Amended Motion 31
Universities in Crisis, Save Higher Education
“That this Congress notes with alarm the increasing number of Scottish universities using voluntary severance and redundancy schemes and refusing to rule out compulsory redundancies along with the hidden redundancies in cut hours for hourly paid staff and contracts not being renewed for fixed-term researchers. Congress also notes a number of universities reporting financial deficits.
“There are multiple reasons for many universities’ apparent financial weakness including the hostile environment and changes to UK immigration policies; the repeated failures of university senior managements, and over reliance on international students’ fee income. However, a major contributory factor is the consistent and ongoing underfunding of teaching in universities by the Scottish Government.
“Congress notes that the Institute for Fiscal studies recently reported that Scottish Government funding levels for tuition have remained the same for fifteen years while the costs of providing teaching have risen substantially, a situation the IFS described as ‘remarkable’.
“Congress notes that, again, the most recent Scottish draft budget saw real terms decrease to the resource budget for higher education, undermining the publicly funded nature of Scottish higher education.
Congress additionally notes the significant dependence of Scotland’s economy on its university-based R&D, highly dependent on overseas student income. Congress asks the Scottish government to ensure that all overseas students, including those from China and the Global South, are made welcome in face of the governmental push-back at UK level.
“Congress calls on the STUC to:
- continue to support campus trade unions in their actions to defend jobs in Scottish universities;
- write to the Minister responsible for higher education, calling on him to instruct universities to refrain from using compulsory redundancies in the sector; and
- call on the Scottish Government to provide full funding for Scottish higher education.”
Mover: University and College Union
Seconder: Aberdeen Trades Union Council
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