UK: VCs attack cuts to the sector

Leaders of the elite Russell Group of 20 research-intensive universities launched a scathing attack on the Labour government's cuts to the higher education budget. Writing in The Guardian Michael Arthur, chair of the group, and Wendy Piatt, its Director General, accused the government of bringing an 800-year-old world-class system to its knees.

The authors said there seemed to be a greater focus on cutting higher education funding than almost anything else. "The health service, police and schools are all currently protected, presumably due to their perceived importance at the ballot box. Not so, it seems, higher education."

They said some £600 million (US$970 million) of cuts to higher education had been identified in the pre-budget report, on top of £180 million 'efficiency savings' announced by the Higher Education Funding Council of England over 2009-2010.

In December, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (also in charge of higher education) announced a further cut of £135 million for 2010/11. If the national debt were to be halved by 2013 this would mean another £1.6 billion of cuts for the science and higher education budgets "bringing the grand total to £2.5 billion - equivalent to a third of the current annual spend on higher education".

Arthur and Piatt said: "It is a mystery why we are being subjected to this. Students leave universities equipped with skills that are an essential part of a successful knowledge economy. The UK is the world's second most popular destination for international students, generating £2.9 billion annually for universities, as well as off-campus expenditure estimated at £2.3 billion...The total contribution of higher education to the economy in 2007-8 was £33.4 billion - equivalent to 2.3% of GDP."

The group, which includes the Oxbridge colleges, Warwick, Liverpool and Glasgow universities, accused ministers of failing to appreciate "one of the jewels in the country's crown".

The authors say the Prime Minister should consider what other countries regard as priorities, noting that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has just announced an investment of EUR11 billion (US$16 billion) in higher education while Germany pumped EUR18 billion into promoting research and US President Barack Obama ploughed an extra $21 billion into federal science spending.

See Peter Mandelson's response in The Guardian

diane.spencer@uw-news.com