Reform or we go – SU Message to NUS

Debate is growing over the possibility that the Students’ Union may leave the National Union of Students should the planned governance reforms not pass in the near future.

The governance review that was commissioned by the National Executive of the NUS previously failed to pass at a Conference in Blackpool, losing by 25 votes, much to the displeasure of many within the University.

This prompted some Students’ Unions to discuss the possibility of leaving the NUS. Imperial College London in June this year voted to leave the NUS by a large margin, with 70 percent of students voting to disaffiliate in a referendum. The President of Imperial College’s Union, Stephen Brown said:

“It is unfortunate that the NUS failed to modernise this year but it is not reasonable for the NUS to expect Unions to continue to generously fund an organisation that has consistently failed to fulfill its potential.”

Despite this, the then President of the NUS, Gemma Tumelty, said that the NUS would push ahead with these reforms again and an extraordinary conference is due to be arranged soon to debate the matter.

Stuart Thomson, President of our own Students’ Union confirmed that Warwick would be undertaking a ‘cost-benefit’ analysis on the matter of NUS Membership. However he stated that if the NUS failed to pass its governance reforms yet again, then he would tell next year’s Sabbatical Team to ‘consider’ its position in the National Union of Students.

The Boar understands that such a proposal to leave may not see universal support across the Sabbatical Team. ‘Tommo’ said that ‘obviously some sabbatical officers are more pro-NUS then others’, however he said that no decision had presently been taken and could only be done so once all the facts were known.

The Education Officer, Mo Surve said he believed that a cost-benefit analysis should come after the NUS have voted on the governance reforms and not before.

Our Students’ Union contributes significantly to the NUS, paying £53,000 per year so that it can participate in the NUS’ democratic processes as well as take advantage of such things as the NUS Extra Card. The pension system of Students’ Union staff is also tied up in a larger NUS scheme and goods such as food and alcohol at the Union are bought in bulk by the NUS.

In recent times the NUS has come under a great deal of criticism from students across the country, with some labelling it’s structures as undemocratic and others attacking the ‘overselling’ of the NUS Extra Card rather than campaigning on issues affecting students. There has also been concerns about the amount of money that the NUS spends on campaigning in referendums. However, the NUS Executive Committee claims that most of the criticisms levelled at it are simply inaccurate.

This is not the first time that the issue of NUS Membership has come up at Warwick, however. Last year there was some discussion as to whether NUS affiliation was worthwhile, the then Finance and Governance Officer Tom Callow was particularly forceful in stressing the economic disadvantages that leaving the NUS would bring.

The University of Northampton left in 2001 but returned in 2007 and two years ago the University of Glasgow voted once again not to affiliate to the NUS for economic and political reasons.

The new President of the NUS, Wesley Streeting has been a strong supporter of the governance reforms put forward by his predecessor, with the Guardian newspapers reporting that his election was ‘a move that will lend weight to the fight to modernise the union’. However he has been attacked as being too close to the Labour Government.

With growing concern amongst students on the matter of the deficit which is reported to be around £750,000, some students are questioning whether the Students’ Union should be paying £53,000 a year to an organisation which few students on campus fully understand or appreciate. Whether or not this will factor into the decision making process of the Students’ Union when it comes to the cost-benefit analysis of affiliation with the NUS is unknown presently. However it appears that the NUS Membership issue will be one that will once again arise over the coming year.