For those of you that might not know, Union Council is a vital part of our democratic structure and gives students the chance to be part of the decision-making process at uea(su). It’s there to support the democratic processes of the union and ensure that key union business is done. It oversees the trustee board and approves the estimates towards the end of the academic year. Union Council is also a place where you are able to hold your elected officers, like me, to account. It was great to see so many of you there! It is open to every single UEA student but for those who weren’t at the first one of the year, here’s everything you need to know! 

We elected a chair and deputy chair of council and opened up committee elections for the following: 

• Democratic Procedures Committee- oversees the running of Union Council 
• Finance Committee- a subcommittee of the trustee board who oversees the SU’s finances 
• Appointments and HR Committee- a subcommittee of the trustee board who oversees senior appointments within the SU and recruiting trustees. 
• Risk and Governance Committee- a new subcommittee of the trustee board who will have oversight of risk and governance. 

We went through the Full Time Officer and Part Time Officer Reports and discussed what I’ve been up to over the last month including: 

• Better representation- significant student led democratic reform- I spoke about the review that is happening which I’ve previously posted about and how all members can get involved. 
• ‘I am registered to vote’- I spoke about the campaign I am organising to encourage all members who are eligible to register to vote to do so. This is so important now an election has been called for the 12th December! 
• More money in your pocket- fair accommodation for all- I spoke about the work I am doing within the university and nationally, through taking part in roundtables to address the problems that student accommodation has. 

We approved seven new societies: 

• Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism 
• Interprofessional Soc 
• North African Soc 
• Punjabi Soc 
• Gavel Soc 
• Decolonise UEA 
• Bloody Good Period 

We then went through an old motion to show how debate at Council can work and voted on it for practise for the next Council on the 7th November. 

We then had any questions or follow up and then closed the meeting. 

Once again, it was great to see so many of you! In the meantime, if you have any questions or after training for Union Council, feel free to email me at [email protected] and we can organise something. I hope to see you on the 7th November at 7pm in Lecture Theatre 2.