1. They say NUS costs too much for what you get There are a number of points to be made about the affiliation fee paid to NUS:
- The money does not come out of an individual student’s pocket. The union, like any other function of the college such as the library or the history department applies for financial support and receives a block grant from the institution. NUS subscriptions are a percentage of that grant.
- The affiliation fee is set annually by all students’ unions at NUS Conference.
- The affiliation fee has only risen by 3% (inflationary rise) in the last eight years. It will never be more than between 5.31% to 11.98% of the union’s block grant income. NUS is currently reviewing the system that we presently use to take into account the large fixed costs which some students’ unions have to pay.
- It is very dangerous for students’ unions to take a narrow view. Students need a national voice; students’ unions need the support of NUS information, research and development. NUS and students’ unions working together can press for improvement and change in the circumstances of students far better than any students’ union on its own.
- A very small proportion of the money paid to students’ unions goes to NUS. In 1981 funding was changed which could have led to the total amount of money given to students’ unions being cut by £3.8million. Extensive lobbying by NUS saw the money put back into the system. Without NUS, that money would have been lost with severe consequences for the services students’ unions provide to students. NUS has in the past saved students’ unions and students more than the actual cost of the affiliation fee.
- The Government Inquiry of 1989 into students’ unions and NUS stated that:
‘In general, however, unions make relatively small payments for services to NUS itself, though many unions said that they placed a very high value on advice from and on materials published by NUS in relation to their responsibilities for representing their members’ views and for welfare and counselling (including the provision of legal advice). Some estimated that without such advice and materials they would have to employ additional staff of their own.’
2. They say NUS is totally unrepresentative
This argument is often extended into the idea that NUS is out of touch with ‘ordinary’ students, whereas the opposition claims to have an automatic hotline to them. Let’s look at the facts:
- NUS represents colleges of every type - which in turn consist of students of all ages and backgrounds;
- NUS policy – the way it represents students – is agreed by an annual conference consisting of elected delegates from NUS affiliated unions. Delegates have to be elected by cross-campus ballot (in HE - the situation varies in some FE colleges);
- National Conference elects the NUS Executive and holds them to account. The National Council holds them accountable in between conferences;
- NUS has around 700 unions in the UK in membership, that represents 98% of all colleges in the post-16 sector;
- NUS cannot dictate to unions. It is up to each students’ union to decide its own policy. If students don’t like what’s being said on their behalf they’ll vote to change the policy. Students’ unions and NUS are what their members make them.
3. They say NUS discusses things that are not relevant to students For each annual conference NUS runs a priority ballot. Every students’ union can submit any subject of concern as a motion for discussion. A list of all the motions received is then circulated by NUS to its constituent members (CMs) and voted on by them.
The three subjects that top the poll are discussed at conference. Emergency motions can also be submitted at the conference. A vote as to whether these should be discussed is taken by the elected conference delegates at the event.
Previous conferences have discussed a whole range of issues from student finance and education to sports, entertainments and modernising students’ unions.
4. They say NUS is undemocratic The arguments here are related to points two and three that we looked at above. Often such an accusation is levelled by people who do not always get what they want out of a given situation. Democracy is defined as “government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives”. NUS, like students’ unions, is run by students, for students and its members have the opportunity to be involved at every level. Remember the following points:
- NUS is not a trade union. It is a confederation of independent students’ unions;
- NUS has no direct control or discipline over individual students or students’ unions;
- Cross campus ballots are compulsory for conference delegates from the HE sector;
- Elections for officers in students’ unions and NUS make up the largest annual voting exercise in the country. No other organisation has such a high participation in its democracy.
5. They say too much money is spent on staff This claim is usually made in the same breath as ‘too much money is spent on campaigns’. What NUS opponents mean is they don’t want any money spent on NUS, either from a political point of view or out of self-interest.
Yes, NUS does spend a lot of money on staff. We need them to keep track of all the issues that affect students and to provide a decent service for the membership. Affiliation to NUS means that students’ unions have the right to use and consult NUS staff - effectively increasing your union’s staff by eighty.
NUS budgets and accounts are presented to Annual Conference and are overseen by an elected Finance Committee, including professionals, accountants and student members.
6. They say NUS is not effective and not taken seriously Our opponents may claim this because NUS (they say) is not listened to, so any national lobbying is a waste of time and money. With any government, all gains are hard won, but they would not have been won without the united support of a national organisation.
- Our research on loans, housing and awards etc. is valued by many national groups and local organisations. Our Income and Expenditure Survey is the only credible source of information about students’ spending habits.
- MPs are realising that they ignore the power of the student vote at their peril. NUS’ campaigning work put tuition fees at the top of the political agenda at the last general election and we will be reminding them of broken promises at the next one.
- Our researchers are frequently consulted by Parliamentary, Civil Service and Funding Council working groups.
- NUS aims to put forward positive strategies on education. Our ideas are not always accepted immediately but they do permeate the thinking of other groups.
7. They say NUS is too political This is a very wide statement. After all, what is politics? Any group or organisation that makes or adheres to policies is political. You can argue that politics affect everything a person does for the whole of their life. Claiming to reject politics is in itself a political statement.
For example, take your union budget. One group of students might want to spend money on a crèche. To some people that might be seen as ‘political’. Another group of students might want to buy some surf-boards, which they would say is ‘non-political’. One group may be given money at the expense of the other – the ‘politics’ cannot be avoided.
By attacking politics, opponents might mean party politics, and by that, not their own particular party. Students’ unions are about students deciding what they want, taking an active part in decisions. If you don’t like the government or local council you don’t withdraw from society, you try and change it. If you are saying what people want to hear, they’ll support you.
- Students have had to win the right to discuss all public issues and they succeeded in 1969. We should not throw away a right that groups in other countries are denied.
- Students have a tradition of debate – it’s part of our education and, after all, students’ unions do have an educational role.
- Students should not become remote from society as a whole, they are an integral part of it.
8. They say NUS spends too much time on international affairs One of NUS’ founding principles, in the aftermath of the First World War, was a fundamental commitment to internationalism, through increased understanding and co-operation.
Not only is such internationalism important in terms of helping students throughout the world – where practical support from NUS has often eased difficult situations – but NUS also has well over 50,000 overseas students in membership, of which 6,000 are refugees. Well under 1% of NUS’ budget is spent on international affairs.
NUS’ international work has had a number of practical effects:-
- Helping Welfare Officers understand difficult situations when advising overseas students
- Playing an influential role in the development of the European Student Information Bureau (ESIB)
- Bringing extra money into the system for overseas students
- Giving NUS the research in the arguments against student loans, through our links with European, Nordic and American student organisations
- Playing a major role in securing the withdrawal of Barclays Bank from South Africa
- Leading to the setting up of numerous scholarships for those facing educational discrimination in their own country
- Improving our work on education, housing and women through seminars and information provided by the European Student Information Bureau
9. They say NUS is a ‘closed shop’ NUS does not operate a ‘closed shop’. There are two issues here:
- All students who enrol at a college automatically become members of the students’ union and then have a choice on whether they wish to opt out or not. They can take advantage of union facilities or not, in the same way that they can take advantage of the library or not. The choice is theirs.
- NUS does not have individual membership, but collective membership – its members are students’ unions. A students’ union decides whether or not to affiliate to, and gain the benefits of, the National Union.
In accordance with the Education Act 1994, there should be procedures for the review of affiliations to external organisations, under which students’ unions must submit the current list of affiliations for approval by members annually or more frequently. This does not mean they have to have a referendum every year – the act of including the affiliation fees in the annual accounts, which are approved by an AGM (or Council, depending on the structures), is sufficient.
Students who are dissatisfied with any affiliation can raise this and if there is enough support a ballot can be held on whether to continue the affiliation.
10. They say the NUS logo doesn’t lead to discounts
Although many students’ unions successfully negotiate discounts on a local level, students need a national voice to negotiate discounts with national companies. Individual students’ unions would have little chance of negotiating the vast range of discounts offered by many high street stores throughout the UK and abroad. Many students in NUS will be well aware of the massive range of discounts they can gain from nusonline and the amount it saves them.
11. They say NUS is financially irresponsible
It is students’ unions and Annual Conference that make the major decisions on NUS spending. Annual Conference votes on the accounts and estimates and sets affiliation fees. Annual Conference also decides what action will take place in the year ahead through the policy process or a ballot of students' unions. If students’ unions feel that a national demonstration is too expensive, then they can vote against it, either at Annual Conference or in the ballot of all students’ unions. NUS finances are also monitored by Finance Committee, made up of independent financial experts and members elected at Annual Conference.
12. They say NUS prevents freedom of speech
When they refer to freedom of speech they are actually referring to NUS’ no platform policy. The no platform policy exists to prevent racists, bigots and fascists from using NUS as a vehicle to incite racial hatred and intolerance of disadvantaged sections of society. The NUS constitution states that its aims should be pursued without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, age or creed. It is only right that NUS should work to prevent discrimination against any disadvantaged section of society by denying a platform to racists, fascists and those who attempt to destroy those that the student movement has for decades fought to protect.
13. They say NUS is bogged down in political correctness
By political correctness they may be referring to campaigning on issues that effect women, black students, LGB students or disabled students. They may be referring to the fact that NUS tries not to hold events when people will be prevented from attending due to religious obligations. They may be referring to the fact that NUS asks delegates at events not to behave or use language in a way that discriminates against other people. Is NUS really bogged down in political correctness or is NUS striving to ensure that its events are open, accessible and comfortable for as many people as possible? Is NUS really bogged down in political correctness or is it striving to protect those who are disadvantaged and discriminated against by society?
14. They say NUS only pays lip service to the liberation campaigns
NUS has a proud tradition of not just representing disadvantaged sections of society, but promoting their self-organisation, rights and needs through the liberation campaigns. Very few representative organisations can boast a Women’s Officer, a Students with Disabilities Officer, two LGB Officers and a Black Students’ Officer on their National Executive, elected by their own conferences with autonomous policy making powers.
15. They say Scottish students aren’t in NUS
There are 65 colleges and universities in Scotland , and 57 of them are members of NUS. Edinburgh University Students’ Association recently voted to re-affiliate to NUS, after 25 years. All of NUS Scotland ’s demands were accepted by the Scottish Parliament’s Committee of Enquiry into Student Finance, despite the Scottish universities not affiliated to NUS saying NUS Scotland was asking for too much.
NUS Scotland has been the only student organisation invited to give evidence to meetings of Parliamentary Committees, the Cubie Committee and numerous Scottish Executive Committees.
