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WELSH UNIVERSITY CUTS AS EXPECTED

As predicted on this blog last week, Welsh universities are facing a stark reduction in their budget for 2010-2011.

The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) confirmed £403 million in grants to universities, compared to £434 million in 2009-10, equating to a 7 per cent cut.

This a similar reduction to that implemented across the border in England and suggests that Welsh universities, despite the rhetoric from Cardiff Bay as to their importance in driving forward the new innovation and skills agenda, must to get used to further cuts in the future.

Glyndwr University, with a 3.4 per cent reduction, has taken the biggest hit with Lampeter, soon to be merged with Trinity University College, actually getting an increase of 0.32 per cent.

Interestingly, the fund for widening access has increased by 28 per cent (or £1.54 million), whilst there is an increase of £78,276 (or 6 per cent) for Welsh medium education.

Despite the positive press releases from the sector, universities across Wales must be disappointed with this settlement. With a growing gap in funding between universities in England and Wales, it might have been expected that the budget could have at least been frozen.
Alternatively, and more imaginatively, the cuts of millions of pounds in teaching funding could have moved across to research funding to boost the innovation potential of key areas such as biosciences, cleantech or digital technologies.

Given that the First Minister has stated that his government would look to increase education spending by at least 1 per cent above the block grant it receives from the UK Government, does this suggest that it will be schools which will be the subject of his largesse over the next year?

Indeed, one can only be perplexed as to how the decision to cut £8.7 million off the teaching budget at Welsh universities tallies with the First Minister’s New Year’s message, in which he was “convinced that the key to success depends on the education and skills of our people.”

Comments

Mr Logical said…
how is the University of Wales itself affected?

I think we will see a shock or two soon as Universities realise there's now real governmental pressure and a certain push for changes.. imagine it will be central services first, closely followed by under-grad provisions; eventually followed by Bye Bye academic free thinking by 2020
March 26, 2010 8:49 pm
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