The University and College Union (UCU) said yesterday it was furious at the response from the university employers’ organisation over the figures for job losses in higher education.
A statement from the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) failed to recognise that staff losing their jobs represented a problem for higher education, and misrepresented the scale of the problem.
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: ‘I am absolutely furious that the employers have shown such little concern for staff losing their jobs.
‘I know I should not be surprised as this is a classic UCEA tactic, but it is still incredibly insulting.
‘Our information on job losses is based on information from our members and is merely the tip of the iceberg.
‘We represent academic and academic-related staff, so for UCEA to pull a percentage figure out of the air based on all staff in higher education is misleading and incorrect.
‘The bottom line here is that we do not yet have anywhere like the full picture of job losses to hit higher education.
‘We are giving a snapshot as things stand based on information we have managed to get out of the institutions.
‘Rather than quibbling over the current figures, the employers should be making clear exactly what the scale of the problem is and talking to us to minimise any redundancies.
‘UCEA’s comments have exposed their contempt for the higher education sector, staff and students and a complete failure to recognise a serious problem or address it.’
Meanwhile, the National Union of Students (NUS) has responded to a report by the UCU which shows that 5,891 jobs are at risk or being cut in further and higher education institutions across the UK.
NUS President Wes Streeting said: ‘NUS is very concerned at the scale of these job cuts in colleges and universities across the UK.
‘Cuts in teaching staff lead to larger seminar, class and lecture sizes, and a lower standard of education for students who are being plunged into tens of thousands of pounds of debt by fees.
‘In a time of economic crisis, it is essential that we maintain high standards in further and higher education so that people can improve their skills or retrain to meet the changing demands of the labour market.
‘Further and higher education play a critical role in mitigating the effects of the economic recession, and must not be short changed.’
l Universities and colleges are cutting education jobs in a recession.
UCU quoted John Denham, Former Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, Hansard, 3 February 2009: ‘In the last recession, people who lost their jobs were abandoned without help or hope.
‘Many drifted or were dumped on to incapacity benefit. Some never worked again. We will not turn our backs on those who lose their jobs.’
But UCU argues that the government is currently failing to protect educational provision.
Instead, the union argues, the government, the funding councils and tertiary education institutions are currently presiding over a massacre of jobs in the sector that is undermining their own stated objectives.
In the context of rising unemployment, particularly among young people, this amounts to a betrayal of the public good and of a generation of vulnerable young people.
Key figures:
According to union figures, nearly 6,000 jobs are at risk now across further and higher education.
4,600 of these are in higher education and 1,300 in further education.
45 universities are attempting to cut jobs now.
99 universities have told us that they plan to cut jobs in the near future.
55 colleges are cutting jobs now.
The worst-affected regions are London (more than 2,000), Yorkshire and Humberside (nearly 1,000), the West Midlands (more than 400), Northern Ireland (over 400) and Wales (almost 400).
The cuts affect every type of institution, from Russell Group universities like Sheffield University (340 jobs) to widening participation universities like London Metropolitan (550) in higher education; from large colleges like City College Birmingham (76 jobs) to smaller community colleges like Tower Hamlets (25 jobs).
Over 100,000 students could be affected by cuts of this scale.
Staff:student ratios have already doubled in the last 30 years, from 1:9 to 1:18.
These cuts will only worsen the situation for those students lucky enough to get a place on or access to a course.
These figures are likely to be conservative estimates, as many institutions are failing to consult with unions adequately, and every day brings another story of job cuts.
Total job cuts = 5,891
Further education = 1,298
Higher education = 4,593
Jobs at risk in London = 2,165
London further education = 132
London higher education = 2,033
106,200 students affected – based on student:staff ratio of 18:1 (conservative estimate as SSR higher in further education).
• A number of leading Oxford academics have been making comments suggesting that student tuition fees at the university could treble within a year from the current £3,225 to £10,000-a-year.
The government has asked English universities to make £180m in ‘efficiency savings’.
A government review of university fees starts this year and is expected to end after a general election.
Last weekend, outgoing vice-chancellor John Hood said it was ‘inevitable’ that Oxford and Cambridge would charge more in future to compete with the best academic institutions in the world.
However, he predicted this would be a ‘gradual’ process and could be ‘decades off’.
But Nuffield College politics professor Iain McLean, said on Monday that he expects the university to raise fees to £10,000 a year ‘as soon as the government allows it – most likely to be early in Cameron’s first term’.
The dean of Christ Church College, Christopher Lewis, insisted: ‘By whatever means, fees will have to rise.
‘Many of our alumni say that they would give us greater financial support were we to “go independent”, by which I assume that they mean, charge the fees which Oxford considers reasonable.’
The bursar of New College Oxford, fellow David Palfreyman, said a fees hike was ‘almost inevitable’ and that they will rise after the next general election to ‘£7,500 at least’.
All Souls College senior research fellow Robin Briggs said an increase to £5,000 would be ‘fairly modest’ and ‘possible’.
Briggs warned it is still ‘very hard to see how Oxford could raise enough to replace the current levels’ of government funding.
