Last Tuesday an overwhelming majority of students’ union representatives voted for change.

We were delighted that NUS members chose to unite behind the new organisation. It was a major step towards creating a national union with a coherent, influential voice to stand up for their rights at such a crucial time for the sector.

But the fight for a better NUS continues. There are still those who are opposed to NUS being democratically focused, driven by students’ union and winning for the diverse membership that NUS represents through its members.

On April 1, hundreds of representatives from around the UK will meet in Blackpool and have the future of NUS in their hands. It will be a vote between those who recognise that NUS must improve, and those who are stuck in the bankrupt status quo.

One major driver for change is to become more financially prudent, seeking clarity in decision making and making the lines of accountability much clearer.

This blog is just a quick commentary on the current financial position of NUS, covering the 2006/07 final position, 2007/08 forecast and projections for 2008/09.

It’s students’ unions who will have to vote to approve this come Annual Conference 2008, so enjoy reading!

Update on 2006/7 financial year

As Annual Conference was made aware in March, for the fifth year in a row we predicted a deficit budget for the then current financial year. My predecessor announced that the figure would be over £1million. Since they yearend, the unaudited figures indicate a deficit position of £1.4million, set against a balance sheet of over £15million. The majority of the deficit is made from the staffing restructure, variances due to NUS Extra, relocation costs due to moving from Holloway Road.

And once again, we spent more money serving the democracy of the organisation, rather than fighting campaigns to make a difference for the lives of students.

This cannot continue.

We desperately need to vote through governance at Annual Conference in April.

After nearly a decade of producing deficit year after year after year, we are becoming financially prudent, and within the strategic objectives, intend to make an operating surplus by 2010.

This could not be achieved without the support of the membership, the commitment of students’ unions, and of all stakeholders to drive down costs.

I will be able to write more extensively when the audited accounts have been presented to, and agreed by, those relevant.

Update on 2007/8 financial year

We committed ourselves to producing a budgeted deficit of £300k for this year, an incredible achievement given last year’s financial outturn. This was agreed at Annual Conference 2007, against a backdrop of an incredibly healthy balance sheet.

I am pleased to blog that all indications are that we will deliver this budget, and although there is substantial time remaining within the financial year, we are absolutely committed to monitoring both the revenue and expenditure of the organisation to achieve this, and will continue to take necessary action where appropriate.

Alongside this we are reviewing a number of polices and procedures across the financial aspects of the organisation, we have involved Charity Business to help us drive forward the substantial changes required.

Update on 2007/8 Affiliation Fees

I have been very pleased with the success so far on the collection of affiliation fees. Within my manifesto I committed the organisation to collect the majority of affiliation fees through NUS Services central billing, and all indicators are that this has been warmly received by our members. Making life easier and less bureaucratic for unions – this is how it should always be!

We have tried to make the whole process of affiliation fees much more transparent, and much easier for people to understand, creating www.officeronline.co.uk/finance.

NUS is due to collect around £3.3million from its members in terms of affiliation fees this year, following the commitment to cut fees and drive down internal costs.

Finance Committee have approved abatement claims of six students’ unions, a hardship claim of one students’ union, and given a transitional arrangement to eleven students’ unions.

Update on NUS Extra in 2007/8

NUS Extra has a significant impact upon the budgets of students, students’ unions and NUS. Last year students who bought the card said they saved (on average) around £50, that 80 per cent would recommend the card to a friend, and that 70 per cent would buy the card again.

I have been very pleased with the marketing campaign this year, all feedback from officers has been positive, and during summer training it was clear that people were very excited about the project.

Given that 70 per cent of students said they would purchase the card again, we have not seen an increase that we would have hoped for. At present we have sold around 220,000 cards, a growth of about 10 per cent year to date. In one of the most exciting developments, sales in further education have grown substantially, and now stand at around 40 per cent more today than they were a year ago.

This puts NUS Extra as the second biggest paid-for student discount card in the world after Brazil’s.

NUS Extra is making a significant difference to a number of students’ unions, and a positive contribution to the student experience of thousands of students. As we look forward at the project, it becomes clear that there are a number of key demographics where there is huge potential, that there is increasing demand for online offers, that students want more information about the ethical credentials of discounters, and that people want a focus on the clarity of the offer.

We can see competitors trying to come into the student market and take this valuable income source away from students’ unions, and although I recognise that there are a decreasing number of unions either politically opposed or not focused operationally, we must all recognise that NUS Extra is a great example of collectivism in action.

Looking forward: 2008/9 Budget

Given that five per cent of delegates on conference floor this year said that they felt empowered to make decisions about the finances of the organisation, the process over the next few months is to get unions to take as much ownership of the budget as possible.

Students’ unions have committed NUS to producing a break even budget next year, which are dependant on a number of factors.

The priorities for next year’s budget at the moment are to identify any significant variances to budget in the current year, assess whether or not those variances are likely to recur in 2008/09, identify new areas of potential cost increases or income reductions and identify new areas of potential cost reductions or income increases. In normal language, that means cutting more costs (which is very difficult), finding new and increasing existing income, against a backdrop of increasing pensions costs and usual pay awards.

More detailed work on this can begin after we have reforecast the budget for the current financial year.

The estimates (budget for 2008/9) will be circulated during February for comment before voting upon them at Annual Conference in April.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Many financial thanks,

Dave x

dave.lewis@nus.org.uk

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