Bristol Students Union has made payments to the NUS in years in which they have not held votes on their continuing affiliations, in apparent contravention of the 1994 education act. That is around £50,000 of your money per year!
On the 14th of January I asked UBU officials for the dates and results of their votes on affiliation to the NUS and the results of those votes. I asked this as under section 22 of the 1994 education act unions must give full details of affiliations annually 22(k(i)) and hold annual votes on said affiliations 22(l(i)). On that day I was told that votes have been only held in 2006 and 2011. I asked for that assertion in writing and immediately sent of emails. The request was made in front of sabbatical officers as was a reminder on the 16th. On the 24th I spoke to the President of UBU asking him to ensure that I was sent the paperwork (simply the dates and results of public votes – something that ought to be available to members) who assured me that he would remind the relevant officials.
A UBU official who insisted on remaining nameless told me today that
“the last time we held a vote on NUS affiliation was 2011″
thus confirming what we already knew, that there was no vote in 2012. The Union’s payment to the NUS appears to be in contravention of the 1994 education act.
I am still working on obtaining the dates and details of votes in previous years.
Update: The union “believed that student policy for three years and as such covered the period from 2011 to 2014″. They may want to seek better legal advice in future.
Loading ...
The affiliation is up for debate this year at least- Item 5 on the provisional agenda. Hopefully someone (or, say, a highly sceptical student media organisation) will turn up well versed in the costs/benefits of affiliation with the NUS so we can try and compensate for the lapse with a wide ranging and informed debate on whether or not we're better off out.
It should be held every year by law! But yes, I think I shall be leading the charge for disaffiliation. It still does not compensate for 50K of students' money being given to the NUS without consultation in 2012 and probably 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 too!
If you do not like the fact then please do something about it.
[...] After weeks of lobbying and requests for data and paperwork from members of this newspaper on the legality of payments made to the NUS, Tom Flynn admitted “we failed to uphold the provisions of the 1994 education act” which [...]