Wednesday 15-10-2025 - 16:04

Over the past 6 months we have been scoping some work to clarify the relationship between Students' Unions and their affiliated societies. The aim of this work is to ensure that SUs feel equipped at all levels to properly manage the risks associated with societies and society activity. This area of work has increased in complexity, and this article is shared as an interim update on our work so far, and bringing together all of the existing useful information that senior leaders in SUs should be aware of: 

Regulatory Framework 

Key Document: NUS Charity – Guidance on Clubs and Societies (Feb 2025) 

Summary: 

1. Charitable purpose of SUs 

• Students’ unions are charities whose purpose is to further students’ education — broadly defined to include social, cultural, sporting, and political awareness activities.  
• As charities, students' unions must ensure that all of their activity aligns with their charitable objects as outlined in their constitutions/Articles of Association. By extension, all activity must also contribute to the 'public benefit'; any activity outside of this is deemed 'ultra vires' or outside of the powers of the charity. 
• 'Resources' is a broad term which includes both funding and support costs for the administration of the activity; resources must only be expended in the pursuit of charitable objectives. 

2. Political and campaigning societies 

• Societies provide a space for students, as volunteers of the charity, to pursue the charity's objectives. However, societies are often permitted to take a broader view of those objectives and include more specific interests of students - for example societies may have links to political parties so long as this is properly managed and documented. Funding or supporting political and campaigning societies is lawful if provided impartially and on educational grounds, not to promote a political party or cause. 
• Support should be offered even-handedly to avoid discrimination or breaching charity or equality law. 
• The SU’s support does not imply endorsement of a society’s views — only of the educational value of discussion and debate. 

3. Trustees’ legal duties 

• Trustees must act within powers, in good faith, and in the charity’s best interests. They should make informed, balanced decisions, manage conflicts of interest, and consider risks (including reputational ones) in decision-making 
• Having a clear, written policy for society funding and conduct helps demonstrate compliance.
• This policy should include the requirement for funds to be spent in line with SU policy, procedure, and charitable objects. 

4. Wider legal context and good practice 

• SU decisions also sit within wider legal frameworks (education, elections, equalities, defamation, criminal, and Prevent duties). 
• Unions should document risk appetite and decision-making and seek advice where needed, using tools like the NUS Charity decision-making matrix to evidence that all relevant factors were considered. 

What else are SUs responsible for in relation to societies? 

Societies are not generally considered to be separate legal entities from the SU, and as a result, the SU is therefore both responsible and liable for all society activity. Therefore the normal requirements of a charity are extended into societies.  

• Health & Safety - all activity must be properly risk assessed and insured and that proper safeguarding policy and procedures are in place 
• Financial oversight - funds must only be spent in pursuit of charitable objectives and as such funding received from external organisations must not be committed towards activity which would normally fall outside of the objects of the charity or the stated aims of the society 
• Contractual oversight – contracts made that involve a society are actually made with the SU and therefore the SU should have oversight and authorisation over any contracts signed. Therefore any agreements with external organisations must be reviewed and signed by an authorised signatory within the SU and must align with the SUs charitable objects. 
• Equality & diversity - SUs must ensure that societies are open to all and are inclusive. There may be some examples where membership or election into committee positions may be restricted on the basis of equality legislation but this must be properly considered and documented by trustees. 
• Media – media, and in particular social media is considered an activity. SUs are therefore responsible for ensuring that content produced by societies is in the furtherance of the charity's objects (see CC guidance here) 
• Freedom of Speech - SUs are responsible for overseeing external speaker checks and ensuring free and fair debate on campus (please email uniondevelopment@nus.org.uk for more information). 
• Data Protection - SUs are the data controller for all member data and responsible for ensuring that societies use any such data legally and responsibly 
• Intellectual Property – a common issue is the use of a University or Students’ Union name being used in a society’s name, whether affiliated or not. SUs should take action when a non-affiliated society is using its name/logo/trademark and ensure that only approved and affiliated societies are doing so as this directly associates that activity to the SU 

How do we discharge these duties? 

This relationship is complex, and therefore the regulatory framework requires documented arrangements, including: 

• Clear constitutions and governing documents for the SU (see our Model Documents info here) 
• A board-level risk assessment of the risks associated with societies and their mitigations combined with documented decision-making in line with the Trustee Decision Matrix 
• Governing documents for each society which outline the stated aims of the society (see this 2013 Guidance) 
• Clear policy & procedure outlining the ways in which the SU will discharge its duties in relation to finances, freedom of speech, social media, H&S etc.  
• Clear defined schemes of delegated authority, and associated role profiles for those holding society committee positions  
• Training for those holding society committee positions, and proper policy & procedure for assurance and disciplinary purposes 
• Training for staff supporting societies so they are aware of the risks associated with activity and can escalate issues if required (Opportunities 101 Training) 

Balancing Risk and Resource 

In each case where the SU has a responsibility for ensuring compliance within a society, the Board/SU will likely be balancing its risk appetite against its available resourcing level 

For example, where an SU has hundreds of societies, it is probably unlikely that the SU will be in a position to vet all social media ahead of publication. In this case, the Board should document its decisions in relation to how it plans to balance these risks against available resources. Mitigations might include: 

• Strong and regular training for committee members to ensure understanding of compliance and regulation 
• A cap on the number of societies the SU will support 
• A risk-based approach to spot-checking society content  
• A robust complaints procedure that requires societies to remove content immediately following any complaints and pending investigation 

NUS Guidance: 

As part of this work we will be reviewing the guidance the currently exists, updating it and ensuring that it is applicable. If you have ideas for any areas of this work that would be useful please email uniondevelopment@nus.org.uk