Yesterday's rubber-stamping Council approved the contentious Annex F, after it was watered down prior to the meeting.
The revised Annex F was less troubling than previous versions however still suffered from a number of dangers, including the lack of a truly independent arbitrator or appeals process. Changes introduced at the very last minute included a fixed limit on the duration a publication could be impounded without a decision (7 days) and an explicit removal of the Pro-Rector (Educational Quality) if they had a conflict of interest.
Attempts to have the Annex rejected until next year, where the changes could be thoroughly considered rather than hastily looked at in the meeting, were damaged by a degree of scaremongering by the ICU President, who warned that the new College Secretary may try and force something more restrictive onto ICU next year.
Council appears to have been swung by the President's belief that the tighter controls will provide more protection for the media against intervention. The Code of Practice contains only one situation where the College is explicitly allowed to remove ICU publications, providing a strong defence should they intervene in another way.
The vote on Annex F was the only split vote of the meeting, with around ten media supporters voting against, while the remaining seventeen members of Council voted for. Although disappointed by the decision to rush it through, the media editors were pleased that a publication can no longer be held indefinitely without appeal, or be judged by a complainant.
The rest of Council was a simple rubber-stamping exercise, with most votes being carried unanimously after minor changes to policies being re-passed. It took under three hours to approve a £5m budget for next year, £3.2m for the Beit Masterplan and to approve a trustee board.
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