Dear Principal Nairn,
As you know, on Monday 14 August 2023, the University announced cuts of £4million, which include a £3million cut to the staffing budget at its Executive Office. These cuts will result in compulsory redundancies, reduction in roles as well as structural changes to Executive Office. Staff are currently finding out if they have a future with UHI.
The UCU branch at the university is doing everything it can to support members and to argue and campaign against cuts of this magnitude. Staff are currently being balloted for strike action and action short of strike to oppose the cuts and save jobs.
UHI receives a substantial amount of public funding, and it is important to ensure all parts of UHI are providing good value for money and are financially sustainable. Yet cuts of this magnitude, just as we welcome students to UHI for a new academic year, are alarming, and must raise questions about the potential impact on the quality of education and services our staff provide to the university’s 36,000 students.
There are ways to save money that do not involve forcing people out of their jobs, but the failure of senior management in the University to engage effectively or be fully transparent on the finances driving their strategy means that these options haven’t been properly considered, and staff have been left feeling vulnerable and in the dark about the process that has already started.
Despite being currently engaged in a collective consultation process regarding the potential redundancies, the University is still failing to consider options such as opening up a voluntary severance scheme for all staff. There are concerns that the consultation the University is carrying out is therefore not meaningful and that staff do not have a genuine opportunity to influence the outcome, which will lead to job losses for many loyal and hardworking staff.
UHI is a valued and respected educational institution in the highlands and islands region, with a hugely important role to play in keeping and educating people within the local area. Staff employed at UHI’s Executive Office hold roles in critical areas like student support, finance, and ensuring academic quality as well as academic and research functions in areas such as nursing, optometry, history, biomedical sciences, and rural health and wellbeing. As such, these redundancies will have a profound impact on the student experience of the students.
We are asking that those who support us, sign this letter to show their support and help us stand against the proposed cuts. We urge all parties to come together – including UHI senior managers, staff, trade unions, the student association, and the Scottish Funding Council -- to find a sustainable solution to address UHI’s financial issues without resorting to mass layoffs or any disruption to our students’ education.
*This petition is posted on behalf of the UHI UCU Branch
Why is this important?
The University announced on Monday 14 August plans to make £3 million cuts to the staffing budget which could lead to up to 40 job losses in the University’s Executive Office (EO). 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’ economy.
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 in areas such as nursing, optometry, history, biomedical sciences, and rural health and wellbeing. 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 here.
