Colleagues,
In this bulletin:
BGM Reminder & Agenda
Contact Hours Per Credit
Tax Relief on Subscriptions
Branch General Meeting
A reminder that our first BGM of the new year is next week: Weds 24 January, 1.30-3.00 via Teams. Members for whom we have a UCLan email address have already been sent a calendar appointment. Anyone else will need to join via the link.
If you would like a calendar invitation for future meetings, make sure one of the addresses on MyUCU is your UCLan one (it doesn’t have to be the “preferred” one).
Agenda items will include: Redundancy prevention & our attempts to obtain a management guarantee of no compulsory redundancies; Management abuses of grade G agreements, and our collective dispute over these; A proposal to add a local levy to Branch subscriptions, in order to build the hardship fund; The forthcoming General Secretary & NEC elections; Branch membership and density.
Contact Hours Per Credit
It has been reported to UCU that management in some Schools have proposed a standard 2 hours per 20 credits. In early 2016, UCU negotiated an agreement on contact hours per credit. The agreement is that there’s a band within which the number of contact hours is within the discretion of the subject team. For contact hours beyond the discretionary maximum and minimum, approval of school management is required. Enforcing a “standard” would be in breach of this agreement.
Level | Min contact hours per 20 credits | Max contact hours per 20 credits | Hours per credit |
3 | 40 | 60 | 2-3 |
4 | 40 | 60 | 2-3 |
5 | 30 | 60 | 1.5/3 |
6 | 30 | 60 | 1.5/3 |
Tax Relief on Subscriptions
Members are reminded that HMRC allows tax relief on 67% of UCU subscription fees. Claims can be backdated over four years. If you are doing a tax return at the moment, you can claim it there. If not, you can claim by post or telephone: details are here https://my.ucu.org.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/469
UCLan UCU Branch Committee