Tuesday 09-12-2025 - 12:56

 

 

Week 9 marked the final Union Assembly meeting of 2025, and second of Michaelmas term, so I’m back again to summarise this meeting! This meeting saw officer reports, two political motions which will inform LUSU policy & stances on their respective topics, and some more administrative edits to some the SU’s sub-committees. 

 

For those of you who may not know, Union Assembly  (UA) is the highest democratic body in LUSU – its members consist of: the four Full Time Officers (FTO’s); the five Liberation and Campaigns Officers (LCO’s); representatives of Sports & Societies respective Committees; College JCR Presidents; and under- and post-graduate academic reps. Together, they do their best to represent all aspects of student life at the university, and make & change policy to improve the student experience. The Assembly meets twice a term, and any student is welcome to attend to see the discussion.  

More information, including a list of voting delegates, can be found here.
 
The meeting opened with a welcome from the chair, and the approval of the previous meeting’s minutes, which will now be available from here. Following this, we swiftly moved onto the Full-Time Officer’s (FTO’s) report – this was slightly split up during the meeting due to different member’s arrival times, but for the sake of clarity I’ll summarise all four reports here.
 

 

Full-Time Officer Reports

Rory, LUSU President, opened the report with discussion of student cost-of-living, specifically rent in university-managed accommodation. He informed the assembly that about two-thirds of the University’s campus accommodation is run by UPP, who are not keen to reduce rent – however, he remains cautiously optimistic that between UPP and the university, some improvement may be seen for some accommodation. In an update on his work on the college re-design, as spoken about in the previous meeting, where the university has expressed some sympathy in the lack of transparency offered. Rory clarified on the industrial action from the UCU – as compulsory redundancies have been taken off the table by the university at this time, the UCU is not going ahead with Action Short of Strike, or full strike action. They do, however, retain their mandate to strike should they find it necessary. Rory announced the successful implementation of the £25 car parking permit for evenings and weekends, a success after the university brought in their parking charges earlier this year.

Emily, LUSU Activities Officer, outlined her continued work with BUCS on improving neurodiverse access to sports, and stated that planning for Roses has been a large part of her work since the last meeting. She updated the assembly on her work with sustainability, reviews of kit for sports clubs, and ongoing work on trans+ inclusion to sport – along with the LGBTQ+ Officer and the President of the Women in Sport Society.

Leah, LUSU Wellbeing Officer, discussed recent focus groups they were involved in for reviews of certain university Professional Services – including the Wellbeing service, exceptional circumstances, student VISAs, and others. Leah also wrote a paper for University Council about the student mental health crisis, with demands for improvements to matters affecting student quality of life and mental health. Part of their ongoing work this term is a streetlighting & town safety map, which is available in the LUSU Welcome Desk office for students to add stickers to represent places in town where street lighting is poor, or they feel otherwise unsafe. Leah has also been continuing to work on trans+ inclusion with the LGBTQ+ Officer and Community, where they have worked with the Birchall Trust – a charity for survivors of rape, sexual assault & sexual violence – who have retracted their support for the University, and Leah is hoping to continue working with them to make the University improve on response to sexual assault in future.

Liz, (LUSU Education Officer), provided an update of the Curriculum Transformation Programme – which has resumed in progress, following 5 months of wait. The 2026/27 term dates have been published, with semesterisation – where there are only 2 semesters instead of three terms, with breaks between & within them standardised across the university – in full swing. Liz discussed the meeting she had just left, where they are optimistic in the ‘Fit to Sit’ policy – including improved self-certification – will be at least partially put into place for next academic year. You can find next year’s term dates here. As an update on post-graduate work spaces – which are in shortage, especially for FHASS postgraduates – Liz submitted a paper outlining the extent of shortage, and the effect on postgraduates, to the university’s current Vice Chancellor, which will also be shared with the incoming Vice Chancellor – who has also voiced support for creating a sensory space on campus.
 

 

Liberation & Campaign Officer Reports

Following this came the termly Liberation & Campaigns Officer’s reports: of the five roles, four were in attendance and submitted reports of their activity this term. 

Ifaz Younus, the International Student’s Officer, began his report by outlining his role & responsibilities, where he chairs the International Student’s Forum (ISF). He spoke about the importance of security on campus, especially for international students who disproportionately face discrimination & harassment for sexist, racial or religious reasons, and he is working to increase security presence in this light. Similarly, he is seeking improved cultural education for university staff, who often do not take into account unique circumstances faced by international students, who are often excessively affected by what would otherwise be minor disciplinary measures. Ifaz is also seeking to put into place a university guarantor scheme to help international students with accommodation costs. The ISF is also planning a World Food Festival on the 20th January 2026, where societies cook dishes to raise funds for their societies while combatting cost of living by offering cheaper food, and showing unity through cultural diversity.

Henry Carter, the Accessibility Community’s Political Lead, also outlined his role and gave an update on how the Community has been progressing so far this year, after some difficulties last year. They are running regular drop-ins for students with disabilities, and have been engaged in university discussions. In this aspect, the Community is working with several university groups to make a sensory space on campus, and is also campaigning for more silent study spaces. They have also been designing an accessibility charter for academic societies, where societies will receive  a stamp of approval for successfully being accessible to all students, intended to come into effect next term.

Dylan Mynard, on behalf of me (in my other capacity as LGBTQ+ Officer), gave an update on the LGBTQ+ Community’s work. This includes work on the introduction of LGBTQ+ Accommodation, following the University’s EHRC interim guidance-informed trans+ student guidance & policy, which are yet to be published due to legal lack of clarity. A survey that the Community ran found that approximately 80% of LGBTQ+ students would be interested in the university offering LGBTQ+ accommodation, as an inclusive alternative to single-sex accommodation. The Community has also been working with Emily (Activities Officer) & Nyxon (from the Women in Sport Society) to work towards trans+ inclusion in sport, for similar reasons. Dylan noted the importance of other student groups, including societies & sports clubs, assist where they can in the work from the Liberation & Campaigns forums. The Community also ran a vigil for Transgender Day of Remembrance along with the LGBT Staff Network, to much success. Dylan discussed the continued uptake in the Community’s events this year, in line with their aim to have a larger presence on campus, and thanked the LGBTQ+ Community’s executive for their work this term.

Victoria Nyoni, Chairperson of the BAME Committee (although this name is changing – more on that later), introduced herself & spoke on the Committee’s recent joint fundraiser with the Palestine Solidarity campaign, and the continued work of the Committee’s newsletter. Next term, the Committee is planning to continue discuss the Sugarhouse’s name & more campaigns related to international conflict.
 

 

Motion in Support of Strikes

Next came the first political motion, the Motion in Support of Strikes. This motion was introduced by Sam Burgess (Society’s committee special interest representative), and Hannah Ledgerwood, where they explained the details of this term’s back-and-forth between the university and the main academic staff union, the UCU.  The motion was intended to allow LUSU greater leniency in lobbying the university for better staff treatment, as student support for industrial action has a significant effect on staff morale and the success of industrial action. Several questions were asked by the assembly, where the motion proposers (above) clarified on the details of the campaign and the university’s financial position, with extra supporting information provided by Rory. The motion went to a vote, and passed with 21 votes for, 2 votes against, and 4 members abstaining.
 

 

Motion to End the Use of Animals at Events

After a short break, the second political motion was introduced by Ben Carter. This motion was the Motion to End the Use of Animals at Events, with an exception made for guide dog events. Ben outlined some examples of animals being used in events, noting the damaging and stressful environment that campus can be for animals, and the legal protections which are sometimes failed to be met by animal handlers. Ben shared quotes from the campaign which echoed these points, noting the discomfort students take at animals in undesirable situations, due to both emotional & ethical concerns. Significant discussion was had, with various members of the Assembly noting that the groups (often college JCR’s and SCR’s) which sometimes have animals present at events, ensure that the companies hired to provide the animals are fully legally licensed, and that students made uncomfortable by these events can simply not attend. The assembly generally agreed that the idea was noble, but that a blanket ban on animals at events was misguided. It was instead proposed that the (currently in the process of being set up) Sustainability Committee could make a whitelist of companies and charities which ethically provide animals that could be used to as a less extreme safeguard for animal welfare. The motion went to a vote, and failed with 1 vote for, 21 votes against, and 4 members abstaining.
 

 

Changes to Societies Committee & BAME Committee

The final two agenda items were administrative restructures – first to Societies Committee. Echoing a similar restructure in the last meeting, Emily discussed the need for better representation for certain groups, with the “leagues” of societies – the larger self-defined groups within the set of all societies, such as Creative & Performance, which is the group of all theatre, artistic and musical societies – being slightly restructured, with separate leagues being made for Faith, Cultural & Community, Political, Charity & Campaigning, Sports, and Outdoor activities, where previously several of these were rolled into larger leagues. The proposal was put to a vote, and passed with 24 votes for, and 2 members abstaining.

Finally, updates the BAME Committee Terms of Reference were presented by Victoria. The primary change made is in the name, which the Committee & its members feel is not suitably representative. As such, the name is being changed to the Ethnic Minorities Committee.
 

As the meeting was closed, Rory thanked outgoing college presidents for their work in the last year, and the Union Assembly chair, as this was my final meeting as chair.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to read this summary, as this is the last one I’ll be writing! I wish the best of luck to our next Chair, and hope you all do the same.