From the 25/26 academic year, we introduced a new structure for our Officers- we now have three full-time officer roles and 12 paid part-time officers positions.  

To ensure the full time Officer Team is held accountable as trustees, employees, and democratic leaders, we shifted scrutiny from a single event to an ongoing developmental process that provides real world experience of line management, goal setting and delivery. 

Officer performance management was transferred to the Board of Trustees, to aid in ongoing accountability and development from a professional standpoint.

To better cater to the diverse interests and needs of our student body, we now have four councils- each dedicated to focussing on specific areas crucial to student life: Academic Council, Sports Council, Liberation Council and Societies Council.

Unlike before, councils no longer have the power to approve policies — instead, they’ll help shape and feed into the wider democratic process.

The Leicester 100 is a diverse, paid student panel that sits at the heart of our decision-making. Members review and vote on student policies, helping turn ideas into real change on campus. With full training and support provided, this gives students a chance to represent their peers, shape policy, and make sure every student voice is heard.

To ensure students remain at the heart of everything we do we have increased the number of Student Trustees from one member to three members! Three Executive Officers also sit on the Board as further student representatives. We also have up to 5 External Trustees that bring valued expertise and insight. 

This means students now make up the majority of the Trustee Board — ensuring student voice drives the Union’s direction.

To ensure the smooth running of our policy generation work, we introduced and implemented an additional Trustee Board Sub-Committee which oversees policy generation, monitors progress, and ensures we’re delivering on the key areas that matter most to students. The Policy Sub-Committee will play a vital role in holding the Union accountable to its members and our mandates, and will also be responsible for ensuring legal and charitable compliance.
 

The new Councils, The Leicester 100, and the Policy Sub-Committee will work hand-in-hand to make sure student ideas become real action.

When students share an idea through the Ideas System, it’ll move through this structure — from discussion and development to decision-making and delivery.

Each year, a set of full-time Executive Officers are elected by the whole student population to work full time in the SU for the year. They keep in touch with your views and tackle all issues to do with student life and making sure the Union offers what you want. All of the Executive Officers sit on the Union’s Trustee Board.

Part-Time Officers are crucial to the future development of the Union. Their key responsibility is to make sure that the group they represent receives the support and services they require. They seek to improve the overall experience students have during their time at the University of Leicester.  Also elected by students, they work alongside our Full-time Executive Officers.

In 2010, the Students’ Union became a charity registered to the Charity Commission; following the 2006 Charities Act and requirements for all Students’ Unions to become full charities. As a result, a Trustee Board was established to provide guidance, expertise and strategic oversight of the Students’ Union.

The Trustee Board has ultimate responsibility for the overall management of the Union. This responsibility is delegated on a day-to-day basis to the Chief Executive and staff team. The Trustees must ensure that the Union remains legally compliant and solvent, and in ‘safe hands’ in accordance with our Articles of Association and the Bye-laws.

The Trustees meet at least four times per year and are the key decision-making body at the Students’ Union. Generally, the Board does not get involved in the political issues or policy setting, which is led by the full-time Executive Officers and students through Leicester 100, Councils and Ideas System.

The Trustees ensure that the Students’ Union has a clear vision and strategic direction; they ensure that there are enough funds to do the things that students expect us to offer and that we comply with all regulatory requirements. This also involves the Trustees regularly discussing the Union’s performance and its Strategic plan; the annual budget and any major expenditure and ensuring that our work is rooted in our core charitable purpose. 

The Trustee Board is comprised of 10 Trustees: 

• ​Three are elected full-time Executive Officers, who are also responsible for representing the student body and elected in the annual election process.
• Three Trustees are current students at the University. These students are appointed on the basis of the skills they can bring to Trustee Board.
• Five of the Trustees are External Trustees who are appointed because of their skills, experience, interest and commitment to the Union. They serve for up to two terms of four years. 

You can find more information on trustee's, their roles and responsibilities here.

Whilst the Trustees have to take a number of decisions that may not seem directly relevant to your student experience, it is vital that they are accountable to the members of the Students' Union.

As members of the Students' Union, you can influence the Trustees in a number of ways:

1. By contacting the Executive Officers at su-exec@le.ac.uk

2. By initiating the removal of a Trustee (Student, External or Officer Trustee)

Should you have reason to call for an External or Student Trustee to be removed from office, there is a set procedure that you must follow as the Students’ Council need to support the removal.

There are two ways in which a Trustee can be removed from their position if – 

1. A motion of no confidence in the Trustee is passed by a two-thirds majority in a secret ballot of Leicester 100. When a motion of no confidence is submitted the Trustee in question has the right to submit a written defence to the meeting in question. If the motion is passed then the Trustee would be immediately be removed from their position.
2. A Trustee may be suspended if a majority resolution of no confidence is passed by the Trustees, the Trustee in question the resolution of no confidence is then presented to the Leicester 100 to consider a motion of no confidence, which if passed by a two-thirds majority would cause the Trustee to be removed from Office.

Should you want advice on this, you can speak to the President, who is Deptuy Chair of Trustee Board or our Support and Representation Manager:

SU President – su-president@le.ac.uk
Ian Bruce (Support and Representation Manager) – irb2@leicester.ac.uk

The purpose of the Finance Committee is to ensure that the Union meets approved income and expenditure targets, via the annual budget process and the monthly management accounts. The committee will also approve additional one off and capital expenditure. The members of the Committee are required to review and consider appropriate methods of overseeing the Guild’s financial activities. The Committee meets four times per year and the composition is as follows;

• 2 x Executive Officer Trustees
• 2 x Lay Trustees (1 chair)
• 2 x Student Trustees

The purpose of the HR & Remuneration Committee is to ensure that the human resources of the Union are working effectively to deliver the organisation’s strategy and policy. The group also review pay and reward policies of Union staff. The Committee meets four times per year and the composition is as follows;

• 2 x Lay trustees (1 chair)
• 3 x Student trustees
• Chief Executive and HR Manager or nominees in an advisory capacity.

The purpose of the Risk Management Committee is to ensure that the Union complies with all relevant laws and regulations and that an internal system of accountability is formally set up. The members of the Committee are required to monitor and scrutinise the Union’s risk register in depth. The Committee meets 2 times per year and the composition is as follows;

• 2 x Lay Trustees (1 Chair)
• 2 x Executive Officers
• Chief Executive and Director of Membership Services or nominees in an advisory capacity.

The purpose of the Membership and Governance Sub Committee is to ensure that the Trustee Board has oversight of the charitable delivery of the charity in terms of its outputs and impact as well as responsibility for ensuring the charity's governance is effective. The committee meets 4 times a year and consists of:

• 2 x Executive Officer Trustees
• 2 x Lay Trustees (1 chair)
• 2 x Student Trustees
• Members of SMT in an advisory capacity

The key governing document of a charitable company is its Memorandum and Articles of Association. A charitable company is registered and regulated both by Companies House and by the Charity Commission. This means that if a charitable company wishes to make any changes to its governing document, it will need to register the changes with Companies House and with the Charity Commission. If the changes are regulated changes, the charity will require the prior written consent of the Charity Commission before making such changes.

Our Memorandum & Articles can be found here

The Students' Union's constitution and bye-laws is a list of rules and regulations which the Students' Union works to. It covers areas such as Students' Union Officers’ powers, Union Council, our democratic structures, sports club and society regulations, the Union complaints procedure and our democratically passed policies.

Our Constitution & Bye-Laws can be found here