Weekly Report: Week 1

In my weekly blogs i try to keep you up to date with all that i have done (both big and small) over the last seven days.

This week i...

Moved into my office!

- Received training on how to represent students facing serious plagiarism hearings. If students wish, they can take a sabbatical officer into hearings with them for support and guidance. For more information on this simply pop into the ARC (Advice and Representation Centre) in the Guild or email thearc@guild.bham.ac.uk

- Wrote the Guild's response to the Governments Housing Consultation. In a nutshell, the Government is looking at ways to tackle the issue of 'studentification' whereby students are accused of tearing the heart out of local communities like Selly Oak and turning them into 'student ghettos'. One option on the table is to change the law so that the local council would have much more power to refuse permission for landlords to convert their properties into Houses of Multiple Occupanccy (HMOs). Essentially, those that support the scheme hope that these changes will prevent students being able to form more than 20% of the local population in an area.

Whilst we understand the concern of local residents, we don't believe that changing the law is the right way to go about it. Only 0.8% of wards across the country are in this sort of situation so making a nationwide law could turn out to be very dangerous, discriminating against other users of HMOs such as migrant workers. Besides, we believe students can be a force for good in the local community and can make it a better place to live, not a worse one.

So to that end i wrote a report for the local Government describing our position and pointing out all the incredible things students at Birmingham do to make a difference in the surrounding areas.

I'll be happy to email you a copy of the report feel free to ask!

- Consulted with staff at the Guild, University and City Council about how best to implement a property based accreditation scheme in Selly Oak. At the moment, we have plans for a bronze/silver/gold type scheme, with houses receiving different ratings according to how secure, safe and insulated they are. This would provide an incredibly useful and easily accessible way for students to quickly see which landlords and properties are best and which ones they should avoid at all costs. This forms a key part of the campaign to improve housing in Selly Oak so as to cut down on crime and the exploitation of students.

- Attended NUS Action Through Advocacy Training. This is a 4 day training course designed for Welfare and Education officers to prepare them for the year ahead. I had a great time meeting officers from all over the country and sharing ideas with them. My head is full of ideas now for ways in which to really improve the lives of students here in Birmingham. These include ways to tackle rising hall fees, prevent students from being the victims of crime and planning how to take a highly visible stand against lifting the cap on top-up fees on December 3rd for the NUS Town-takeover day. Watch this space...