Students’ Union UCL has been accused of breaching its sustainable banking policy after hosting Santander at this year’s ‘Start Smart’ Fair.
Santander was not intended to be at the event in a banking capacity but their stall featured a sign promoting its international bank accounts, according to Union President Christian Chambers-Gray.
The bank’s intended purpose at the fair was to promote their skills workshop and ‘Santander Cycles’ - the public hire bike service provided by Transport for London but sponsored by the bank.
The Smart Start Fair was advertised on the Union Website as an ‘essentials fair’ providing information to help students settle into the UK, one of the topics listed was ‘setting up a UK bank account’.
Officers within the Union and the Banking Task Force (BTF) have accused the Union of breaching its sustainable banking policy which states that the Union should “cut ties with environmentally and socially harmful banks.”
The MotherTree Bank League Table ranks Santander fifth out of sixteen banks in terms of carbon emission output, putting it alongside the likes of HSBC and Barclays.
When asked about the policy breach, Chambers-Gray and Activities and Engagement Officer Audrey Lau claimed they were not aware of the bank’s presence until after the fair.
Criticising the bank’s appearance, Lau said “We all agree they shouldn’t have been at the fair and they probably won’t be at any more fairs from this point onwards”
The Activities Sabb also claimed that the Union is attempting to renegotiate their contract with Santander which is currently in place for a further two years.
“We’re still trying to negotiate our contract with [Santander] especially because we’re currently bound for like two years but we can see [if we can] switch to a different provider of a similar bike scheme”
The Cheese Grater cannot verify these claims.
Reacting to the policy breach, Co-Sustainability Officer Moosa Gardezi told The Cheese Grater, “Santander’s presence at one of the Student Union’s fairs is a deeply concerning example of the union undermining its own policies and the hard work of the Sustainability Council’s Banking Task Force.”
Additionally, Gardezi said "We are committed to holding the SU to account and are engaging with the relevant stakeholders to map out mechanisms which can prevent such repeated violations of policy from taking place again.
"Such changes are crucial if the SU wants to move beyond empty rhetoric and truly become the most ethical and sustainable SU in the country."
This marks the second time the Union has been accused of breaching its sustainable banking policy, with Wise attending last year’s welcome fair.
Students’ Union UCL did not provide a comment by publishing time.