Bubble's National Council Report
National Council – The Second Instalment
So I rocked up to ULU not quite sure what to expect this time from National Council, and unsure if this time we would have heating, luckily it was a lot warmer than Coventry.
Before I start I will rant about the seating arrangements. Again the NEC were all around tables in a U shape with councillors facing them, much like an audience. It was not very ‘debate friendly’ and I felt like a member of an audience for large parts. This has to be sorted for next time as it really is a joke, and creates an ‘Us and them’ scenario.
It was an NUS event so we started about half an hour later than we should have, and just about scraped to quoracy. We elected a chair for the meeting as Ben Ward was unwell, with Joshi from Kings beating Tom Stubbs. Numerous NEC apologies were received, the only person who did not show up and we did not receive apologies from was Flick Cox.
So it was time to get started we went through the minutes and agreed we needed motion titles and decided ‘typos’ should just be emailed. So we accepted these then we got to the Byelaws, and after very little debate this time round we accepted these, with the addition that a decision of the chair can be overruled.
Now the fun, or should I say NEC meeting began. After this part of the debate many were asking me ‘Why do you want to be a part of this, are you sadistic?’ Yes it was that bad. After some genuine questions about the estimates and figures from councillors, including myself asking where was the Area Support fund, which has now miraculously increased to £4,000 without anyone telling us, we got bogged down in ‘My campaign is more important than yours’. This part was very hard work, with councillors listening to Benson moan about why he was unhappy, why his budget was wrong and how he had not received papers on time etc. Benson then pulled what can only be classed a classic line. Whilst trying to explain NUS needs to do more for International students he said something like: ‘Why should I bother sending my students to lobby on 2010 it doesn’t affect them at all’ and went on to say the priority campaign was therefore a waste of time. At this point my mouth dropped and I didn’t know what to do, I almost felt like bursting out in laughter at how ignorant a member of our National Executive could be but instead found myself and nearly every other councillor just shaking our heads in disbelief. Kat challenged Bensons views and spoke about collectivism, but by that point I think it is fair to say most councillors had already hit their head against the brick wall 3 or 4 times.
After the NEC meeting that we all observed we broke into commission zones to discuss the Report and Plan…again. For me this was a little frustrating as I had done the same only a few days before at Regional Conference. I attended the Society and Citizenship zone with only a few others as it ran alongside the Education zone. With only 2 pages in the Report and Plan update it was a very short session, where we found out around 12 Unions had signed up to the twinning project.
We broke for Lunch, and after this it was back to Commission zones, this time I went to Strong and Active Unions. I asked questions about the developments occurring within BUSA after their AGM and then we had quite a large discussion about NUS Extra and listened to people’s doubts and concerns.
We then split into groups to discuss how to develop the priority campaigns in our different regions. I chose to sit with the North, as Areas Rep, to listen to their issues and see if basically they could do with an area. They have some good stuff going on like balloon releases, and ideas like ‘Top Up’ on drinks in the Bar by not filling it to the top and asking people to pay more for the extra bit. It all sounds good, I still reckon an area would help them, but I would say that.
We accepted ANGUS, as the 3rd region now in NUS. East Anglia is now fully ratified and can really start to function. Look forward to working with you
So we moved to Motions, and this is where ‘business picked up’.
Motion 1 – Supporting students challenging unfair college practices
A motion about supporting our students across the board, I was all in favour, except that the Further Believes section was all about ID cards and was essentially a completely separate motion snuck in. Mel Ward called parts to remove Further Believes 3, and resolves 3, all mentioning ID cards. Jamal spoke against claiming Labour Students were being put up to this by Tony Blair. Wes responded by saying his V-chip was burning in the back of his head, he thought ID cards were not actually that bad, but that essentially they were an issue within themselves not thrown into a different motion. After some argument we went to a recorded vote, and the parts were removed by 20-18. I voted to remove them. The motion as a whole then passed through
Motion 2 – National Directory
A motion to regionalise the National Directory from Steven Mullen (NW). I personally still use last years directory which is already regionalised so was already in favour of it. Gemma Tumelty made a statement which turned into a speech against asking for the motion to be withdrawn as she already has a load of feedback to go through in the office on this so she did not want us to mandate anything. Yet another factor of the importance of National Council then?? I am happy to say we passed the motion through, I voted for, and so the National Directory should be regionalised for next year.
Motion 3 – Timing of National Conference
Basically about the fact NUS Conference this year is not during the holidays for some FE colleges so we should try and ensure as many delegates can attend as possible. Kat explained that we work on a 5 year deal with the Winter Gardens and essentially have to take what they give us but agreed we should ensure maximum participation. It passed, I voted for.
Emergency Motion 1 – The BNP in Blackpool
The BNP are looking at the Winter Gardens as a possible venue for an Annual Conference and we were all agreed we should put pressure on the Winter Gardens not to accept a booking from them. Kat then went onto say we should speak to the Labour party, the Conservatives and other major organisations that use the Winter Gardens to also do the same. It passed unanimously, again I voted for.
Emergency Motion 2 – Transparency of NUS Accounts to Regional Conferences and National Council
Stating that Management accounts should be made available to National Council and at all Regional Conferences, with explanations to ensure financial accountability. One set of parts was called to remove the statement ‘National Council and Regional Conferences are excellent ways at directing the national movement and its campaigns’. I abstained on this part as I think they should be, but unfortunately are not as it currently stands and so need to be re-jigged so they are a way of directing our National Union. People voted to remove the part and then the motion passed through.
Onto the Report motions, or more accurately the Censures, and Commendations.
Censure number 1 from the South West on Joe Rukin
This was a censure for the fact there were no budgets set and so savings had not been made. Joe responded by saying as Conference had rejected the estimates last year there was not a lot that could have been done but stressed how we had developed since last year. I voted against the censure as the estimates this year were very well put together and Joe had nothing to work from and no chance to properly set budgets. National Council voted against the censure.
Censure number 2 from the South East on Joe Rukin
For an email Joe sent about Kingston SU that was meant for a NUSSL staff member but was accidentally sent to an officer at Kingston where he described them as ‘hostile and awkward’. I voted for this censure, as it is unprofessional and has caused a lot of problems for us within the region. Kingston are due to go through with a referendum and we had done a lot of work with the officers to ensure that we had a level playing field, and the feeling about this was very good until the email was sent, and we were back to square one. The censure went through, so it was a slap on the wrist for Joe
Censure number 3 from the North East on Joe Rukin
Regarding what happened surrounding Sam Rozati and things published on the Education Guardian online and in some student press about the state of NUS’ finances. After Joe denied some of what he was accused of Kat stated that this had been dealt with in an NEC meeting and they wanted to draw a line under it and move on. I thought this was reasonable as Joe had already been given the ticking off, so voted against the censure and this also fell.
Commendation from the East Midlands for Veronica King and Sian Davies
Okay this is where it got a bit silly. A commendation was put through for Veronica and Sian because they did what National Council asked the NEC to do at the last meeting and abstain from voting whilst there was the big hoo-ha over whether the NEC could vote or not. Very straightforward you would have thought, Council saying thank you for listening to us and the membership. But some NEC members, mainly Peter Leary and James J Walsh took issue with this accusing them of being apolitical and demonstrating how they should have every right to vote at National Council and constitutionally they could so therefore Veronica and Sian should not be commended. To be honest I thought it was a bit of a joke and afterwards proceeded to have a further argument with James J and Peter about this. The commendation was voted down, mainly by NEC members as National Councillors sat like observers yet again and many abstained. I voted for the commendation and think it is a real shame something as simple as 2 individuals listening to what others asked them to do, and what Councillors saw as right can be turned into an NEC fight and people willing to do others down.
So Council ended on much the same note as it began, NEC dominated. I do question its effectiveness and at times felt I could be doing so much more in the office than listening to an NEC meeting. National council has to change or else it is just a waste of money. I think National Council should be another ‘think-tank’ for our campaigns and how we deliver them. Turning National issues into local issues, and vice versa with a chance of hearing the issues occurring within the different regions and working together looking at ways to solve some of these.
A side note from the day is that Dan Chilcott, Sian Davies, Veronica King, Ellie Russell, Kat Fletcher and Gemma Tumelty abstained on all votes. And well done to them for doing so, in my opinion.
Apologies for the length but when you have to report, you have to report it all lol
Richard ‘Bubble’ Budden
Areas Rep
So I rocked up to ULU not quite sure what to expect this time from National Council, and unsure if this time we would have heating, luckily it was a lot warmer than Coventry.
Before I start I will rant about the seating arrangements. Again the NEC were all around tables in a U shape with councillors facing them, much like an audience. It was not very ‘debate friendly’ and I felt like a member of an audience for large parts. This has to be sorted for next time as it really is a joke, and creates an ‘Us and them’ scenario.
It was an NUS event so we started about half an hour later than we should have, and just about scraped to quoracy. We elected a chair for the meeting as Ben Ward was unwell, with Joshi from Kings beating Tom Stubbs. Numerous NEC apologies were received, the only person who did not show up and we did not receive apologies from was Flick Cox.
So it was time to get started we went through the minutes and agreed we needed motion titles and decided ‘typos’ should just be emailed. So we accepted these then we got to the Byelaws, and after very little debate this time round we accepted these, with the addition that a decision of the chair can be overruled.
Now the fun, or should I say NEC meeting began. After this part of the debate many were asking me ‘Why do you want to be a part of this, are you sadistic?’ Yes it was that bad. After some genuine questions about the estimates and figures from councillors, including myself asking where was the Area Support fund, which has now miraculously increased to £4,000 without anyone telling us, we got bogged down in ‘My campaign is more important than yours’. This part was very hard work, with councillors listening to Benson moan about why he was unhappy, why his budget was wrong and how he had not received papers on time etc. Benson then pulled what can only be classed a classic line. Whilst trying to explain NUS needs to do more for International students he said something like: ‘Why should I bother sending my students to lobby on 2010 it doesn’t affect them at all’ and went on to say the priority campaign was therefore a waste of time. At this point my mouth dropped and I didn’t know what to do, I almost felt like bursting out in laughter at how ignorant a member of our National Executive could be but instead found myself and nearly every other councillor just shaking our heads in disbelief. Kat challenged Bensons views and spoke about collectivism, but by that point I think it is fair to say most councillors had already hit their head against the brick wall 3 or 4 times.
After the NEC meeting that we all observed we broke into commission zones to discuss the Report and Plan…again. For me this was a little frustrating as I had done the same only a few days before at Regional Conference. I attended the Society and Citizenship zone with only a few others as it ran alongside the Education zone. With only 2 pages in the Report and Plan update it was a very short session, where we found out around 12 Unions had signed up to the twinning project.
We broke for Lunch, and after this it was back to Commission zones, this time I went to Strong and Active Unions. I asked questions about the developments occurring within BUSA after their AGM and then we had quite a large discussion about NUS Extra and listened to people’s doubts and concerns.
We then split into groups to discuss how to develop the priority campaigns in our different regions. I chose to sit with the North, as Areas Rep, to listen to their issues and see if basically they could do with an area. They have some good stuff going on like balloon releases, and ideas like ‘Top Up’ on drinks in the Bar by not filling it to the top and asking people to pay more for the extra bit. It all sounds good, I still reckon an area would help them, but I would say that.
We accepted ANGUS, as the 3rd region now in NUS. East Anglia is now fully ratified and can really start to function. Look forward to working with you
So we moved to Motions, and this is where ‘business picked up’.
Motion 1 – Supporting students challenging unfair college practices
A motion about supporting our students across the board, I was all in favour, except that the Further Believes section was all about ID cards and was essentially a completely separate motion snuck in. Mel Ward called parts to remove Further Believes 3, and resolves 3, all mentioning ID cards. Jamal spoke against claiming Labour Students were being put up to this by Tony Blair. Wes responded by saying his V-chip was burning in the back of his head, he thought ID cards were not actually that bad, but that essentially they were an issue within themselves not thrown into a different motion. After some argument we went to a recorded vote, and the parts were removed by 20-18. I voted to remove them. The motion as a whole then passed through
Motion 2 – National Directory
A motion to regionalise the National Directory from Steven Mullen (NW). I personally still use last years directory which is already regionalised so was already in favour of it. Gemma Tumelty made a statement which turned into a speech against asking for the motion to be withdrawn as she already has a load of feedback to go through in the office on this so she did not want us to mandate anything. Yet another factor of the importance of National Council then?? I am happy to say we passed the motion through, I voted for, and so the National Directory should be regionalised for next year.
Motion 3 – Timing of National Conference
Basically about the fact NUS Conference this year is not during the holidays for some FE colleges so we should try and ensure as many delegates can attend as possible. Kat explained that we work on a 5 year deal with the Winter Gardens and essentially have to take what they give us but agreed we should ensure maximum participation. It passed, I voted for.
Emergency Motion 1 – The BNP in Blackpool
The BNP are looking at the Winter Gardens as a possible venue for an Annual Conference and we were all agreed we should put pressure on the Winter Gardens not to accept a booking from them. Kat then went onto say we should speak to the Labour party, the Conservatives and other major organisations that use the Winter Gardens to also do the same. It passed unanimously, again I voted for.
Emergency Motion 2 – Transparency of NUS Accounts to Regional Conferences and National Council
Stating that Management accounts should be made available to National Council and at all Regional Conferences, with explanations to ensure financial accountability. One set of parts was called to remove the statement ‘National Council and Regional Conferences are excellent ways at directing the national movement and its campaigns’. I abstained on this part as I think they should be, but unfortunately are not as it currently stands and so need to be re-jigged so they are a way of directing our National Union. People voted to remove the part and then the motion passed through.
Onto the Report motions, or more accurately the Censures, and Commendations.
Censure number 1 from the South West on Joe Rukin
This was a censure for the fact there were no budgets set and so savings had not been made. Joe responded by saying as Conference had rejected the estimates last year there was not a lot that could have been done but stressed how we had developed since last year. I voted against the censure as the estimates this year were very well put together and Joe had nothing to work from and no chance to properly set budgets. National Council voted against the censure.
Censure number 2 from the South East on Joe Rukin
For an email Joe sent about Kingston SU that was meant for a NUSSL staff member but was accidentally sent to an officer at Kingston where he described them as ‘hostile and awkward’. I voted for this censure, as it is unprofessional and has caused a lot of problems for us within the region. Kingston are due to go through with a referendum and we had done a lot of work with the officers to ensure that we had a level playing field, and the feeling about this was very good until the email was sent, and we were back to square one. The censure went through, so it was a slap on the wrist for Joe
Censure number 3 from the North East on Joe Rukin
Regarding what happened surrounding Sam Rozati and things published on the Education Guardian online and in some student press about the state of NUS’ finances. After Joe denied some of what he was accused of Kat stated that this had been dealt with in an NEC meeting and they wanted to draw a line under it and move on. I thought this was reasonable as Joe had already been given the ticking off, so voted against the censure and this also fell.
Commendation from the East Midlands for Veronica King and Sian Davies
Okay this is where it got a bit silly. A commendation was put through for Veronica and Sian because they did what National Council asked the NEC to do at the last meeting and abstain from voting whilst there was the big hoo-ha over whether the NEC could vote or not. Very straightforward you would have thought, Council saying thank you for listening to us and the membership. But some NEC members, mainly Peter Leary and James J Walsh took issue with this accusing them of being apolitical and demonstrating how they should have every right to vote at National Council and constitutionally they could so therefore Veronica and Sian should not be commended. To be honest I thought it was a bit of a joke and afterwards proceeded to have a further argument with James J and Peter about this. The commendation was voted down, mainly by NEC members as National Councillors sat like observers yet again and many abstained. I voted for the commendation and think it is a real shame something as simple as 2 individuals listening to what others asked them to do, and what Councillors saw as right can be turned into an NEC fight and people willing to do others down.
So Council ended on much the same note as it began, NEC dominated. I do question its effectiveness and at times felt I could be doing so much more in the office than listening to an NEC meeting. National council has to change or else it is just a waste of money. I think National Council should be another ‘think-tank’ for our campaigns and how we deliver them. Turning National issues into local issues, and vice versa with a chance of hearing the issues occurring within the different regions and working together looking at ways to solve some of these.
A side note from the day is that Dan Chilcott, Sian Davies, Veronica King, Ellie Russell, Kat Fletcher and Gemma Tumelty abstained on all votes. And well done to them for doing so, in my opinion.
Apologies for the length but when you have to report, you have to report it all lol
Richard ‘Bubble’ Budden
Areas Rep
posted by South East NUS @ 1:39 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home