The University of Bradford Students’ Union is inviting proposals from experienced providers to support a series of pieces of governance work that the union needs to undertake.
The University of Bradford Students’ Union is inviting proposals from experienced providers to write our new articles, to advise us on the form our organisation should take, to draft our by-laws, and to put in place the governance and policy documents we need. The work runs from mid-October to July 2027 and takes us through a referendum of our members in early February 2027. It is offered in three parts and you can bid for one, two or all three.
Where we are
We are a Students’ Union in a formal turnaround. An independent governance review found our constitution in need of updating, our governance documentation thin, and a number of charity governance and statutory requirements not currently met. We accepted all twenty-one of its recommendations in full. This commission delivers the ones that need external legal and governance expertise.
We have no sabbatical officers in post and no Union Council. Elections are paused, with temporary representation arrangements in place for this academic year only. A separate independent review has set out what has to be in place before elections can resume, and new rules approved by members are part of that.
We are writing our governing documents from scratch rather than amending them. Our members are not being asked to vote yes or no to a single draft. They will be given a choice between models of how students are represented and led. Our Trustee Board and the University will have agreed that each of them works, and our members pick the one they want. Elections follow in March or April 2027 so that officers (assuming a representation model with officers) are in post for the 2027-28 year, which is why the referendum date cannot move.
What we need
Part one - The new articles and the form of our organisation
Draft our new articles, and advise us on whether we should stay as we are (an unincorporated charity), become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation or become a Charitable company limited by guarantee. We want the two together rather than one after the other, because the form we choose changes how the articles are written. We will bring you the material: the governance review, a student insight study into what students want from their Students’ Union, and a separate review of how students want to be represented, both of which report in mid to late November. We are not looking for a template with our name on it; we want you to bring your own expertise on what works and what has caused issues elsewhere.
The form our organisation takes is a decision for our Trustee Board, taken on the advice of our Turnaround Board and put to our members as a recommendation. What our members choose between is the model of representation, so the governance documents will need alternative provisions in the sections that the representation model touches rather than alternative documents drafted end to end. You will also need to write the plain English material that lets students understand what they are choosing.
The drafting has to work under the 1994 Education Act and charity law, and it has to be capable of being explained to students in a referendum campaign. If we decide to incorporate, we want you to take us through it, covering the Charity Commission application, the transfer of assets, contracts and leases, the treatment of the University block grant and the closure of the existing registration, completing by the 31st of July 2027.
Part two - The by-laws
Draft our by-laws, including the rules under which our elections are run. The by-laws are where the detail of representation, elections, societies and the conduct of meetings sits, and they carry whichever representation model our members choose. They go to our members with the articles as a single package, because we cannot run elections in the spring with governance our members have not approved.
An independent review of our elections has made a number of recommendations that have to be written into the rules. We will share the review, and the delivery plan that sits under it, with whoever we appoint.
Part three - Governance and policy documents
First, three pieces of work the governance review asked for that we do not have the capacity to write ourselves:
- A delegation of authority matrix, presented visually, showing which decisions sit with our Trustee Board, which with its committees and which with our staff
- The wording on trustees' free speech responsibilities under law that we need to insert into our existing procedures and role profiles
- A written process for taking trustee decisions between meetings, covering remote decisions and digital collaboration
Second, the policies our register records as missing or out of date and needing external drafting. The first set of policies due by March 2027 are:
- An Equality, diversity and inclusion policy
- A Safeguarding policy, together with how complaints, fraud and whistleblowing are reported to our Trustee Board
- A conflicts of interest policy, extended to cover the officer trustee position
- Campaigning and representation, including how our free speech duties apply to campaigns and events
A second phase follows by the 31st of July 2027 and the detailed list is in the full invitation to tender.
Bidding for one part or more
You can bid for a single part, for two, or for the whole commission, and we will award each part on its own merits. We know that the expertise these three parts call for is not always found in one place. Drafting articles and dealing with the Charity Commission is not the same work as writing by-laws, which in turn is not the same as writing a safeguarding policy. If you want to bring partners with you, please do. Tell us who leads, who does what and how you would hold it together, and we will score that answer. A strong group bid is more use to us than one organisation stretching itself thinly across all three parts.
What we are not asking for
We are not asking you to carry out the student insight research or the representation review, both of which are separately commissioned or already in the market. Their findings come to you, and you write them into the articles and the by-laws.
Budget
Tell us the daily rate for each person who would work on the commission and how many days you think each part needs, and give us a total for each part as well as an overall total. Everything should be inclusive of VAT and expenses. We do have a defined budget and we will tell you if a proposal sits beyond it. We will weigh what we are being offered against what it costs rather than simply taking the lowest bid.
Timescale
We are working to a fixed timetable and there is no slack in it. Submissions close at 12 noon on Friday, 9th of October, with appointment by our Turnaround Board on the 16th of October and the work starting straight away, because the appraisal of the form our organisation should take is needed in mid to late November, alongside the insight study and the representation review. The articles and by-laws are drafted through November and approved by our Trustee Board in December, the referendum is in early February 2027, elections launch as soon as it passes, and incorporation, if we decide on it, completes by the 31st of July 2027.
How to express interest
If this sounds like the right fit, get in touch and we will send you the full invitation to tender, which sets out the detailed scope, deliverables and evaluation criteria. Your core response should be no more than four sides of A4. You are welcome to send further material beyond that, but it will not necessarily be read by the Turnaround Board when it marks the bids. Completed tenders should reach us by 12 noon on Friday, 9th of October.
Contact
To request the full invitation to tender, or to discuss the work first, please contact Andy Morwood, Interim CEO, at a.morwood@bradford.ac.uk.