Handover can be a difficult and stressful time, particularly if you don’t get along with your predecessor or have conflicting priorities. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case for me and Julian as we undertook an ongoing handover process from my election at Annual Conference.

Headlines from this blog include:

• Coordinating NUS action around the lecturers’ dispute

• Speech and panel discussion at a Demos pamphlet launch

• LGBT Conference

• Introductory meetings

• Regional Receptions

The lecturers’ dispute

As our formal handover approached, it became increasingly clear to Gemma and I that we faced the dual problems of a divided membership and suffering students as the ongoing lecturers’ dispute became ever-more bitter with little end in sight and began working more closely with those managing our response to the dispute to begin the process of handing over the day-to-day decision making around the dispute in case it dragged on into July.

I got a full taste of what Kat and Julian had to deal with while Julian and Gemma were on leave and Kat was working at Unison and I found myself covering much of the press and membership liaison during the breakthrough in negotiations. I also led a delegation to meet with Bill Rammell on September 6th regarding access to the Disabled Students’ Allowance and visa extention waivers for those students who would be financially hit by the dispute.

Information was sent out regularly in e-mail briefings to officers and myself and Gemma wrote a letter to all presidents with an appeal for unity and submission of policy on the dispute to National Council. I can’t tell you how furious I was the National Council did not achieve a quorum. Until people start taking it seriously, it will continue to be a toothless body.

Now that the dispute has ended I think there are a number of lessons to be learned from the dispute, not only about the way that we manage crises, but the way in which NEC members consult widely around significant decisions as I think it’s fair to say that sabbaticals (and even NEC members) on both sides of the argument around NUS’ position on the dispute felt disenfranchised by the way that decisions.

Demos Pamphlet Launch – 13th June

On the first day of my formal handover with Julian I started the day as a panel speaker at the launch of a Demos Pamphlet entitled ‘Working Progress’, which examined the disconnect between young people and the organizations they go on to work for in terms of expectations around skills.

On the panel were Kevin Steele, director of Enterprise Insight and Sir Digby Jones, the outgoing director of the CBI. In their report following the event, Demos described myself and Sir Digby as going ‘toe to toe’ during the debate. Probably an understatement, given his general contempt for public services and the notion of society generally. Good fun to debate with though.

LGBT Conference – 16th-18th June

Lots of interesting debates at conference this year, incredibly student-focused. It’s true that the presence of factions on conference floor was limited, but I don’t agree with Sofie Buckland that debates were not political.

I was pleased that LGBT campaign endorsed Annual Conference’s policy of the principle of targeting student support to those who need it (as opposed to unrealistic and undesirable targeted grants), but bemusement has turned to immense frustration at continual assertions that Labour Students somehow ‘forced through’, ‘tricked’ or ‘bulldozed’ targeted grants policy through either Annual Conference or LGBT conference. Such large numbers would be nice, but sadly we’re a long, long, long way off a majority at either conference. In fact, an Annual Conference, every single political faction opposed targeted grants, so perhaps the rest of them, including those who ‘organise’ as independents, are out of step with independent opinion at those events.

By all means those who oppose this policy (as well as those who support it) should submit policy to democratic conferences next year, but in the meantime I think people should respect democratic decisions and support their implementation, just as I have respected the decision of the Disabled Students’ Campaign not to support targeted grants and am working on incorporating their concerns into our broad campaigning work on this issue.

Finally, as ever we focus on conflict. Perhaps we could all come to realize that we all oppose the current means-testing system that allows students to fall through the funding gap and support action instead of going round and round in circles with the same stale old debates, gripped by inaction whilst students are suffering.

Introductory Meetings

On a less contentious note, as part of handover I’ve been to a number of events and introductory meetings. I won’t describe them in laborious detail, here’s what I’ve been up to:

• UCU Reception – 8th June – to celebrate the merger of AUT/NATFHE. Met Sally Hunt and Paul Mackney new joint-general secretaries and key staff.

• HE Quality Steering Group (HEQSG – snappy eh?) – 14th June

• UJS Summer Reception – 14th June – a nice event with a roundtable discussion with the Chief Rabbi Sir Dr Jonathan Sacks, which was really interesting and though-provoking

• 94 Group Meeting – 19th June – staff level meeting with representative from the 1994 group of universities, resulting in opportunity to sit on their student experience working group

• Amicus Meeting – 20th June – my union, as part of our Trade Union Partnership Project. Discussed funding for National Demo transport and priority campaign

• Association of Collaborative Providers – 20th June – first meeting for me, with partners who work on providing HE courses at FE colleges. There are loads of issues around this, which myself and Ellie hope to work on this year

• CMU Reception – 20th June – at the House of Commons. This is the Campaign for Mainsteam Universities (modern universities). Some interesting research presented, an opportunity to nobble Lib Dems on fees, lobby John Redwood MP about the Tory HE policy review and meet some key names and faces

• OIA Board Meeting – 23rd June – attended Board Meeting for the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) as an observer with Julian as I take up post as a Director from 1st July

• Various introductory meetings with staff and new NEC

Regional Receptions

First opportunity to meet new names and faces for the year ahead. I attended the South East reception (26th June), East Anglia reception (27th) and East Midlands (28th).

Getting Started – 1st and 2nd of July

Saturday 1st July, the formal handover date, was spent in the office writing up the final draft of my priority campaign proposal to the NEC, which I will be co-convening with Gemma, which was ready in time to drive up to NEC induction on Sunday afternoon with Stephen and Gemma, which will be the opening story of my second blog as VP Education…

Wes

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