Tory peers save student 'closed shop'

ATTEMPTS by ministers to break the National Union of Students, which they called the last closed shop in Britain, have been abandoned in the face of Tory opposition in the House of Lords. Baroness Blatch, Minister of State for Education, will announce the U-turn on Monday.

The idea was to deprive the union of taxpayers' support by withdrawing public funding from campus newspapers, societies and entertainments.

However, despite weeks of negotiation, the Education Bill still faces defeat at its committee stage in the Lords. Dissenters say a government amendment on the NUS shown to them yesterday does not go far enough. Under that plan, students would have the right to opt out of unions. They would lose the right to vote in elections but would still be able to use union facilities such as bars and restaurants. They would not be able to recover union fees, which are paid by the university in a block grant.

Unions would have to hold secret ballots to affiliate to outside bodies such as the NUS, and decisions would have to be reviewed annually, but they could use public money for that purpose. (With each union affiliating to about 70 sporting bodies, annual secret ballots would probably not be enforced.)

Each student union would have to have a written constitution, approved by the university's governing body and reviewed every five years. Student elections would be by secret ballot and officials on sabbatical leave would be able to remain in their posts for more than one year only with the approval of the governing body.

Lorna Fitzsimons, president of the NUS, said the Government had accepted plans put forward by the union in February last year.

A group of Conservative peers led by Lord Campbell of Alloway and backed by the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) have tabled an amendment to the Bill. Under their plans, a code of practice would govern each student union.

Last night a supporter of that amendment said the Government's latest plan did not do enough to address concerns that it threatened the autonomy of universities. 'If I were the CVCP I would not touch it with a bargepole. The Government knows that if we push it we will defeat them.'

The committee stage of the Bill, which also contains measures on teacher training, should have begun early last month, but will now take place next week or the week after.

The CVCP said it would continue to fight measures in the Bill which relate to teacher training. The committee believes that a planned Teacher Training Agency will prove expensive and do little to raise teachers' status.

Even if ministers can reach agreement with the rebels over student unions, they could still face defeat over teacher training.

Coming on top of recent Lords defeats on the Police and Magistrates' Courts Bill, the U-turn will prove deeply embarrassing to the Government. At the Education Bill's second reading before Christmas, 31 peers spoke against it and only two in favour, but a vote was not taken.