Massive English funding cuts could have knock-on effect on Scotland

The National Union of Students (NUS) has warned that higher education funding cuts in England and Wales could be a dangerous portent of things to come in Scotland.

Lord Mandelson recently announced more financial cutbacks in his grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Writing to Tim Melville-Ross, HEFCE Chairman, Mandelson confirmed a further £135 million would be slashed from the higher education budget, giving rise to new calculations estimating a total cut of up to £915 million over the next three years.

Kainde Manji, NUS Scotland Women’s Officer, said the recent blows to higher education funding are “bad news in England and bad news for universities in Scotland too."

Speaking to The Journal, Ms Manji said: “Many of the cuts to funding in England and Wales will mean reductions for the Scottish Government’s budgets and so they are very worrying indeed.”

Similar predictions have come from across the Scottish higher education sector, where some fear there could be consequences under the Barnett formula.

The formula is used to calculate the amount of funds distributed to the home nations and takes into account factors from across the United Kingdom, including budget cuts in England.

The cuts come shortly after leading economist David Blanchflower suggested that the cap on tuition be lifted, to allow some universities to charge fees as high as £30,000.

According to Mr Blanchflower, this system would allow for richer students to subsidise their less well-off peers.

The former member of the Bank of England monetary policy committee said: “The poor have been subsidizing the rich. And now the rich are shouting because they are losing their subsidy—because they are paying £3,000 to go to Oxford and they should be paying £30,000.”

Commenting on the timing of the funding cuts, Ms Manji added: “These funding cuts come at the same time as the Westminster government is considering raising the cap on top up fees in the rest of the UK.

"I fear that these moves could be a double whammy for Scottish universities with spending cuts and increases in top up fees combining to create a large in funding for Scottish universities.

“NUS Scotland will be working as hard as we can to fight cuts to university funding and to fight increases in top up fees in the rest of the UK too.”

The funding cuts have also received severe criticism from the Russell Group of leading research universities, of which the University of Edinburgh is a member.

In an article in The Guardian earlier this month, figures from the group highlighted the severity of the situation.

Dr Wendy Piatt and Professor Michael Arthur, Director General and Chairman of the Russell Group respectively, explained the potential effects of the cuts to English universities.

“It has taken more than 800 years to create one of the world's greatest education systems and and it looks like it will take just six months to bring it to its knees," they wrote.

“Such huge cuts in university budgets would have a devastating effect not only on students and staff, but also on Britain's international competitiveness, economy and ability to to recover from recession.”

Responding to the criticisms in The Guardian, Mr Mandelson stated universities need not cut back in research as they are free to choose where the cuts should be made.

“The search for greater efficiencies should include more part-time courses and a greater range of one- or two-year degrees.”

Universities Scotland has not shared the concerns voiced by the NUS, stating instead that the country's higher education budget seems to be safe at this point in time.

A spokesperson said: “Universities Scotland welcomes the fact that higher education is recognised as a priority in Scotland as demonstrated by the fact the Scottish Government protected the level of funding for the sector in its draft budget for 2010/11.”