Composite I (covering Motions 28 & 50)
Addressing University Governance & the Crisis in Higher Education Funding
“That this Congress notes the current crisis in Scottish higher education, including at the University of Dundee, where over 560 staff have left the university since summer 2024 and university senior management plan to make more staff redundant.
“Congress notes that the Scottish Funding Council commissioned Gillies Report into the university found major governance failures centred on the fact that governance at the university was not robust enough to provide necessary scrutiny of the university principal and senior management decisions.
“Congress further notes that disputes at other universities in Scotland, including Edinburgh and Aberdeen, have seen disagreement between university courts and senates over the need for cuts and the impact on universities’ core missions of teaching, research, and knowledge exchange.
“Congress further notes that:
- since the reduction in central funding in 2010 forcing the sector into marketisation, funding for universities has fallen in real terms, and that this was a political choice, one not reversed by Labour;
- university workers have taken the brunt of this, with a 25-30% real terms pay cut since 2010, and increasingly precarious working conditions, closures, and changes to pension schemes meaning the sector can no longer properly attract or retain staff;
- research and teaching for Scottish and UK students now does not cover costs, reinforcing the universities focus on international students, becoming vulnerable to the anti-immigration policies of successive UK Governments;
- universities across Scotland and the UK are now making cuts to staff, departments, and disciplines, with over a thousand jobs at risk in 25/26 alone;
- multiple higher education unions across Scotland have balloted over another derisory pay offer and against compulsory redundancies this academic year; and
- universities are huge and prestigious employers, and any collapse will cause massive job losses in our local areas and supply chains and restrict the flow of trained workers into other sectors.
“Ten years on from the passing of the Higher Education Governance Act, which put two trade union nominees onto university governing bodies, Congress calls for the General Council to lobby the Scottish Government to legislate for further reform of university governance to provide more robust scrutiny and increased democratisation including:
- the election of senior management positions in universities including at school/department levels;
- increased transparency for governing body meetings;
- the majority of members on governing bodies being elected by staff and students; and
- the capping of principals and senior pay in universities.
“Congress further calls on the General Council to:
- demand that all parties seeking election in May 2026 make clear their intentions on fully funding education, emphasising the need for a sustainable model that does not predominantly rely on market forces;
- continue to oppose tuition fees in Scotland;
- use all available levers to support any industrial action in opposition to poverty pay and cuts to jobs; and
- raise public awareness of how low-paid most university support staff are, how precarious most research roles are, and how integral universities are to local supply chains, businesses, and prospects for young working-class people.”
Mover: University and College Union (UCU)
Seconder: Glasgow Trades Union Council
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