Edinburgh Napier University has moved forward with up to 70 redundancies relating to academic and academic related staff, which the Educational Institute of Scotland believe will have an adverse impact on the academic quality and coverage which may have a negative impact on the quality of education students would receive. The Staff cuts would also place additional burdens on an already stretched workforce at Edinburgh Napier University.   The EIS University Lecturers Association condemns the failure of the university to provide a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. Management at ENU have refused to take this critical step, instead continuing with plans that place dedicated, long serving and hard-working staff at risk. These job cuts are short-sighted and will only increase the workload on remaining staff, leading to a decline in course provision and a diminished student experience. The EIS reiterates its call for the university to halt their cuts agenda and prioritise the well-being of their staff and students using the financial reserves that both universities have stashed away. We are also aware that the university are not, according to their published finances, in financial crisis. They have in fact got a very healthy reserve. We also do not believe that the process has been transparent, fair, or proper.

Dumfries and Galloway is consulting the public on a range of proposals. In the past 16 years, the Council has cut £13 million from its budget and is now seeking to cut a further £35 million in the next three years. Most of these cuts are aimed at the Education Department. Proposals include consultation on the closure of 58 nursery, primary and secondary schools, axing the instrumental music service, and cuts to essential education workers. Years of under-resourcing have already created workload, pupil equity, violence and aggression issues that are unsustainable in schools. Over 40% of learners now have some form of additional support need. The introduction of the presumption of mainstreaming and the failure to appropriately resource this in schools has led to an increase in violence and aggression against teachers and between pupils. If realised, the recent budget cuts would have ramifications for the quality of education in Dumfries and Galloway and will hit some of the poorest children, the hardest. We are seriously concerned about the potential for the widening of the poverty-related attainment gap in Dumfries and Galloway.

If Northumbria does this, other universities will too.  These cuts will harm thousands of people, their students, families, and their local communities now and into the future.

EIS members at Lenzie Academy have identified serious health and safety concerns in the school, presenting a risk to pupils and staff.  These include: • Major roof leaks and water ingress • Water near electrics • Asbestos-related risks • Mould and damp • Heating failures (rooms too cold / too hot) • Broken fire doors • A non-working secure entry system • Damaged flooring causing trip hazards • General disrepair A new school is planned — but not until at least 2029. Pupils need a safe building now. What teaching staff want • Make the building safe • Fix urgent risks quickly • Share clear timelines • Keep staff and pupils protected EIS members at Lenzie Academy are in dispute with East Dunbartonshire Council over their employer's failure to meaningfully consult with union representatives regarding serious health and safety concerns. In a recent consultative ballot, EIS members at Lenzie Academy voted 95% Yes to taking industrial action in pursuit of improved safety.

The University announced on Wednesday 20 August plans to put 16 roles in the university's Executive Office (EO)  at risk of compulsory redundancy to save £2 million.  This announcement comes only 2 years after the last round of compulsory redundancies which sought to make £3 million savings, with several rounds of Voluntary Severance within that period. Cuts of this scale will have a devastating impact on those individuals losing their jobs and their families, but also on the future of the University and the Highlands and Islands’. It also indicates a reliance on staff cuts to plug a constant deficit. This is not a sustainable solution and is weakening our university. Many of the staff employed by EO are in roles which deliver critical functions like student support, student experience, finance, and ensuring academic quality. Jobs are also threatened in the University’s academic and research functions.  Please join us in fighting back against these cuts which will have a devastating impact on education across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and on the student experience of the students studying with us.

Libraries do so much more than lend books! We are one of the last vestiges of public civic life, accessible to all, located at the heart of your community. We provide: • A safe space, open to everyone, cool in summer and warm in winter • A wealth of information, free at the point of delivery • Services such as printing and room hire are far below the commercial rate • IT assistance for the digitally excluded • Free community groups, clubs and societies for you to join • Free crafts, activities and workshops for your children • Partnership programmes with local schools to reinforce learning • Learning and development programmes and classes • A public platform for organisations to liaise with the community in person … and a lot more besides.

The Skills Academy provides a life-changing educational experience for young people in the Tees Valley who cannot thrive in mainstream education. For these learners, the Academy offers a safe, supportive environment with smaller class sizes and specialist staff who understand their needs. ETC’s proposal to close the site would: • Leave vulnerable students without appropriate education and support • Cut the number of specialist teaching roles from eight to just two • Place all eight current staff at risk of redundancy This is not just about jobs – it is about protecting the futures of young people who rely on the Skills Academy. The planned cuts will remove a vital pathway for learners who may otherwise disengage from education entirely. There has been a lack of transparency throughout this process. We are calling on ETC to listen to staff, students, and the wider community and urgently rethink this damaging decision. We must stand together to protect the Skills Academy, safeguard jobs, and ensure vulnerable young people in our region continue to have access to the specialist education they deserve.

Square Chapel has a strong history of supporting community events and professional performances and is a popular venue in the local community.  Square Chapel was a popular arts centre with good community outreach prior to becoming insolvent during the covid pandemic. In September 2020, the venue was reopened when it was taken over by Wigan based Arts at the Mill. Square Chapel CIC was subsequently established.  In early February 2025, Square Chapel CIC announced the arts centre was closing and all future events were cancelled. Five months later, this valuable community asset remains closed and not serving the people of Halifax. Arts Council England (ACE) has now withdrawn its funding from Square Chapel. It has recently been announced that the Square Chapel building will be rented out to provide dressing rooms during the Piece Hall concert season. Square Chapel should provide good art, good work and be an artistic hub for the community. Halifax MP Kate Dearden has written to ACE supporting the reopening of Square Chapel and calling for the Halifax community to be involved in discussions about the future of the centre. We need this popular arts centre back! We need answers and we need the building to be back open and operating for the people of Halifax. Equity, TUC Yorkshire & Humber Creative and Leisure Industries Committee and Calderdale Trades Union Council are jointly calling for the public to have their say on the future of Square Chapel Arts Centre. Make your voice heard by joining the petition to Save Square Chapel for the people.

As the school have not seemed to grasp the seriousness of the situation, we are asking for support from the community whose children attend St Luke's and the schools around the Isle of Dogs to make the school listen to our concerns! We want to make sure the staff that look after your children can come to work safely, and have the necessary resources to care for your children during the school day. We look after your children, who looks out for us?  Please sign this petition to support striking St Luke's staff, so we can safely get back to work in supporting your children, to make sure they get a safe and decent education! Please also show your support by attending the demonstrations outside the school on Tuesday 20th, Weds 21st, and Thursday 22nd May from 7:30-10am!

The University of Brighton Academies Trust operates 14 schools in East and West Sussex teaching 1000s of children and employing 100s of staff.  In the summer, National Education Union members took industrial action over workload and job losses following revelations that the Trust was taking millions on pounds from school budgets to fund central trust services including excessive executive pay.  This autumn, the department for education decided that the trust would be wound down and all it's schools 're-brokered' to new academy trusts.  The NEU is calling on the Dept of Education to: • Return all schools to local council control  • Consult on the future proprietors of the schools with unions, staff and parents • Ensure that national union negotiated pay and conditions and union recognition is maintained for teachers and support staff

Schools do not have the resources to offer these kinds of experiences themselves. Primary school children in particular are being left behind. In spite of the National Theatre’s cuts being branded as a “sad loss”, “unfair”, a “slap in the face”, and “depressing” by union and sector leaders, the organisation has so far refused to listen. The National Theatre has stated that increased costs and cuts to Arts Council England funding are among the reasons for these decisions. And yet its total annual income recently increased from £89 million to £121.4 million, while the primary school touring represented a tiny fraction of the organisation’s expenditure. The National Theatre already receives more Arts Council England funding than any other theatre organisation. This is not simply an issue of needing a more transformative and equitable approach to public arts funding. It is a question of priorities and responsibility for one of our largest theatre organisations.  Austerity is a choice.

Sheffield Hallam University has deferred workers' pay increase for 11 months and will NOT backdate pay. This decision will cost many University workers over £1,000. In effect, the University Executive Board (UEB) is pinching from the pockets of the workers to pay for their financial mismanagement. We call this wage theft. Sign our petition to support workers at Sheffield Hallam University and send a clear message to the University Executive Board to pay workers what they are owed and to include trade union voices in setting the University’s budgets. Trade Unions have suggested alternatives to the financial difficulties faced by the University, but these have been dismissed by UEB, who are more determined to push on with vanity projects like their proposed “London Campus”, which is estimated to cost millions. Earlier this year, we submitted statements of “no confidence” in UEB over their mishandling of University finances and their ramshackle restructure of the service. Now all the trade unions are demanding that the University implement and backdate the national pay award and sit down with them to agree a budget in the long-term interests of the workers, the University and the Sheffield community.  Sign our petition if you agree with us and show solidarity with workers at Sheffield Hallam. While the Vice Chancellor sits on circa £250,000+ per annum, workers are having their pockets pinched. GMB, UCU and UNISON have formally registered their dispute with the University. Workers should not be asked to pay the price for senior managers' financial mismanagement. Agree with us? Sign our petition.