Universities face budget cuts in the New Year
December 24, 2009
U.K. universities have been told that next years budgets will be reduced in order to pay for so many students attending the institutions during the recession. Lord Mandelson has announced that £135 million will be slashed. The budget cuts will be added to Alistair Darling’s proposed efficiency savings of £600 million and fines for universities who enroll more students than the government says they can. Universities will now be fined £3,700 for every student who is enrolled above a government set limit.
President of vice chancellors’ group Universities U.K., Professor Steve Smith warns that the moves will result in higher education no longer being able to contribute as much to society or the economy. He said that the immediate results would be larger class sizes and teachers being made redundant. He pointed out that the government should be wary about implementing measures so that they could make short term gains by sacrificing long term interests.
General secretary of the University and College Union, Sally Hunt said that the announcement that budgets would be cut would have consequences for both staff and students and proved that the governments policies for higher education had lost their way somewhat. She described that announcement as a ‘kick in the teeth’ just before Christmas.
David Lammy, the Higher Education minister defended the grant letter by pointing out that the budget cuts only amounted to 1 percent of the total university teaching grant. He went on to point out that the economic climate had forced the government to make cuts and that it was not a matter of whether to make cuts but where to make cuts.
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