted to make key decisions on important motions which say bad law is bad law and we need to launch a campaign to overturn that bad law. - Liat Norris

In one response from Thompsons, printed by the Independent Left, the legal advice received was that an employment tribunal may cite a motion’s use of “anti-trans” as referring to people who hold gender critical views, and may be discriminatory towards people who hold those views. The motion was not printed on this basis, despite the fact that PCS has clear policy to promote the rights of the Trans+ community.

We are also aware of attempts by the General Secretary to have control over the Conference agenda, as the Broad Left Network reported.

Liat argued that it should be up to Conference to decide. Conference is the ruling body of the union. He said:

Where a motion which could potentially be considered defamatory or libellous, and where legal advice indicates the publication of these motions would lead to, on balance, successful legal action against the union, then it is absolutely right we do not publish them. However, this should be the exception.

Finally, Liat highlighted that many other unions, including UCU, Unison, ASLEF, NEU and Unite had published, debated and carried motions very similar to those ruled out using Rule SR6.22(g).

A124

Motion A124 held the outgoing NEC accountable for their failure to implement Motion A226 from ADC2025, which instructed the NEC to give branch officers direct access to member contact data, including mobile numbers and personal emails. A226 also called for PCS to update the PCS Digital membership system. The NEC was effectively censured when Conference passed this motion.

The motion provides a new deadline of 30 September 2026 for the new NEC to complete these actions.

Direct access to our members' records is important for reps and activists on the ground. Without it, reps are dependent on the central bureaucracy's communication channels.

Bi+ representative Jemma Garvey spoke on the motion and on that organising must be tied to bargaining and campaigning so that members see tangible improvements in their conditions, not just recruitment activity.

A348

Motion A348, written by the Proud National Committee, was one of only a few motions to pass the legal gauntlet of the National Standing Orders Committee. It was written as an emergency motion and covered E360, E361, E362 and E363. It was moved by PCS Proud’s Chair Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale of DWP Bradford and seconded by Puck Oseroff-Spicer of HO Security Industry Authority.

Read our article published on the day this motion was carried.

A348 was written with the context of the impending EHRC guidance, which was published the very next day following the end of Conference. The motion instructed the incoming National Executive Committee to write to ministers calling for a full parliamentary scrutiny of the guidance. It also re-affirmed PCS policy, as declared in previous Conferences, that trans women are women, and trans men are men, and that PCS should campaign for their recognition and full legal protections for non-binary people. Year after year, delegates to the PCS Annual Delegate Conference vote in favour of motions relating to Trans+ liberation and A348 instructs the National Executive Committee to uphold the union’s inclusive policy.

It is important to note that A348 was the only motion in the Equalities section to be debated in this year’s Annual Delegate Conference. This motion was thankfully A marked and moved to the front of the section by the National Standing Orders Committee, but other motions relating to Trans+ rights were present also. However, as we described in our article, motions such as A85 and A89 sought to restrict the rights of the Trans+ community.

Proud's Chair Saorsa-AmatheiaTweedale highlighted the importance of the union's Trans Awareness training, which was cancelled abruptly by the union's leadership despite running for three sessions following the UK Supreme Court ruling. Her speech won rapturous applause from the hall as she rejected calls for remission on the motion, which was then soundly carried with one of the largest majorities of the week.

Francis Coultas, Proud's Disability Representative, argued that pitting Trans+ people's rights against the rights of women, disabled people and religious groups only divides us and does the job of the capitalist bosses defeating the workers movement before the fight has even begun.

A23

This important motion was moved by Rose Baker of R&C Croydon and seconded by Emmie Turnbull of Scottish Government West and Central Scotland branch. It was the last motion to be heard of Conference and was saved from the guillotine by a delay in the announcement of the remit.

Crucially, A23 secures affiliation by PCS to Decrim Now, an alliance of workers who sell sexual services, sex workers’ rights collectives, politicians, feminists, trade unions, human rights and student organisations who are dedicated to improving the lives and working conditions of sex workers in the UK.

Both speakers highlighted that the motion itself was written with support from members of the sex work community and through extensive consultation.

There was opposition from the outgoing NEC, with the NEC speaker claiming that the debate in PCS hadn't yet begun and further discussion was necessary before affiliating to Decrim Now. Proud notes that a similar motion was brought to Conference in 2025, but was not heard as it was guillotined, so it is not through lack of trying. Rose advised in their right of reply that the discussion happened at members' AGMs and mandating meetings. The motion was carried.

The Proud National Committee encourages its members to get involved with PCS 4 Decrim, a network of grassroots reps across the country campaigning for decriminalisation of sex work. PCS 4 Decrim is not aligned with any of the union's internal factions and all are welcome.

PCS 4 Decrim have a WhatsApp spotlight channel members can follow and an email address: pcs4decrim@gmail.com

Fringe & Social

Proud's Fringe and Social meetings took place on Tuesday 20 May 2026. At our Fringe, we brought Proud members together to discuss our strategy ahead of the important debates on A315 and the Equalities section.

Our quiz was held jointly with the PCS Black Members Committee and was hosted by Proud's Secretary Liat Norris and Tracey Hylton from the NBMC. Proud once again sends its warm regards to the NBMC for all of the support they provide the committee and Proud members.

Proud National Committee Members at ADC2026

From left to right:

• Jemma Garvey (Bi+ rep)
• Eilonwy Awen (Campaigns and Communications)
• Fiona Brittle (National Executive Committee Liaison Officer)
• Saorsa-AmatheiaTweedale (Chair)
• Evgeny Loskutov (Black representative)
• Francis Coultas (Disability Representative)
• Liat Norris (Secretary)
• H Sheridan (Trans+ Representative)