A motion requiring clubs and societies to perform monthly finance audits failed to pass at the final General Meeting of the semester.
The motion was voted down with 66 votes opposing the motion compared to only eight supporting votes and three abstentions out of a total 97 votes.
The motion was proposed by Phoebe McCulloch, President of the economics society and seconded by secretary of the Conservative society Stuart McLuckie.
The pair cited an increase in accountability for clubs and societies and an increase in efficiency in regards to Union finances and grants as reasons for proposing the motion. This would be achieved through extra duties for club treasurers and the Co-Curricular officer.
Co-Curricular officer Svea Horn spoke against the motion, commenting on her opposition she said:
“I spoke against the motion because I believe that it would put a lot of unnecessary work on me as the Co-Curricular Officer and the treasures as well. I generally think that the idea behind the motion was a very good one, but I think a lot of what Phoebe and Stuart suggested is already in place.”
Regarding the proposed extra duties Horn stated:
“since I am only a part-time officer who is starting her masters in September and working on the side as well, it would have asked too much of me and my position as a Co-Curricular Officer. Even if I received training and support from the Student Union, I don’t think I would have been able to do a good job with the auditing process.”
When approached for comment on the defeat of her motion Phoebe McCulloch stated:
“I wasn’t disappointed by the motion failing to pass per se, as I realise that this is quite a new concept and would take modification over time to perfect. This would involve more communication with the new Co-Curricular Officer, as well as the Union VP Communities. I would also send a survey done to all clubs and societies to enhance the motion’s visibility and validity.”
In response to the Co-Curricular Officer’s comments at the meeting McCulloch added:
“The motive was not to put a heavy burden on the Co-Curricular Officer or club treasurers, as they would only be supervising and remediating expense forms on Excel.doc. Unfortunately, I did not get the opportunity to adequately respond to the statements which were made and hope that someone will propose something similar to my policy in the future.”
Other topics discussed at the meeting were the Union’s sustainability policy which seeks to make Stirling Union the first carbon neutral student union in Scotland.
There was also a motion passed on the fair hospitality put forward by Cian Ireland which will throw the Union’s support behind the fair hospitality charter from Unite which will put pressure on hospitality employers to: provide a living wage, longer rest breaks, equal pay for young workers, paid transport for workers finishing after midnight, enforce an anti-sexual harassment policy, provide minimum hours contracts, consultation on rota changes, provide staff with 100% of their tips and allow give trade unions access to represent hospitality staff.
The motion passed with 67 votes for 4 against with 10 voters abstaining out of 81 total voters.
A quiet hours motion proposed by disability officer Sonny Bailey was also passed. The motion, asks the Union to reduce controllable noise in the Atrium and Studio for an hour a day for the benefit of students who identify as disabled or those who have difficulties with social interaction and communication who reported distress due to many different noise sources present at these locations.
Picture Credit: Stirling Student Union
