Union Council (18th February 2026)

Read and approved.

None raised.

The PBU delegation presented their motion as per the attached presentation. The following questions were raised:

• If both animal and plant-based options are available on menus, what do you expect the impact to be, i.e. would you expect a significant shift towards plant-based options? Yes, we would expect a shift and this has been demonstrated at other campuses.
• What if demand for plant-based options is not high enough to justify ordering the plant-based ingredients? Would you expect a trial to take place to gauge demand before committing to purchasing plant-based options long-term? Plant-based meals can be trialed and if an option does not prove popular it can be replaced with another plant-based meal.
• Would both options be priced the same? We would expect the plant-based option to be cheaper as plant-based meals can be made more cheaply than their animal-based counterparts.
• Adding 10 new menu items would be a significant change, do you expect SUSU catering to be able to absorb this change/cost? We would work closely with SUSU during this transition to offer advice and ideas for cost-effective plant-based options.
• What did people not in favour of the petition cite as concerns? Didn’t know what Plant-Based by default was or didn’t think it would work.
• Would total increase in sales increase total amount of animal-based ingredients? SUSU will buy in to match demand, so if more plant-based options are sold then more plant-based ingredients would be bought, same goes for animal-based options.
• Ultra-processed plant-based options can also be unhealthy, so what would the plant-based options be? We want to ensure people can get plant-based options they’re comfortable with but will offer healthy options where possible, not just UP meat replacements.
• Would you expect total demand to go down as people can shop elsewhere if they don’t want plant-based options? No, not taking anything off the menu so we don't think sales would drop.
• What would you suggest would cause people to switch if both options are available? Students who want to eat sustainably will be more likely to do so if the sustainable option is cheap & convenient.
  
  
• The motion was put to a vote - 9 in favour, 1 against. As the meeting was not quorate, councillors not in attendance were asked to ratify the vote via an online poll. The final tally was 12 in favour, 3 against, as such the motion was approved.

The VP Education presented their plan and report as per the attached presentation. The following questions were raised:

• Which departments are being targeted for new buddy schemes and how is this being decided? The Working Group is covering peer assisted learning and other similar schemes, it is cross-departmental.
• Which schools/depts have had issues with all.soton mailing lists, and which ones are being supported to set up programme-level lists? There are issues across much of the uni, but particularly in areas where uni-side structure doesn’t match susu-side structure. Particularly tricky in areas with lots of joint honours courses.

The Union President presented their report as attached. The following questions were raised:

• Have you had prior contact with the Plant Based Universities group – are you working/meeting them? Haven't met with them yet but will likely do so as a result of the Motion being approved!
• What will the Safety Campaign look like – will it be mostly online or will there be in person events as well? Still in the planning phase but likely to be a mix of the two.

The VP Sports presented their report as per the attached presentation. The following questions were raised:

• Are the ticket costs for Varsity likely to change significantly from last year? What factors are being considered when setting the price? Last year price: £18 (home varsity – no transport). This year I have suggested doing a tiered option on tickets: ~£20 (excluding After party), ~£25 (including after party)
  • Things to consider with price:
     • Transport
     • T-Shirts
     • All 4 days entry
     • Photography
     • Staffing
• Are there alternatives venues for IM outdoor sports as Wide Lane keeps being cancelled? Wide lane usually gets cancelled due to weather or staffing issues. This is an issue for all clubs including AU and IM. No location is mandatory for any clubs to use – however, using widelane/jubilee/TSH is a free option due to block bookings for clubs. Any club can choose to go elsewhere such as the
  common for free or external venues (this will come at a cost to the players/club).

The VP Communities' report was presented as attached. No questions were raised.

None raised.