Row breaks out over Moray House redundancies

Staff at Moray House school of education have been sent letters warning them that their position is “at risk of redundancy”, part of a bid to cut staffing costs by around £1million.

The move has been criticised by members of the University and College Union, who have claimed that that the letters will cause unnecessary “stress to staff and their families” and may lead to an “exodus of expertise.”

A Redundancy Committee set up on 15 February at a meeting of the University Court was told that a reduction in staffing costs was “necessary”.

The University is keen to avoid compulsory redundancies, aiming to cut costs through voluntary packages, but this latest move gives the opportunity to force cuts if these volunteers are not forthcoming.

A letter to a number of Moray House teaching staff, which has been seen by The Journal, read:

“The Redundancy committee will be convened as soon as practicable to undertake the work assigned by court. However, we are obliged to advise you that the broad initial definition of the redundancy pool from which staff may be selected would include your post.”

It continued, “This letter is confirmation that your position that your position at the University is now at risk of redundancy. Any compulsory redundancies which ultimately take place will have a potential termination of 31 July 2010.”

The Initial Teacher Education planning committee’s estimated budget loss is £1.6 million due to student place cuts of over 300 by the Scottish government earlier this year.

The university has identified £600,000 in reduction of non-fixed rate staff and £300,000 in voluntary severances. £360,000 in transitional funds has been provided by the Scottish government to limit the damage of cost cutting initiatives.

But disagreements have emerged over the figures used as UCU representatives say the saving estimated through voluntary severances is conservative due to high interest expressed in this option by staff.

Additionally, the union staff say that the difference between the savings the university has to make and the cuts it has identified already, £360,000, is only the equivalent of 5-7 academic posts.

“This will easily be overtaken by staff leaving for other posts (two this quarter from ES alone),” their correspondence read.

The biggest challenge made by the union is that the process has been carried-out with little “consultation and involvement” from staff and students.

The letter sent to the University Court detailed staff fears over the ambiguity in the redundancy plans, leading to many staff take voluntary redundancy in a bid to avoid smaller compensation packages with forced packages.

It asks that the five-month redundancy warning is withdrawn, and that there is an end to uncertainty over job security.

"We urge this as the action of a caring employer, in the interest of maintaining quality of teachihng and research at the Moray House School of Eduation," the letter concludes.

The University has said that it plans to narrow the number of staff who may be considered for compulsory redundancy by the end of March.