Code of Practice for Common Rooms
Introduction
The 1994 ("the Act") Education Act requires governing bodies of universities to take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that any students' union operates in a fair and democratic manner and is accountable for its finances. The Act requires universities to prepare and issue a Code of Practice setting out the manner in which the requirements of the Act will be effected and in relation to each of the requirements details of the arrangements made to secure its observance.
This Code has been prepared to satisfy this requirement. It has been issued on the authority of University Council which, as the University's governing body is ultimately responsible for implementing and monitoring adherence to the Code.
University Council has agreed that the College Councils in the Maintained Colleges* are responsible for implementing and monitoring, on behalf of University Council, the requirements of the Act, as set down in this Code, in respect of the Common Room(s) of their College. College Councils are required to report annually to University Council on their discharge of these responsibilities.
For the purposes of this Code, Common Rooms are defined as College Graduate, Middle or Junior Common Rooms. The Code applies to all Common Rooms which have not elected to opt into the Durham Student Organisation (DSO) Framework and recorded as so doing by the University Council as set out at (link to be inserted shortly)
The Common Rooms have been exempt charities, deriving their charitable status from the University. As a result of the operation of the Charities Act 2006, the Common Rooms are losing this status and are required either to opt in to the DSO Framework or to register separately with the Charity Commission as a registered charity, if their income is over £100k, or are excepted charities if their income is less than £100k.
Those Common Rooms that register as charities are subject to a number of restrictions most notably that the charity must only operate in accordance with its charitable objects and powers as stated within its constitution. These Common Rooms may be unincorporated associations with no separate legal identity or may decide to incorporate as a company limited by guarantee (CLG), or as a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO). They act through their Boards of Trustees which is ultimately responsible for the actions of the Common Room. Further information about these restrictions is available on the Charity Commission website or by application to the President of the relevant Common Room.
The obligations of the College Council and the Common Room under the Act are set out below.
Note:
The University is responsible under English and European Law for taking such steps as are reasonably practicable to ensure that freedom of expression within the law is secured for members, students and employees of the University and for visiting speakers. The University's Code of Practice on freedom of expression in relation to meetings or other activities on University premises .
*In the Recognised Colleges the governing body is responsible for implementing and monitoring the legislation for a Common Room of that College.
Requirement of Section 22 (2) of the Act |
Responsibilities |
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(a) The union should have a written constitution |
All Common Rooms must have a written constitution. |
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(b) The provisions of the constitution should be subject to the approval of the governing body and to review by that body at intervals of not more than five years |
See above. |
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(c) A student should have the right not to be a member of the union, or in the case of a representative body which is not an association, to signify that he does not wish to be represented by it, and students who exercise that right should not be unfairly disadvantaged, with regard to the provision of services of otherwise, by reason of their having done so. |
A student should have the right to opt out of membership of the Common Room and should not, as a result of the exercise of that right, be unfairly disadvantaged in relation to the provision of services or otherwise. |
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(d) Appointment to major union offices should be by election in a secret ballot in which all members are entitled to vote |
Appointment to major Common Room Offices shall be by election in a secret ballot in which all members are entitled to vote. |
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(e) The governing body should satisfy themselves that the elections are fairly and properly conducted. |
The procedures for the conduct of elections shall be set down in the Common Room Election Regulations, which shall be approved by the College Council, and shall include a complaints process by which a student who has reason to believe that an election has not been fairly and properly conducted may bring the matter to the attention of the relevant authorities. |
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(f) A person should not hold sabbatical office, or paid elected union office, for more than two years in total at the establishment. |
This restriction shall be set out in the Constitution of the Common Room. |
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(g) The financial affairs of the union should be properly conducted, and appropriate arrangements should exist for the approval of the union's budget, and the monitoring of its expenditure, by the governing body. |
The terms and conditions for the payment of University funds to the Common Room, and approval of the Common Room budget and the monitoring of the Common Room's expenditure by the College Council, are set down in the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the University and the Trustees of the Common Room and in the Funding Agreement attached as an appendix to that Memorandum. |
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(h) Financial reports of the union should be published annually or more frequently, and should be made available to the governing body and to all students, and each such report should contain, in particular, a list of the external organisations to which the union has made donations in the period to which the report relates, and details of those donations. |
Financial reports of the Common Room shall be published at least annually or more frequently as directed by the University and should be made available to the College Council and to all students of the College. The report shall contain a list of the external organisations to which the Common Room has made donations and details of those donations. |
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(i) The procedure for allocating resources to groups or clubs should be fair, and should be set down in writing and freely accessible to all students |
The College Council shall be responsible for ensuring that a fair procedure for allocating resources to groups or clubs is in place in writing and is freely accessible to students of the College. |
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(j) If the union decides to affiliate to an external organisation, it should publish notice of its decision, stating the name of the organisation, and details of any subscription or similar fee paid or proposed to be paid, and of any donation made or proposed to be made, to the organisation, and any such notice should be made available to the governing body and to all students. |
Any decision by the Common Room to affiliate to an external organisation shall be published and the notice of the decision made available to the College Council and to all students of the College. (The notice should include the name of the organisation and details of any subscription and/or donation to the organisation.) |
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(k) Where the union is affiliated to any external organisations, a report should be published annually or more frequently, containing a list of the external organisations to which the union is currently affiliated, and details of subscriptions or similar fees paid, or donations made, to such organisations in the past year or since the last report, and such reports should be made available to the governing body and to all students. |
See above. |
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(l) There should be procedures for the review of affiliations to external organisations, under which the current list of affiliations is submitted for approval by members annually or more frequently, and at such intervals of not more than a year as the governing body may determine, a requisition may be made by such proportion of members (not exceeding 5%) as the governing body may determine, that the question of continued affiliation to any particular organisation be decided upon by a secret ballot in which all members are entitled to vote. |
See above. |
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(m) There should be a complaints procedure available to all students or groups of students who are dissatisfied in their dealings with the union, or claim to be unfairly disadvantaged by reason of their having exercised the right referred to in paragraph (c) above, which should include provision for an independent person appointed by the governing body to investigate and report on complaints. |
The College Council shall ensure that a complaints procedure as required by the Act is in place, including the requirement that it provide for an independent person appointed by the College Council to investigate and report on complaints. |
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(n) Complaints should be dealt with promptly and fairly and where a complaint is upheld there should be an effective remedy. |
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Section 22 (4) (a) Information for Students |
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Under section 22(4)(a) of the Education Act 1994, the University is obliged to draw this Code to the attention of all students at least once a year |
The University shall make the Code available on the University's website and ensure that it is referred to in the University student induction material. |
Section 22 (4) (b) - Information for Students |
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Under section 22(4)(b) of the Education Act 1994, the University is obliged to draw to the attention of students at least once a year the restrictions imposed on the activities of the Common Room by the law relating to charities. |
See above. |
Approved by University Council 5 July 2011.