Union Council (19th March 2015)

The following members were in attendance:

• Jade Head (Student Trustee)
• Leon Rea (Student Trustee)
• Darren Richardson
• James Edwards
• Steven Valentine
• Ben Franklin (Union President-elect)
• Kerry Sclater (VP Democracy and Creative Industries-elect)
• Lauren Baugh

The Chair (Ben Morton) opened the meeting and explained that as this meeting was also inquorate, any decisions would be ratified at a later meeting.

The minutes of the last meeting were approved on a clear show of voting cards.

There were no matters arising.

a. Election of Open Place Union Councillors

One candidate was elected unopposed as self-defining woman:

• Lauren Baugh

An election was held for the remaining position, and the results were:

• Kieran Reals: 9
• Darren Richardson: 8
• Steven Valentine: 3
• James Edwards: 5

Kieran Reals was elected.

b. Resignation of a member of Council

The meeting was informed that Roberto Gregoratti had resigned from his position as Union Councillor. 

c. Removal of members of Council

It was proposed to remove Emily Shepherd as a member of Council, as she had missed more than six meetings this year. The removal was approved (Yes: 25, No: 1, Abstain: 1). Note: Emily subsequently resigned as Nightline Officer prior to the ratification of these minutes.

d. Election of members of Union Council to Zone Committees

The following members of Union Council were elcted to Zone Committees:

• Democracy Zone Committee: Frazer Delves
• Sustainability Zone Committee: Charlotte Pollins
• Creative Industries: Alex Howard

e. Permission to undertake outside employment (Sabbatical Officers)

Megan Downing (Vice-President Democracy and Creative Industries) requested the permission of Council to take up employment with Inkpact Marketing. Council approved this employment on a clear show of voting cards.

There were no financial matters arising.

• Anonymous questions: There had been differing views. It had been suggested that it could both lead to sniping and could mean officers were more accountable? (Sophia D'Angelico)
• Action log: It had been agreed that this was good idea, but that work was required to look at the technicalities (Megan Downing)
• Transparency & accountability: A good discussion had been had, but time had been very limited (Megan Downing)
• Submitting ideas to Council: Well-received. To look at other SU websites (Ellie Cawthera)
• He For She: Agreed that it was a good idea and would fit with current work (Beckie Thomas)
• Supporting the Democratic Teachers Network in Mexico: the group had not been very informed, but had been happy that something relating to the wider world had been brought. It was agreed to suggest that the Marxist Society ask the Wessex Scene if they can write an article. (David Mendoza-Wolfson)
• Blacklist The Blacklisters: This was more about supporting students than suggesting that we do it. The Marxists would be asked to come back with more info. The group would be happy to facilitate lobbying. (Sophia D'Angelico)
• Period Tax: The group had been happy to support this, so SUSU will (David Mendoza-Wolfson)
• Support for Student Leaders: There had been a good discussion, and we would now go away and do some more work (Megan Downing)
• Safety Bus: They had discussed the changes, and were in agreement on cancelling the Portswood Safety Bus, and this would return later as a Policy Proposal (Beckie Thomas)

• Advertising for societies: This was something that the Marketing Department were looking at, and the Union were talking to the University (Katie Lightowler)
• Recording Council: There had not been an oppurtunity to speak to SUSUtv yet, but it would be good to have it from next year, though it would be even better if it could happen earlier (David Mendoza-Wolfson)
• Volunteer policy: A project was well underway (David Mendoza-Wolfson)
• Winchester minibus waiver: Student groups had been apathetic towards a fee waiver for minibus hire to Winchester hire, and WSA was also very quiet now. They would see how the shuttle bus works and go from there (Anjit Aulakh)
• Complaints: This was still being worked on, and would be brought to the next Council (Ellie Cawthera)
• Sleep space: More of a long-term idea, but was being included as part of the feasbility study on refurbishing the Union Building (Katie Lightowler)

a. Supporting the HeForShe Campaign (1415P6)

Proposed: Frazer Delves, Union Councillor; seconded: Jade Head

Fraser Delves noted that the Proposal was deliberately vague, and that he was looking for ideas from people as to how to run the campaign. He noted that many students' organistions support the campaign, but not many from the United Kindgom. SUSU would be leading the way, and he wanted to put Southampton on the map of supporters.

There were no further speeches.

• The Proposal was passed on a clear show of voting cards.

b. Student Safety Policy (1415P7)

Proposed: Beckie Thomas, VP Welfare; seconded: Steven Osborn, Union Councillor

Beckie Thomas noted that this Proposal had many parts. In particular, she highlighted the removal of the Portswood Safety Bus. She stated that students were responsible adults and should be able to decide how to get home – there were the options of the safe taxi scheme, and the Take A Mate campaign. She believed that the nightclubs were being irresponsible, in chucking students on to the Safety Bus and leaving them to the Union. This services costs £7,000 to run, and was only used by 54 students, whereas the Highfield services was used by considerably more. Other parts of the Proposal had been deliberately left vague in order to explore them at this point. 

• David Mendoza-Wolfson moved Procedural Motion E (to move to an informal discussion). He said that was not sure he understood all the Resolves, and would like to be clear on them.
• The Procedural Motion was passed on a clear show of voting cards.

David said that he was not convinvced on Resolves 3, and worried that it could cause damage. On Resolves 4, he was concerned that if the company didn’t want to continue the scheme, the Union could be in breach of Policy. He also believed that there were possibvle issues with the Take A Mate scheme. 

Beckie responded that Resolves 3 was more of an internal issue in terms of the budgeting – sometimes minibuses used for events are charged to the Safety Bus line when they were different to the standard Safety Bus service. David noted that they were still taking students home. Sophia asked for clarity on the meaning of "SUSU events" – did this related to those organised by SUSU or by student groups? Megan said that she believed that differentiating would damage the Safety Bus brand, and that if not all services are branded as the Safety Bus, they won't be considered as the same. It was agreed that clarity was needed internally on where the funding comes from.

Leon Rea said that he agreed with the idea and it would be a shame if pedantry stopped it passing, but the wording wasn't clear - there was lots of use of the word “should”, and the Proposal should be more active.

Darren Richardson said that he believed that that Resolves 11 was missing details doesn’t have details. David Allwright noted that if the taxi company pulls out, we fail policy , but that this was a good thing, as if the company pulls out, that means it will be clear that a gap exists, and we will therefore deal with it at that point. Beckie agreed, and said that it also meant that if and when the agreement was renewed, it would mean that there was guidance from Union Council on this, and that would steer negotiations.

• David moved Procedural Motion C (to refer the question to another person or body). Speaking for, he proposed referring the question to Beckie, and said that he believed the principle of the Proposal was strong but that he was not comfortable approving it if it was not finished. Speaking against, Ellie said that she and others had more comments to make before the Proposal was sent away.
• On an electronic vote, the Procedural Motion was not passed (Yes: 10, No: 14, Abstain: 2)

Ellie said that she thought it was important to discuss the Beovis Valley service. She understood the arguments, but as a student, the service had been very useful. She had wanted to go on socials with groups, but wouldn’t have been able to without it – or she would have walked home. She believed that it was important to enable students to take oppurtunities regardless of their financial situation. Beckie said that she did agree with the principle, but that there was not a safe way that the Union could keep this running. If the Union continued to run the service, they would continue to prop up the activities of the clubs, and she woud rather we work on changing behaviour. Jamie Wilson suggested changing to reduced hours to reduce cost. Ellie noted that if the Union ever wanted to restore the service, it would then be against policy.

David said he was very torn on running the service to clubs. Darren suggested that there be something to fill the gap – if we are not employing drivers, then why not have people outside the clubs helping? It was the responsbility of the clubs, but we need to do something.  

Megan noted that the cost of cleaning was not recovered, and that this could be a more robust system. She asked what would happen if the service is cancelled today, and next week a student gets attacked because they have no money for a taxi. The two might not be explicitly linked, but the links would be made by students. 

Steven Osborn noted that as mentioned in the Ideas discussion, we would then send staff after the withdrawal, and alert the clubs and put up posters, and also train Freshers' Reps next year. He believed that there were many other techniques which would be a more effective use of resources.

David Allwright noted that the funds that are freed up will be used in a sensible way, and that the Zone has thought about this in more detail.

Beckie said that she was happy to bring this back but had spent a long time on it. She believed that the language concerns were minor and didn't think it fair for students to make judgement calls on other people.

• David Mendoza-Wolfson moved Procedural Motion C (to refer the question to another body or person). He proposed referring the matter to Beckie for further discussion.
• The Procedural Motion was passed on an electronic vote (Yes: 16, No: 9, Abstain: 0) and the question was accordingly referred.

The Zone Reports were recieved, and Megan noted that the Creative Industries Zone Report had errors which she would be correcting. 

The reports were recieved by Council.

a. Attendance of Union Council Members and Student Trustees

Megan noted that she would be chasing members who were in the red.

b. Officer Reports

Ellie Cawthera had been doing lots of exciting things. She noted work around the contribution of our students to the economy, and an initiative to tackle waste. She had had one person message to say that they had read the report (as it requested), and that this was Shruti. She noted that Officers spend time on these reports, and that if no-one reads them, it is a waste of time. She wondered if they could communicate their work differently?

Katie Lightowler had today agreed a pilot for a campaign around mental health in sports with BUCS, and that she was on the committee leading the national campaign. She was putting on taster sessions for disability sports after easter. She had had 80 responses to a survey about the sports strategy. Southampton had won varsity, and it had been the best day she had ever had at University. The AU Ball had seen tickets sold out in 2 hours 20 minutes, which was the fastest ever, and this showed how good Team Southampton has been. She also noted that the first football team at WSA had started up. 

Megan Downing had been mainly working on the elections, which has seen a major rebrand. Tickets for the Media Ball would be on sale soon, and the Student Publication Association National Conference was being held in a few weeks time. She also noted work on the student groups induction with Katie Lightowler.

Sophia D'Angelico noted that the deadline for the Excellence In Teaching Awards has been extended to 30^th March, and encourage people to nominate staff for this, and Course Reps for the Course Rep Awards. 

Anjit Aulakh also noted the first football team at WSA. Lots of good events over the past few months. The International Forum had not as well attended as he might have liked, but it had prompted a conversation about how we communicate with international students. He had had a first meeting today for the International Committee. he had finished JCR training, which had gone really well, and would soon be trialing a Quiz and Curry event at Winchester. The Re-Union event there had been well attended.

Beckie Thomas encouraged people to nominate for the Excellence in Volunteering Awards, and reported that the anti-sexual harrasment campaign #SotonSpeakOut would be launched after Easter. She had also been working on LinkedIn Labs, a Housing Guide to be ready for next October, and the SUSU recruitment agency.

David Mendoza-Wolfson noted the recent January budget review. The Volunteering PID was looking good and would be starting after Easter. He sumamrised the recent staff restructure, and explained the changes made.

c. Questions to Officers

Q1: David said that the University have a board working on it, and it has approval from Student Systems Board, but they were now chasing the money.

Q: Can we have an update on when new seating will be installed in the Cube in line with the policy of the same name (1314P15) passed by the student body at the AGM? (Steven Osborn)

David referred to his answer at the previous meeting of Council. The seats would be very expensive, but he was committed to making sure this happens. Given the size of the expense, the Union was working with the University to help cover this. It was currently a question of how much and who would pay, but it would not be agreed for after Easter, and he was upset about that. He did believe it will happen, and was hoping that that would be after summer.

Q: The former Union Films office on Bar Three has now sat empty for approximately five months. When asked about the future for the office at the December council, it was stated that the decision had yet to be taken by Trustee Board. Can we get an update on whether this decision has been made and if so what the current plans are for the space? If there are not up to date plans for the use of the space, can council be assured of when this decision will be made and how student opinion will be included? (Steven Osborn)

David replied that there were no solid plans. The Union  was definitely going to do something with it, but had ot figured out what yet. It was currently being used to hold things that are being moved around the building. Megan noted that it has been used extensively for Elections Night Live.

Q: At the first Council of the academic year, you led an ideas discussion concerning the Union Plan to 2020. At the December Council it was reported that work had occurred and that this was now going out to the wider student body for consultation, with the hope that the Plan would be ready around February. Please could you update us on what came out of the consultation with the wider student body, and what stage is the Union Plan to 2020 presently at? (Frazer Delves)

David said that it was almost ready, but had been slightly delayed by the restructure. This was now a strategic priority and will be in place before the end of the Union year. There would hopefully be a consultation in the week after Easter, and it might be possible to send it out electronically over Easter.

Q2: Megan said that as they has only used the Advisory Group once this year, she will look at moving back to a form of Elections Committee to allow it to be more of a functioning body.

Q3: Megan said that she will do what she can to assist Councillors, but that it was out of her control whether they do them or not. If a template would be useful, they could let her know. Shruti noted that she had no idea what should be in such a report. Frazer noted that the Rules stated that the format was to be recommended by Council.

Q4: Megan confirmed that work was underway. Staff workload had been prioritised on the elections, but it was on the to-do list.

Q5: Ellie confirmed that she was covering the duties, and was trying to promote the new role of Charities and Community Officer.

Q6: Ellie said that she did want to trial this, but needed to work out where they would be displayed first. If people wanted to be in the trial, they should tell her. Sophia asked when the best time of year would be to do this, and Ellie said that she would being an idea to a future meeting of Union Council.

Q7: Ellie said that this report was on its way, and was in the process of being written.

Q8:

• Anjit: engagement with students, and getting the ball rolling with Winchester.
• Beckie: employability – the Union now has a plan for the next 2/3 years.
• David: student enterprise – he had met with the lawyers today, and this would be going ahead soon.
• Ellie: enterprise as well – in addition to the work done with David, with student groups and current businesses.
• Katie: the sports strategy – bringing together Sport and Wellbeing at the University and the Union.
• Megan: the Spring Elections – since had been working on them since she started, and was very proud. The Careers Season had been huge as well.
• Sophia: QAA work – 8 recommendations to the University had now been agreed by QAA. The University were now being forced to publish hidden course costs, and assistance that’s available.

Questions from the floor

Hannah Mylrea-Hemming, to David: She started by saying that she didn’t mean the following question to be a dig, but that the issue was important. The American Fresh minibus was coming to the Union the next day, though Surge had booked the redbrick over a month ago with Enactus, and they were in the middle of a 48-hour broadcast with Surge. She asked why this had happened, and also why they had not been told by anyone.

David said that it was a very good question, and that he could not give a sufficient answer. Student groups and Union Groups were of paramount importance. He said that he would look into it and that the Union tries to prevent this from happening, and he could only imagine some mistake had been made.

Hannah thanked him for his response.

David Allwright to Megan Downing: Do you consider the Spring Elections a success in terms of the number of candidates? Why do you think there weren’t so many?

Megan said that she had been happy with the number of nominations. She noted that they had been marketed on par with grad-scheme level jobs, and that this highlighted the level of responsibility associated with them. There had been fewer joke candidates, but more higher-calibre candidates who voters take more seriously. More candidates means more campaign teams and voters – so the effort was never about raw numbers, but rather more about quality.

Jenny Bortoluzzi asked David and Ellie why, even though they had said that they had been proud of the work done on enterprise, Catie Williams (Student Enterprise Officer) still did not have a working email account and had not been involved in any of the decision they had talked about?

Ellie said that she had been invited to meetings and will be coming to them, and that they were working closely together. She was working on getting a Committee for next year and working with societies. David said that projects can fall outside zones, especially when the President pitches in. When it comes to planning, this can sometimes fall more under the responsibilities of the president.

Giles Howard asked Sophia, in relation to the Course Rep Awards, to what degree nominations would be being judged by external employers?

Sophia said that this would not be the main aspect of the judging process, and that she hoped to balance it with Associate Deans and Pro-Vice Chancellors, and that she was aware of his concern.

Rhys Thomas mentioned to Katie Lightowler, with reference to her earlier statement about feedback about the Focus Sport program, that he didn’t recall any consultation.

Katie said that Jack Beckett, the Athletic Union Development Officer, was speaking to Captains/Presidents, and there would also be an open feedback session next term.

 

 

 

The Union Council Star was awarded to Steven Osborn, for his sustained commitment and enthusiasm in his role as Secretary of Union Films.

The Chair noted that Surge were doing a 48-hour live broadcast.

Jade Head praised SUSUtv for their work over the elections period.

Fraser Delves praised the LGBT Society for their work on LGBT month.

Leon Rea did not intended to criticise members, but noted the recent trend of Policy Proposals coming forward on the same day as Ideas discussions, and that it felt like the discussions were becoming a tickbox, and that this was not how the system had been originally intended to work. He believed that Council should be having the discussion first, and that this had happened at the last Council and again today – policy being written before the discussion was held. he believed that it was worth trying more to revert to the existing system.

Jenny Bortoluzzi noted that the Big Give was coming up, and they would like clubs and societies to be involved however possible. If people had ideas, they were welcome to come and speak to her.

 

The date and time of the next meeting is 30th April at 6pm. The meeting closed at 9:12pm.