Wolfson College Students’ Association (WCSA) has called for an enquiry into CUSU’s financial losses, following the student union’s announcement of a budget deficit of over £75,000.

WCSA’s  President, Justin Yang, and External Officer, Sebastian Wrobel, have submitted a motion to CUSU Council proposing the establishment of an Enquiry Committee to determine how the losses were incurred. The Committee, composed of seven members of CUSU as well as a number of co-opted individuals, would also explore possible  changes to CUSU’s governance in light of the deficit. Its findings would be presented in a Final Report, to be presented at the last CUSU Council of Michaelmas 2017.

In a draft budget released last week, CUSU revealed that it had made losses of £59,000 during 2015-16, and is predicted to incur further losses of £140,000 during the ongoing financial year of 2016-17.

Speaking to Varsity, Wrobel explained the two main purposes of the motion: “First, seeking the facts of the circumstances which led to the budgetary shortfalls; secondly, assessing what we can learn from this experience about CUSU’s governance and providing recommendations to CUSU council to prevent such events in the future.”

How CUSU lost about £300,000 in three years

In the motion, WCSA recommends that, if the Committee were to find it necessary, CUSU’s governance should undergo structural changes in order to avoid further significant financial losses occurring in future. However, Wrobel stressed that the aim of the motion was “not about finding a culprit for the losses or naming names,” but about taking lessons from past malpractice.

Wrobel emphasised that the motion is “completely open to discussion and amendments,” adding “if CUSU Council finds that it prefers another form of investigation, that’s completely fine”.

He also encouraged all members of CUSU to put their names forward as members of the Enquiry Committee: “We’d very much like to see a diverse group of people tackling the question of possible structural reforms.”

The motion will be voted on at the next meeting of CUSU Council, to be held next Monday, 15th May.