Union Council Update - 9th February 2021

Union Council is the meeting where all your elected representatives get together to discuss the important issues that matter to you. They decide the policy and campaigns that can address those issues and report on how they have been working to progress things on your behalf.

At the last meeting on the 9th of February, there were three policy proposals that were debated and voted on. We are pleased to say that all three passed and will be worked on by representatives, students and staff.

Signature Requirements Policy

Accommodation Sponsorship Policy

Tuition Fee Policy

The first motion to be discussed was submitted by Will Styles, Part-time Postgraduate Officer. The proposal called for the number of signatures required to trigger certain democratic processes to be reduced from 400 to 200. After debate, it was decided to amend the policy so that rather than a set figure, 1% of the student body would be calculated and used as the threshold. With the current student numbers, that is around 180 students.

This change means that it is easier for students to call for a referendum or to request that an item is bought to Union Council to be debated again. This change is a welcomed update to make UPSU democratic processes more accessible.

The second motion was also submitted by Will Styles and was in relation to the SU’s marketing relationships with accommodation providers in the city. The proposal called for the existing contract with Clever Student Lets (CSL) to cease and for the decision making of any future marketing or promotional relationships to involve the Sabbatical Officers. It also called for a maximum limit of one year on those contracts.

During the meeting Emi Dowse, VP Education updated on the most recent discussions with CSL where it was mutually agreed to end the advertising agreement

The final policy proposal of the evening was submitted by Fawziyyah Ahmed, VP Wellbeing and Diversity. As Union Council sets the political stance of the SU, the policy asked for endorsement to allow the Sabbatical Officer team to make an unequivocal public statement and campaign on behalf of students impacted by COVID and that disagree that they should pay full tuition fees for 20/21.

Fawziyyah explained that the Sabbatical Officers would like to join a national campaign in collaboration with many other students’ Unions and Universities to lobby the Government to address the issue, this is the Students United Against Fees campaign.

We are excited to get working on these policies with students and to implement the changes that you want for your union.

Minutes from this meeting can be found here.