Student Council, November 2025: What happened?
Last night marked our first Student Council of the year, bringing together elected student representatives to debate and vote on motions submitted by the student body and the Full-Time Officer team.
Every motion passed becomes official SU policy, shaping how we work and what we prioritise. You can explore the details of each motion on the Ideas Board.
So, what passed? Let’s take a look at the results and the changes to your SU:
- Banning of AI, Stolen and Unethical Art at SU Poster Sales: Passed ✅
- Updating our byelaws to align with current practice in relation to Associate Membership: Failed ❌
- Empowering Joint Honours Students at the University of Bristol: Passed ✅
Statement on Byelaws Update
The Bristol SU Trustee Board met on Tuesday to discuss the outcomes of the Student Council meeting earlier this month. Although the strength of feeling at Student Council was heard and understood, the trustees have made the decision for the SU byelaws to be updated and any mention of Associate Memberships removed. This decision was not made lightly, and it is an exceptional circumstance where the Trustee Board would disagree with the general sentiment of Student Council and something we will proactively seek to avoid in the future.
The Bristol SU Trustee Board consists of 11 democratically elected student trustees, and 5 appointed trustees. The Board of Trustees have the ultimate legal responsibility for governance and management of Bristol SU and are regulated by the Charity Commission. The Trustees are ultimately liable and accountable for everything that happens at Bristol SU. As such, they may override any decision made at a Student Council, although they would rarely choose to do so and it would have to be for a valid reason, as stated in the Bristol SU governing document known as the Articles.
The original Trustee decision to cease approving associate memberships was made due to several very important reasons, including: safeguarding students, managing conduct, charitable purpose and insurance. This came about following a review into Associate Membership, which was one of the recommendations from the Code of Conduct Review in 2024 which was campaigned for by students. Whilst we acknowledge that how we engaged student groups in this was not clear enough, on the balance of risk the Trustees still believe and uphold this decision as the right one.
We heard the concerns which were raised at the student council meeting and are looking to address these. We will be doubling the available funding for safety training and increasing the number of students per group who can access this, as well as making sure support for setting up alumni networks is in place. Since Student Council we’ve also had several interesting discussions about our democratic meetings and processes and would encourage anyone with thoughts on this to get in touch.
See you at the next one?
Student Council is back on December 11, submit your motions via the Ideas Board!
Article updated on Thursday 20 November to reflect Trustee decision.
