Received from: UCU
Congress notes:
i. the unprecedented crisis in post-16 education, with nearly 70 per cent of universities forecasting deficits and 24 at risk of insolvency
ii. half of UK universities have closed courses, while over 15,000 jobs has been lost, leaving remaining staff facing casualisation and excessive workloads
iii. university employers have used subsidiary companies to remove staff from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS)
iv. chronic underfunding in further education has widened the pay gap with schoolteachers, creating a recruitment and retention crisis
v. trade union education is a vital part of lifelong learning but has been systematically underfunded.
Congress believes:
a. government must urgently reform post-16 education funding, regulation and governance to secure a sustainable, publicly funded system
b. immediate action is needed to protect jobs, courses and campuses, end the use of subsidiary companies, and strengthen investment in further and trade union education through devolved funding.
Congress calls on the General Council to coordinate a national campaign calling for:
1. a funding settlement that restores investment, closes the further education pay gap, supports trade union education, and enables combined authorities and elected mayors to invest strategically
2. an independent review of higher and further education funding, regulation and governance that ends the failed market model and delivers a sustainable post-16 education system
3. an end to subsidiary companies and other employment models that undermine national terms and conditions, remove staff from TPS, or weaken collective bargaining.
University and College Union