瓜神网/1012 ?May 2020
Carlow
Street, London NW1 7LH, Tel. 020 7756 2500, www.ucu.org.uk
To????????????????? Branch and local association secretaries
Topic???????????? Budget 2020-21
Action??????????? For endorsement by Congress 2020
Summary ????? Budget for 2020-21 as agreed by the NEC
Contact????????? Martin Smith, acting head of resources
Dear Colleague
Budget 2020-21
The proposed budget agreed by the National Executive Committee forms part of this circular and can be found at:
The honorary treasurer’s introduction appears overleaf.
Following the postponement of Congress, the officers, endorsed by SFC and reported to NEC, agreed that there was no realistic alternative to operating the subs increase and budget agreed by the NEC from 1 September 2020. It is intended that this be subject to retrospective endorsement by a re-scheduled Congress, which should receive an updated report and any recommended adjustments for approval.
For the full democratic continuity paper see:
/media/10855/SFC-paper-April-2020/pdf/NEC1328__Democratic_Continuity_paper.pdf
If you are unable to access documents in pdf format please contact Kay Metcalfe (kmetcalfe@ucu.org.uk).
Yours sincerely
Dr Jo Grady
General Secretary
Budget for the year ending 31
August 2021
Introduction by honorary treasurer
1
It is envisaged
from the current perspective that 2020/21 is going to be another difficult year
for all our members as they continue to experience a turbulent period of
industrial relations in both sectors, together with the as yet unknown
ramifications of Brexit and the difficult to predict ripples emanating from
this, impacting the budget. The union is not immune to these factors and whilst
we have honoured Congress policy we must also continue
to be realistic about income and expenditure and the strength of the financial
position of 瓜神网.
2
The budget for
2020/21 has therefore been constructed realistically with a view to allowing
for some element of the unexpected, coupled with expenditure proposals where
possible. The budget is cautious, within the confines of the expected
subscription income, together with the continued operation of the cost control
procedures in place, it should be possible to offset the pressures of both of
the above and together with the greater utilisation of 瓜神网 resources necessary
to support the membership at this time, it is the intention to increase
subscriptions by just enough to allow for an income which meets the challenges
detailed previously. We have therefore constructed a subscriptions proposal
that will result in the required income needed to support the budget, using
projected member numbers according to band. This remains in accord with the long term policy set by SFC to maintain the financial
resources of 瓜神网 in order to face the challenges ahead, with sufficient
backing. However in accordance with Congress motion,
we have continued to review subscription levels and present this budget which
incorporates the next step in the evolution of the subscription changes
envisaged within the motion.
3
As mentioned in
the previous paragraph, the importance of membership support has continued to
be a particular focus in the construction of the Budget for 2020/21 and to this
end several specific areas have been allocated continued additional resources
in response to this. Therefore, for the 2020/21 Budget, extra funds remain
allocated to Legal costs, Branch and regional support. More specifically these
are in anticipation of additional industrial legal challenges to the union and
strategic legal cases on behalf of members, extra support for branches at the
grass roots level and on a wider basis to look at devolved and localised
negotiations, provide technical advice and assistance to the regions. We are
looking to focus our provision for member training and development with a
particular emphasis on young members’ professional development and
contributions from each area towards localised training and local negotiations.
Finally and very significantly we have increased
funding to the Fighting Fund by 100% or more for the year.
4
The additional
funds allocated within the Budget 2020/21 have been directed towards the
strategic political objectives set by NEC and Congress, whilst maintaining the
existing operations of 瓜神网 at its current levels.
5
Taking all of
the above into account, the budget shows a small deficit of ?(29,143),
which is essentially break even and is as low as is prudently acceptable, to
allow some room for unknown factors. If matters materially change during the period it may become necessary to vire
between categories as required.
6
The following
motions have been put forward to Congress by the NEC:
1. Congress approves the
appointment of Knox Cropper as the union’s auditors for the year ending 31
August 2020.
2. Congress receives the
union’s audited financial statements for the 12-month period ending 31 August
2019 as set out in 瓜神网/1011.
3. Congress endorses the
budget for September 2020 – August 2021 as set out in 瓜神网/1012.
4. Congress accepts the
Treasurer's report on progress with the review of subscription rates and bands
and endorses the changes to band structures and subscription rates from 1
September 2020 set out in 瓜神网/1013.