The Governance White Paper, presented to you by the NEC and produced after months of consultation with our membership and sets out the challenge facing the student movement in achieving real reform of our governance. It is an exciting set of proposals that will help to make a real difference to students and their unions.

Good governance is about getting things done. We want NUS to help make students’ unions as successful as they can be, so that we can make a real, positive difference to the lives of students. And we want governance that helps us to achieve these outcomes. But excellent Governance is also about democracy and whilst “decisions are made by those who turn up”, we need to find new ways of engaging diverse and underrepresented voices.

These proposals will help us to achieve this.

The mandate for us all following Annual Conference was a tough one, requiring creativity, flexibility and new ways of thinking and working. That is not easy for any organisation; it’s harder still for an organisation so full of passionate, dedicated officers and activists.

Yet, for an organisation so full of radicalism, we remain in our governance deeply conservative. We are wedded to the structures of the past, whilst striving to
change lives in the future. History shows that NUS is at its best and its most
influential when it when it is talking about education, about student living conditions, about student health, about discrimination, about the lack of human rights
and educational opportunity abroad, and about defending the autonomy of students’ unions. Our governance must reflect the power students have to highlight these issues and to secure positive change.

Following Annual Conference the Governance Steering group has conducted one of the most wideranging consultations ever carried out by the National
Union. Hundreds of officers, students, staff and volunteers fed in views and ideas and many are reflected here. Our thanks should go out to them not only in messages, but in delivering the changes that so many of them want to see. I want to extend my personal thanks not only to contributors during the consultation but to the steering group that supervised the production of these proposals, now adopted by the NEC. Their contributions have been constructive and valuable and their creativity essential in helping us reach a new settlement. The National Union owes them a real debt of gratitude.

As I said in at our Annual Conference in Blackpool earlier in the year, no governance reform will be perfect; no single model will fit, and the job won’t be done in a year. But we all also know that we need a new settlement, between the organised and the disadvantaged, between the political and the nonpolitical, and between the officers and the activists.

On Monday 22nd October I gave a speech to our Strategic Conversation event in which I set out where we as a National Union have come from and what challenges face us ahead. The speech is below.

Good morning everyone.

Thank you for coming to this, our second strategic conversation event.  It seems a long long time ago since we had the last conversation back in January that I know many of you were at.  So much has happened.  I feel like we have so much to say, and so much to update you on, it is hard to know where to begin.  And that is one of the reasons why this year we have increased this event to span over two days, in the hope that our conversation with you is more meaningful. 

Since we last met we have spent a lot of time asking the question “What is NUS?”

On that question people have said a range of things and have asked many more questions: should we be a charity? Are we third sector? Are we a think tank, a lobbying and campaigning organisation, a membership organisation? Well, the time for navel gazing is over.

We have recognised the different things we need to do to make this success real, and realised the different people we need to work with, and work for to create real successes.  If we are to have a big impact, to create the space for change locally and create change nationally, we have recognised we must focus down our efforts and prioritise our work around our core purpose. 

And one of the things that has enabled and motivated us over the last nine months is that there is such a will, not just from you and the wider student movement, but from sector partners, government, political parties, the voluntary sector, the trade union movement, and of course NUS alumni. A real desire NUS to remain, to be effective and to succeed. 

The basic fact of the matter is, people want a National Union of Students, and they want it to be a success.  When we first started on the journey to reforming NUS, I don’t think I believed that, but now I do.  I also know that NUS can be a successful organisation capable of achieving its vision and mission, but to do this we needed to ensure that we had a clear mission and vision to guide us.

So following consultation with you, we have a new mission.  It’s not rocket science. We promote, defend and extend the rights of students – we are the national voice of students in the United Kingdom.

And we develop and champion strong students’ unions – we build capacity in our member organisations.

And, like all driven and effective organisations, we have a new vision too – NUS as a pioneering, innovative and powerful campaigning organisation: the definitive national voice for students.  We’ll fight barriers to education, empower students to shape both a quality learning experience and the world around them, and we will support influential, democratic and well-resourced students’ unions – and that is it.

That is what NUS is about.  That is what NUS is for.

Because we have so many students’ unions in membership, and because that membership is so diverse – on the one hand organisations with ten million pound turnovers, and on the other tiny enthusiastic committees – sometimes we’ll do things that not everyone needs.  And because students are so diverse, with different outlooks, interests and views, we won’t always do things that everyone believes in.

But in the future we want to make sure that we do things that benefit students and their unions far better and far more often than ever before.  We know that we need to demonstrate clearly and simply to you the impact we have on you as our members, and students as your members if we are to be the organisation you and your members need us to be.

And whilst the language we use today may be different from that of the past it’s still about collectivism.   If that sounds better as “partnership working”, then fine, if it resonates more as “economies of scale”, then great but the basic principle of coming together in a collective still holds true, whatever the language.

Focusing on the benefits of coming together.  Focussing on our members, Students’ Unions and your members, Students.  Focusing on being led by you and run properly.

The principles never more relevant and never more valuable.  More appropriate to 2007 than they ever were in 1922, and those that deny the relevance, question the value and ignore the importance of these benefits do so at peril.

Everyone knows all too well the details of our past. As I said at Conference, we know that NUS has been wasteful, we know that we have lost too much money, talent and support, and we know that we have a long way to go before we have put all of these things right. 

However, at our conference last March I told you – no, I promised you – that we had reached a turning point.  And today I stand by that promise; and I’m here to tell you that we really have begun to turn things around. 

You already know, that at the start of 2007, we raised substantial additional income from re-positioning our relationship with Endsleigh Insurance, and we have passed that income back, to you, our members. 

You already know that now we have an affiliation system based on fairness and equity, one that is transparent and honest.

That’s what you know. Now let me update you on developments over the summer.

Since we last spoke in Leicester last year, we have made five hundred thousand pounds of cuts to our expenditure through a detailed restructure. That’s half a million pounds of cuts, mostly in staffing. It was hard.  There were times throughout the summer when we went through, what I am sure many of you have been through, taking tough decisions, when I regretted ever standing for election in the first place. But they were the right decisions to ensure the future of NUS and students’ unions.

And they weren’t just to save money, the changes were to set us up to succeed.

We’ve already had some key wins. £280,000 from the new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills to enable even more unions to benefit from the Students’ Union Evaluation Scheme.

Huge increases both in student grants and the disabled students’ allowance.

A massive win on HSBC, with over 1,000 press mentions and £25m a year saved for students as a result.

And just last Thursday- a brand new National Student Forum, putting NUS and students at the heart of the Government’s decision making.

Underpinning successes like these is about getting key staff in place- and we’ve also been recruiting this summer. That’s been a vital process- getting the right people to support us will stand us in good stead for the future. And so we want to use this event to introduce you to some of our key new people.

You know Matt Hyde- now our Chief Executive. You will also know Jim- now our Director of Campaigns and Strategy. Let me also introduce Emma Cox, our new Director of Membership. James Lorenz- our new head of Communications. And Phillip ghsdfsdgfjd. Our new Director of Business Services.

We’ve also poached our new Head of Education and Quality Alex Bols from UUK, Vic Langer is now our head of Political Strategy and we will appoint our new Head of Social Policy next week.

Many of you also know Scott Farmer, who will join us later, who now manages the regional teams in London and the South, and next week Ben Vulliamy starts at NUS as our new manager in Midlands and the North.

All of them are fantastic appointments and I know you will wish them well as they build their teams and NUS’ future strategy.

Over the summer we have also chosen five important priorities for the whole organisation to work towards in the medium term.  These priorities, which we will call our strategic objectives, will form the cornerstone of our work during the next three to five years.  They are ambitious, they are fundamental to the pursuit of our vision for NUS and for further and higher education; they reflect both our values and our mission.

Matt will talk in detail about these priorities a bit later on.

But perhaps the most difficult project of all- yes even more difficult than our restructure- has been our Governance review.

Since as long as I can remember people have been calling for NUS reform. Every year members of the National Executive have called for change when standing for election. Every year talented student officers and their managers have begged us to take a serious look at our structures.

So when this year in January we said we’d review our Governance, I understand the cynicism that greeted us.

Some people said “we’ve heard it all before”. Some people said we’d be anti democratic, or right wing, or anti diversity.

And I’m proud today to say that to those of you who believed in us and helped us through the process- we’ve done it. We have a wide ranging package of reform to launch that makes us simpler, more effective, better run and governed, and that is better than ever at involving and engaging our members.

After lunch we’ll take you through it all. A new policy making process designed to engage with students and officers and listen to evidence for the first time. A new annual Congress- still democratic and feisty but with lots of the pointless procedure gone for good. A new senate replacing the NEC and National Council- there to represent the breadth of the movement and properly resolve our political differences. And a new NUS board, appointed by you- deliberately designed as a non political body that can scrutinise our practices, examine our finances and ensure we are as well run as you deserve us to be.

It’s not been easy. I want here and now to pay tribute to my Governance Steering Group, staff and National Executive colleagues who have been creative and passionate about creating a better structure.

And it won’t be easy from here on it. Already the forces of conservatism, posing as the radicals of NUS are mobilising to bring down this review. Already people are saying that the reforms are a real cut to democracy, when what they really mean is they are a change to the status quo. Already people are on facebook groups and in meetings at UEL saying this is a right wing stitch up- when what they really mean is they are a legitimate challenge to vested interests on the hard left. And already people are saying we’re rushing through the changes, when you’ve been waiting over 30 years for change on this scale.

So don’t underestimate the challenge ahead. In December we fully intend to hold an Extraordinary Conference to discuss for the first time a new Core Constitution. We’re not doing this to ram it through, or curtail debate- in fact it will still need a second reading at Annual- but we’re doing it so that this review doesn’t drag on into next year. All of your feedback suggests you want us to get on with it- and that why we need every union in this room to debate and call an extraordinary conference so we can start putting the changes into action. I’ve already got 5- but by November 9th I need 25- so please- go back and get reform of NUS on yours and then our agenda.

As I said after lunch we’ll go through the detail. What I would say is this. The reforms aren’t perfect. They won’t totally please everyone. But we are confident that they are a big enough step in the right direction for most sensible people to back the change. So if there’s bits of detail you don’t like, or want to question- please let us know. But the next few months is not a time for opposing on principle or detail. It’s a time to get behind change, get behind the good work of the steering group, and get behind the vast majority of the NEC. We need you at the extraordinary conference. We need you leading your delegate elections. We need your support, your help and your momentum. Because this time- like on affiliation fees, restructuring and cutting expenditure- we mean it.

So let me summarise.

Reforming the way the National Union is governed

Balancing our budget for the first time in years

Committing to our strategy, and carrying it out

Campaigning, taking action and fighting for our beliefs.

We have turned a corner and we must go forward in a new direction.  Last time we spoke I said that the change must begin now, and that only we could begin it.  Today, I say quite simply: we must continue.

We must keep taking those hard decisions.  Our experience is that in the short term they can be difficult and uncomfortable, but that in the end they are the right thing to do, and that only by doing the right thing can we demonstrate to you that we are able to maximise our impact for our members, and your members.

But before we continue, it is important that you have your chance to talk with us about our plans.  It’s now over to you.  Tell us what you like, tell us what you don’t like, be critical and be constructive.  We want to discuss with you our direction, and find out from you if our pathway for the future is the right one.  In these situations the simplest thing to do is to straight away focus right down in on the detail, but first we need to know, do you agree with the direction of travel? 

I ask you to take a step back, look at the broad outline –is this right?  Will it deliver for your organisation and your members?  We think so. 

Last week we celebrated our 85th birthday as an organisation. The challenge now is to ensure we’re here for at least another 85 more. 

Have a great 2 days

The NEC have voted to call for our member unions to call an Extraordinary Conference to begin discussing these fundamental changes to our Governance.  The motion and information about this can be found on our facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18736554848 - please join now!!

Five things you need to know about Extraordinary Conference

1) Your delegate entitlement to an extraordinary conference is the same as for the last Annual Conference. See here:

http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/media/resource/CD3B%20-%20Delegate%20Entitlement2.doc

2) Because it's an extraordinary conference, you don't need to hold a "Cross Campus Ballot". All unions are automatically exempt. See 24i page 9 of our constitution

http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/media/resource/Constitution%2020051.pdf

3) We can't precisely predict the date. See 26c of the constitution. However we are hoping to hold it in the Midlands on 4th December.

http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/media/resource/Constitution%2020051.pdf

4) When requesting an extraordinary conference, the request must be signed by "the principal elected executive officer" of each union. We also need minutes of the meeting you decided it at. See 26b of the constitution.

http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/media/resource/Constitution%2020051.pdf

5) We imagine it will last for one day and the subject will be NUS Reform, which will cover a formal discussion on the new core constitution, an informal discussion on the schedules, and the ratification of the No Platform policy. A model motion to pass in your union asap is here. We ideally will have your requests by 9th November at the latest:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=18736554848&topic=3296

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