Staff at Edinburgh Napier University facing up to 70 job cuts

Scotland rank: 12. UK rank: 95. It has three campuses in Edinburgh offering advanced facilities for learning, teaching and research.

Scotland’s crisis-hit university sector is facing fresh blows after two institutions announced more proposed job cuts.

Edinburgh Napier is facing up to 70 job losses as the university aims to slash costs amid a funding crisis affecting institutions across the country.

The University of Edinburgh also announced potential staffing cuts, saying it has opened a voluntary redundancy scheme for some staff, saying the higher education sector is facing “urgent financial challenges”.

Sue Rigby, university Principal and Vice Chancellor at Napier, wrote to staff on Thursday morning to outline plans as part of a recent review of spending.

While the organisation is currently in a “financially resilient position”, she said, staff costs are seven per cent higher than the sector average.

The university said it was also facing changing demands for courses.

It is not currently clear which roles are at risk and whether these will be teaching positions or other staff roles.

Napier has recently been undertaking a review of its services in a move designed to shift the university from financial deficit to surplus and growth.

Ms Rigby said in her letter to staff the aim is to “continue to deliver what we do best - impactful education and employability, a valued student experience, and innovative research.”

She adds that the university has an obligation to run in a sustainable way but “our cost base continues to outstrip our income”.

Some 67 per cent of Edinburgh Napier’s income is spent on salary costs against a sector average of 60 per cent.

Consultation is now under way with the EIS and Unison unions and a targeted voluntary redundancy scheme is being considered.

Consultation is expected to run until mid-October.

An EIS spokeswoman said the union is “deeply concerned” by the proposed cuts at Napier, calling the losses a “significant number” to affect the university’s three campuses.

“Our members will be both worried and angered by the University's decision, that sees staff redundancies being used as a cost-efficiency in order to balance the books.”

UNISON Napier University branch secretary Sharon Hall added: “This is a very stressful time for staff and their families, particularly in the run up to Christmas.

“Professional services staff play a crucial role in supporting the education and well-being of all our students.

“Staff are understandably angry that once again they are paying for price for the university’s financial problems.”

The news comes against a backdrop of widening concern in Scotland’s university sector about the sustainability of its current funding model.

The institution said senior staff would be able to apply for voluntary redundancy and it was seeking to avoid compulsory redundancies “wherever possible”.

Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, the university’s principal, said this was part of measures to maintain financial sustainability.

He said: “The higher education sector across the UK is facing serious and urgent financial challenges, placing its stability under threat.

“At Edinburgh, we have been transparent about how we are managing these pressures while strengthening our position as a world-leading, research-intensive university.

“As part of this, we have announced a voluntary redundancy scheme for staff in senior grades, alongside an enhanced retirement scheme, which will support efforts to remain financially sustainable and avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible.”

He continued: “This builds on our earlier cost-saving measures – including recruitment restraint, a pause on promotions, and a previous voluntary severance scheme – which have resulted in projected staff cost savings of £24 million.

“We remain firmly committed to open and regular engagement with our community as we take the necessary steps to safeguard the future of our university.”

Scottish Labour education spokeswoman Pam Duncan-Glancy accused the Scottish Government of “burying its head in the sand” at the scale of the crisis.

“This must be a worrying time for staff at these universities,” she said.

“Right across Scotland, our world-class universities are reaching crisis point but the SNP is burying its head in the sand.”

The Scottish Conservatives also expressed concern at the financial pressures on Scottish institutions.

At the weekend, Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for education and skills Miles Briggs MSP told The Scotsman’s sister title Scotland on Sunday every institution in the sector could face closure within the next five years.

On the issue of these most recent cuts, he told The Scotsman: “These proposed job losses will be a blow to both institutions, but they are an inevitable consequence of the SNP’s mismanagement and unsustainable funding model for Scottish universities.

“Both Napier and Edinburgh have made it clear that financial pressures are acute, and since Labour’s NI tax hike has imposed additional costs, the pressure to make up the shortfall with staff cuts is all the greater.”

Dundee University is facing losses of hundreds of jobs after its principal, Iain Gillespie, oversaw the mismanagement of university finances to the position of a £35m deficit.

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Napier University said: “Like all universities across the country, we are operating in an increasingly challenging and uncertain environment, amid rising costs and acute funding pressures. 

“Demand for courses has also shifted significantly in recent years, meaning we need to adapt accordingly.

“While Edinburgh Napier University is in a financially resilient position, with no debt, we have a statutory obligation to run in a sustainable way.

“Despite substantial efforts already undertaken across the university, our current cost base is outstripping our income, and we have no option but to reduce it to return to an operating surplus.

“By acting now, we can continue to focus on our priorities – to deliver impactful education and employability, a valued student experience, and innovative research.

“As we enter into collective consultation, we are committed to working with our trade unions to avoid or minimise the need for compulsory redundancies.”

The university said it understood this will be “a difficult time” for staff but added “we are committed to supporting them and working constructively with all relevant stakeholders throughout this process.”

The Scottish Government was contacted for comment.