SNP minister tells university bosses to consider cost-saving plans from staff to limit job losses

Staff at Dundee University should be given the chance to come up with alternative savings proposals to save jobs at the institution, an SNP minister has said.

Graeme Dey, the higher and further education minister, told MSPs he expected employees and trade unions to be consulted on the university’s financial recovery plan. He said bosses should consider any other measures they put forward.

Job cuts have been described as “inevitable” at the institution as the university battles a deficit of up to £30 million.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) embarked on three weeks of strike action on Monday over the failure to rule out compulsory redundancies.

Striking workers at Dundee University this week. Image: Lisa Ferguson | Lisa Ferguson

A draft financial recovery plan has been drawn up and was discussed at a meeting of the university’s court on Tuesday, and will be considered again next month.

The Scottish Government, meanwhile, announced this week that Dundee would be helped by £15m of additional funding that has been made available to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). The university expects to receive a “bridging loan” that will give it “time and space” to deliver recovery proposals.

Mr Dey said the SFC would provide detailed analysis of the university’s recovery plan when it is finalised, and would advise the Government on any next steps to support the university.

Answering questions from MSPs at Holyrood on Thursday, the minister said he understood the “frustration and anger” of staff and students at the time it had taken to provide transparency on the scale and nature of the financial problems, how they arose, and how it was proposed to address them.

Mr Dey added: “There is a process being worked through and I would actively encourage the university and trade unions to engage constructively in dialogue, and seek a resolution in all of this.

“And to be clear, consultation should include being open to considering any credible alternative cost-saving measures that are brought forward as part of that process.”

The minister later reiterated his call for staff to be given the chance to put forward suggestions. He said: “What I expect to happen is that a draft recovery plan will come forward and, of course, at that point I would expect staff, or at least their representatives, would be afforded the opportunity to bring forward what will hopefully be credible alternative proposals, and these should be given appropriate consideration.”

It comes as Dundee University’s interim principal Shane O’Neill wrote to staff on Thursday afternoon, in the wake of the Government’s £15m funding announcement for the sector.

He said: “We expect we will receive the additional funding as a bridging loan, which gives us the time and space to develop, fund and implement the recovery plan.

“While this support is of critical importance to us, it is not the solution to our financial challenges. There are still many difficult decisions and a lot of hard work ahead as we look to resize and restructure the university for a sustainable future.

“Our work with the funding council is reflective of the wide-ranging and complex ongoing discussions both internally and with external stakeholders. We are making significant progress and I will be presenting the extent of our recovery plan to court on March 10, and will subsequently update all of you.”

Mary Senior, Scotland official UCU, said: “It’s over three months since the then principal announced the university’s deficit and we’re still waiting on senior managers bringing forward a recovery plan.

“UCU has from the start been open to helping to find a solution to the dire financial situation. We don’t just want to critique whatever senior managers bring forward, staff and trade unions need to be in from the start in putting together a plan that ensures the long-term future of Dundee University and which, given the new financial resource from the Scottish Government, takes compulsory redundancies off the table.”