Monday 17-11-2025 - 10:04

 

 

 

The first Union Assembly meeting of the year was held on Tuesday, 04/11/2025. In it, we saw the Full Time Officers give their first reports, discussion of the University’s LUFuture programme & the upcoming UCU industrial action, and some changes to Sports Committee. While the full minutes of the meeting will be posted after the next, on the 4th of December, we figured you should have a quick summary of what your elected officers have been up to.

 

 

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: https://lancastersu.co.uk/assembly  

 

FTO Reports 

In the FTO’s reports, Rory, LUSU President, reported on his work so far this term. This includes significant work on student poverty, especially to do with rent control at the University & access to food programmes; work surrounding & in response to the University’s LU Future programme, where the uni plans to save £35.3 million, primarily through staffing cuts (more on this later); work the University’s new car parking, which he has successfully brought reduced parking fees in evenings & weekends; and a resolution to improve LUSU’s transparency to students – as part of this, UA will be livestreamed in future (pending the technical side). 

In Emily, the Activities Officer’s, report, she outlined her work surrounding student leaders, access to sport for all students, and ongoing work to free Wednesday afternoons from timetabled academic work. She has worked closely with the Sports and Societies Committees, and expanded student leader training to include accessibility & sustainability training. Emily celebrated her success in securing £15,000 for the Sports Access Fund – an increase of £12,000 – in a time where many students find a financial barrier to taking part in university sport. She also spoke about her work with the LGBTQ+ Community & Women in Sport Society on ensuring access of trans+ students to sport & facilities, as well as similar work for neurodiverse students. On top of this, Emily has started a bi-weekly newsletter to all Societies & Sports exec, as well as more widely utilising her LUSU Instagram account.  

Liz, the Education Officer’s, report detailed their reorganisation of the academic rep system, which has led to new Rep Projects being undertaken by academic reps concerning topics such as sustainability, AI, impact of industrial action, and more. She has been working with Cat Smith, MP, regarding the government’s vague announcement of the re-institution of maintenance grants, as well as lobbying the university for greater transparency & student input on the university’s Curriculum Transformation Programme (CTP). She spoke about the University Colleges Union’s (UCU) vote to strike, and take action short of strike, and the inadequate space allocated by the university for FHASS post-graduate students – the Storey, a previously available study space for PhD students in town, was not re-leased by the university, so Liz is seeking to lobby the University to provide an alternative study space in town. 

Leah, the Wellbeing Officer’s, report outlined their work on campaigns with the Liberation & Campaigns Forums, safety in town, and the need to restructure of the university’s Wellbeing and Inclusion Group. They spoke about Millie, the Womens+ Officer’s, campaign to make sanitary products free & easily available on campus, working with the Body Shop. A statement was read from the LGBTQ+ Officer, on their ongoing work to secure safety for trans+ students on campus. Leah also spoke about her planned project to highlight poor street lighting in town, and their work with the City Council & police to improve this. Leah has also committed to continuing the campaign on sexual harassment and sexual misconduct within the university. 

 

Industrial Action 

After the FTO’s report, the next topic of discussion was upcoming strikes. Rory & Liz introduced the topic, explaining the details of the UCU’s planned industrial action, and the impact it may have on students. Members, and students more generally, were encouraged to read the UCU’s open letter to students (which can be found here). The Assembly agreed with the Union’s current stance, which is that disruption to students should be minimised, and that student-led activities will still take place in the case of extended strikes from academic & facilities staff. 

 

Sports Committee 

Next, changes to the makeup of Sports Committee were ratified – the Men+ Focus Sport seat was changed to Mixed Focus Sport, due to lack of demand, and an LGBTQ+ Athletes Representative seat was introduced, which is to represent the needs of LGBTQ+ athletes, and is elected through the LGBTQ+ Community.  

 

College Re-Design 

The next topic was the College Re-Design Proposal. As the university is planning to cut such a large amount of spending, one part of university life which will be impacted is colleges. As the university did not consult students and JCR’s when planning LU Future, or any specific work on colleges, Rory led two sessions with various student leaders to create this proposal, which he plans to bring to the University as a functioning proposal, which is based on student input. Brief discussion was had on college bars, which will be a topic of further discussion in the wider environment of LU Future. The Assembly voted to approve the proposal. 

 

JCR Terms of Reference 

Finally, Grizedale and Cartmel JCR’s updated their terms of reference, to better reflect how they operate. There were no questions, and so the meeting was closed. 

 

The minutes of this meeting will be posted to the LUSU website after confirmation of them at the next UA meeting, on the 4th of December. As mentioned earlier, all students are welcome to attend Union Assembly, and it is planned to be livestreamed in future for greater access & transparency.