I jest of course! But this is a flavour of what I have been working on over the past couple of months.

What’s this all about.

For years now many in the student movement have been calling for changes in the way SUs are governed, pointing to examples of confused thinking, bad management and failing unions as a reason to act collectively to do something, but with the exception of some lone unions and individuals very little has been done to deal with this.

As President of Hull University Union I attended a number of seminars run by NUS, NUS Services and the Association of Managers in Students’ Unions (AMSU) last year that dealt with some of the top level questions surrounding governance, management and strategic development and I must admit that they were pretty gloomy occasions with a string of prominent GMs and outside observers telling us that, with the collapse of bar takings, student apathy and the introduction of top-up fees, the end was nigh and Armageddon was approaching. This was all topped off with talk of the Government’s Charities Bill, that would eradicate SUs status as Exempt Charities – “This is it” some said, “we’re doomed”.

Now, you can say many things about me and one of them is that I am an eternal optimist. I am always dazzled by the silver lining that surrounds every dark cloud, and always think that the grass is greener on my side of the fence! So I set about to have a good read of the Charities Bill.

In the meantime – my colleagues on the Board of Directors at NUS Services, Ian King (Chief Executive) in particular, had been agonising over the future of Student Unions and indeed the future of the movement as a whole. They were concerned that inconsistent, often bad governance structures in Students’ Unions coupled with poor management and inexperienced leadership from officers was going to be manipulated by a new breed of ruthless Vice-Chancellors, Principals and Registrars. Ready to undermine us and hang us out to dry when we next come up against real difficulties.

At my first meeting of the NUS Services board of Directors we had a lengthy discussion about these problems and how NUS and NUS Services should be reacting. This is where it first occurred to me that the Charities Bill was far from being a threat, it was actually an excellent opportunity that can be used as a catalyst for change and improvement in the movement.

The Charities Bill – what it is and what it isn’t!

As I said earlier, the Charities Bill will eradicate SUs status as exempt charities and will force them to be registered with the Charities Commission, which according to the Bill has the right to “exercise the same jurisdiction and powers as exercised by the High Court”. This pretty much means that al SUs will be obliged to live by their rules and that the Commission can investigate any union and force it to make changes to its structures if it does not like what it finds.

Some see this as a threat to the traditions of the student movement and many myths have been churned out about this so I’ll address a few of them now:

• “Trustees cannot be elected” – this is completely untrue. The Charities Commission registers many Charities that have elected Trustees. Where most SUs will face difficulty is when the Commission demand that there is a degree of continuity and expertise on the board and therefore a need to incorporate some external trustees to sit on the board for longer than the nominal one year student sabbatical and who will bring with them some experience and qualifications from walks of life that students, on the whole, just won’t have developed such as accountancy or law. This in itself is not a bad thing and will only serve to bring breadth and depth to the decision making process.
• “Trustees cannot be paid” – again this is untrue. The Charities Commission does not have one blanket rule on this. What it would demand is a clear statement within the constitution of your SU stating that some or all trustees will be paid and explaining exactly what for. I would suggest that this would require a paragraph or two in the constitution explaining the difference between the role of a trustee and the role of an officer such as President or VP Welfare or Education officer and stating that the payment is for your duty as an officer NOT for your role as a trustee.
• “SU will not pass the Public Benefit test” – the public benefit test is one that all charities must pass before they can be registered with the Commission. The Charities Bill stipulates that the “promotion of education” is of public benefit and any Charity stating it in their aims will automatically be approved. The Bill does state though that other aims such as the “promotion of religious harmony”, “the promotion of equality” or “the promotion of diversity” can be charitable but you will need to explain why your union is best placed to deliver those goals before they can be approved.

Now, that’s all very well and good, but there is still a lot of concern about the Commission’s power to instruct Unions to change their structures that are based on decades of tradition. But, I do not think we have anything to fear if we are prepared and are able to show that Students’ Unions are ever evolving institutions that can rise to any challenge and are focussed delivering for students throughout the country.

What should we do about it?

After much, deliberation and hard work, for which I have to thank Ian King and Matt Hyde (General Manager of Goldsmiths SU) we came to the conclusion that the student movement needs to start regulating itself.

We must first agree a basic, standard set of requirements for Student Unions throughout the country. These would be structures that are achievable and realistic for every Union irrespective of their size, location or history.

They would set high, challenging standards, but the aim would be to enhance the service delivered to students on the ground and empower officers to make the changes they want to make and deliver change for the students they represent.

This set of requirements would then be assessed by an independent body, endorsed by NUS, NUS Services, AMSU and hopefully the Charities Commission, who would award a charter mark to that union showing that it is achieving the highest standards and consistently raising the bar to deliver for its members.

We already engage in this sort of activity, with many unions holding up their Investors in People status, Best Bar None awards and Investors in Volunteers awards as badges of pride. We should also start to recognise the amount of work officers and managers commit to delivering for their members and use the Charities Bill as a springboard to do what we all know we should have been doing all along, preparing ourselves for a new era where SUs with an enhanced legitimacy will have a bigger role to play than ever before.

Relevant Links:

The Charities Bill:www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmbills/083/06083.i-v.html

Explanatory Notes with the Charities Bill: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmbills/083/en/06083x--.htm

Home Office Regulatory Impact Assessment: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/ria-charities-bill-060105/

The Charity Commission: www.charity-commission.gov.uk/

My presentation to the “Change Management” seminar: www.amsu.net/DisplayPage.asp?pageid=15375

I appreciate that this isn’t the hottest topic in town at the moment but I really would like to hear what you think, and any ideas or concerns you might have about the future governance of your union. So please do drop me a line to derfel.owen@nus.org.uk or call me on 07734 816307.

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