NUS affiliation fee review
As you will recall NUS Finance Committee have been reviewing the method by which students’ union affiliation fees are calculated. This letter outlines the process from here.
After a great deal of hard work (particularly by Viveza, the consultants we used to assist us) Finance Committee strongly believes that we have come up with a new system that is a big improvement on the current methodology. Above all, it is fairer.
Every constituent member should by now have recently received a letter from Viveza showing the new formula and what your union would be eligible to pay under the new system from the figures gathered (n.b. these figures were indicative and we recognise despite best efforts there will have been a few minor inaccuracies). If you have not received this please do get in touch asap by emailing Geoff Birch at
Finance Committee started the review determined to come up with a new system which would be fair and built around the principles of:-
- Transparency
- Ability of unions to pay
- Simple to calculate
- The new system must be regularly reviewed and maintain flexibility for unions experiencing hardship
Viveza looked at a range of new possible methodologies but are recommending we adopt one which at first sight bares many resemblances to the old. The key factors it considers when calculating the fee are grant income and student numbers; however, the outcomes are clearly fairer than the old system.
Furthermore, Finance Committee is committed to ensuring that proper consideration is given to local factors which impact upon a students’ unions ability to pay - for example we will automatically discount the following:- utility (not phone) bills; rent and repairs payable to the institution for union buildings housing non-commercial services; costs related to university services being located in a union building; council tax; SLO salary (Student Liaison Officers in FE) when considering what is “grant income”.
While we recognise that the suggested new system is anything but simple, we do believe it is clear and treats unions fairly. We propose to put details of what every union would be eligible to pay based on figures we’ve received up on www.officeronline to ensure maximum transparency.
To ensure the system is not open to any future abuse and generate trust we will be requiring third party verification of what institutions give to unions from next year.
Finance Committee are delighted that NUS have committed to cutting the overall take from affiliation fees by 10% next year. It is very important to stress that we recognise that times have been very hard for unions across the country and will look carefully at any hardship applications from any unions who for whatever reason have difficulties in paying their affiliation fee next year.
NUS is committed to ensuring that once new income streams become available then affiliation fees should fall further, but recognises that in 2008/9 significant further falls are unlikely and that inflationary pressures are likely to necessitate a small increase next year. NUS recognises the need for unions to be able to plan and budget further ahead and will endeavour to pass on information regarding future fees levels as soon as is possible. The intention is to move to situation where unions have a clear idea what fee levels will be for the next 3 years as soon as possible, but it is important that we take this decision on the basis of established data.
We’re keen to receive feedback from as many unions prior to our meeting on 16 February which will decide what to recommend as a new system to NUS annual conference. So if you have any points to make or alternatives to suggest, please do so by emailing me at the addresses below.
Finance Committee would like to finish by passing on our great thanks to Geoff Birch, the
Kind regards,
Graham Gaskell
Chair of NUS Finance Committee
Frequently asked questions re grant income
Finance Committee will decide which items should be automatically exempted from union grant income for the purposes of calculating affiliation fees, and which items may be exempted depending on the circumstances of the union in question. Payments to a union from a parent institution besides the block grant/subvention may be considered part of the block grant at the discretion of finance committee.
Currently these exemptions are expected to apply;
Category 1 (automatic) exemptions:
Utility (not phone) bills; rent and repairs payable to the institution for union buildings housing non-commercial services; costs related to university services being located in a union building; council tax; SLO salary (Student Liaison Officers in FE)
Category 2 (discretionary) exemptions:
Loan repayments to the institution; rent and repairs (not refurbishments or renovations) payable to the institution for union buildings which solely house commercial services.
Graham Gaskell
Chair of NUS Finance Committee 2007/8
Email : g.a.gaskell@wmin.ac.uk
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