YUSU President Kallum Taylor has apologised after the YUSU affiliation ‘Yes’ campaign linked NUS membership with a council tax exemption for students.
The head of the students’ union wrote on Facebook that he would reword the sentence, which appeared under the ‘Arguments’ section of the YUSU website on the ‘Should YUSU affiliate with the NUS?’ page, following questions from students.
The sentence said: “They’re the reason you don’t pay council tax – saving you about £1,000 a year!”
A spokesperson for the ‘Vote No to the NUS’ campaign said on Facebook that it was “absolute nonsense” and that it was a “government policy aimed to get more people into university”.
But supporters of the ‘Yes’ campaign insist it was a “typing error” which would be rectified “as soon as possible”.
Mr. Taylor said: “I was highlighting it as a win which helps pretty much every student which we sometimes take for granted. That was all really.”
Council Tax was introduced in 1992 to replace the poll tax as the main way to pay for local services.
An NUS campaign to exempt full-time students from the tax upon its introduction was successful and now those living in accommodation where all the residents are full-time students don’t have to pay it.