The Stage

Equity fees to hit £100

Published Thursday 16 February 2006 at 11:20 by Alistair Smith

Equity’s minimum subscription rate is set to reach the £100 mark for the first time in the organisation’s history - an increase affecting around 85% of the union’s membership.

The organisation’s ruling council has approved proposals for a complete revamp of subscriptions, with the minimum rate increased from £90 to £100 and the top rate rising from £1,750 to £2,000. The changes will come into force if approved at the union’s annual representative conference in May.

Honorary treasurer Bryn Evans explained: “By proposing this subscription increase to the 2006 Equity Conference, the council is simply being responsible. Services to the members are increasing all the time and members’ expectations of the union are also increasing. Even with the proposed new rate, Equity has one of the lowest subscription rates of any union in the country.”

If the plans go ahead, the current system, whereby members pay £90 if they earn up to £9,000 and then 1% of their earnings after that figure, will be scrapped and replaced with a new graded structure. Anyone earning up to £20,000 will pay £100, up to £35,000 will pay £175 and those members earning up to £50,000 will pay £300. Beyond that there will be a series of ‘mini-bands’ up to a maximum of £2,000 for those earning above £200,000.

Members will be eligible for a £5 discount on the fee if using direct debit but subscriptions will increase further next year in line with inflation. According to an Equity survey published this January, around 85% of the union will fall within the new £100 band.

The news comes as general secretary Christine Payne unveiled her ‘Vision for the Future’ strategy, which has been adopted by the union. As part of her plans, Equity will create a department for communication and membership support, with its own assistant general secretary.

Payne stressed that the two developments were not connected and that a subscription working party had been in place since 2004.

The changes will see more resources devoted to training, as Equity attempts to attract young people to become members. Payne will also take responsibility for operations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the union’s regional representatives answering directly to her.

Equity president Harry Landis commented: “I think that the reorganisation will propel the union forward and turn it into a well-oiled machine. We hope to bring in a new wave of enthusiasm with this restructure so that we can work even harder for the betterment of our members.”

The changes will cost the union £100,000 over two years, with £120,000 taken from the union’s surplus to fund this. However, the system must support itself beyond 2008, when a review will take place to determine whether it is generating an extra £50,000 in income. If not, the strategy will be adjusted and savings in staff costs made.

Equity councillor Barbara Hyslop has expressed reservations over Payne’s strategy, which was passed by a clear majority at the last council meeting. She was concerned that councillors had not been given enough time to consider the proposals and that the union was focusing too much on recruiting new subscribers and not enough on its existing membership.

She added: “I feel the staff restructuring is very odd. Ian McGarry did a restructure a few years ago and now they are doing another one. It’s a lot of money - has it been thought through?”