Session one of Annual Conference saw speeches from National President, Gemma Tumelty, and the General Secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber. Several new members, including Imperial College London, were accepted into membership of the National Union, and delegates debated motions and reports relating to the financial arrangements of NUS, including a proposal for a new affiliation fee system.

The National President opened Conference with a keynote speech, which addressed questions of mission, purpose and change in NUS, Gemma told delegates:

“We will do more, and you will do more, and together we will turn this around. We will make students’ unions as successful as they can be, and we will make a real, positive difference to the lives of students. This is the turning point. And I know we can do it, because you are determined to see it done, because your National Executive has determined to act, and because I am determined to see it through.”

Conference will debate a motion calling for a full governance review on Wednesday afternoon.

Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, and a long-standing friend of NUS, gave sororial greetings on behalf of the trade union movement. Mr. Barber spoke of the partnership agreement between NUS and the TUC, and the difference this – and the resulting joint work it has led to – would make to students, especially students who work.

Resolutions passed in the first session of debate included the adoption of a new system for calculating NUS affiliation fees, charged to students’ unions for membership of the national union. Delegates approved proposals made by the NUS finance committee for reform of the system.

In the second session of Annual Conference, attention will turn to motions around education policy.

The Blogs on this site represent the individual views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or practices of the National Union of Students.

All links in blogs will open in a new browser window.

The permanent URL for this specific blog entry is: http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/conference/274100.aspx