Guild note: Please be aware that any ideas published on this platform are expected to be reviewed and amended by an Action Group to ensure that they meet the Guild’s legal, financial and charitable requirements. The version of this idea displayed may not necessarily be the final version.
In our Student Union, some decisions are being made in Officer Group Meetings. Sometimes votes are being held, but the results of these discussions are not clearly communicated to the student body.
For instance, there have been no publicly available minutes at all this year (since December 2024) for the Guild Officer Group Meetings. This is not acceptable practice for a democratic body that aims to represent students and to be held democratically accountable by them. In the interest of transparency, these meetings should always be publicly minuted.
The minutes from the Full-Time Officer Group Meetings are available on the website. So why doesn’t the Guild publish all minutes from meetings with Liberation Officers as well?
However, even the minutes that are available on the website are not detailed at all. They give no indication of the discussions had, or any future steps. In order to be able to hold our elected officers accountable, we should be able to follow the entire discussion and have opportunities to provide them feedback. This is normal practice within a democratic system, like how we are able to access transcripts of all UK parliamentary discussions via Hansard (see here: Hansard - UK Parliament)
These kind of transcripts should be available for our Student Union, since the SU is part of the student movement and it should be a collective and fully transparent process. Additionally, there should be a web page where we can see how each elected officer has been voting on these issues. Currently there is no way to engage with this process or to know why and how decisions are being made in Guild Officer Group Meetings. There is no way of knowing if all officers are voting with our best interests at heart and if they are truly representing the values of the student body. It is imperative that the lack of transparency changes if we want to keep the student body engaged and if we want to empower every student to use their voice within our democratic system.
An example of good practice is how the Student Union at Edinburgh University has a webpage where all students can access recordings of all Student Council meetings, as well as a Voting Record which shows how each elected officer has voted. See here: Edinburgh University Students' Association
1. Publishing Minutes for All Officer Group Meetings within a maximum of 48 hours of each meeting – The Student Union should publish minutes for all Guild Officer Group Meetings, including those involving Liberation Officers, to ensure transparency. This is so important and must not be overlooked or unnecessarily delayed.
2. Providing Detailed Meeting Minutes – Minutes should include full details of discussions, decisions, and future steps, rather than just summarizing outcomes.
3. Creating Meeting Transcripts – Full transcripts of meetings should be made available, similar to how UK parliamentary discussions are recorded in Hansard. This should be an easy job with the help of AI.
4. Establishing a Voting Record Page – A webpage should be created where students can see how each elected officer has voted on issues.
5. Providing Recordings of Meetings – The Student Union should make recordings of meetings publicly accessible, following the example of Edinburgh University Students’ Association.
These policies aim to improve transparency, accountability, and student engagement in the decision-making process of the Student Union.