Hansard

The amendment in my name seeks to leave intact the first half or so of the Conservative motion, for the simple reason that there can be no disagreement with the statement that our universities make an outstanding contribution

“to the academic, economic, social and cultural life of Scotland and to the enhancement of Scotland’s international reputation”.

When it comes to our universities, we punch well above our weight. As has been pointed out even this early in the debate, we have four of the top 200 universities, which is the highest concentration of world-class universities per head of population anywhere in the world. Ms Smith highlighted the sector’s economic impact, which is estimated at more than £6.5 billion, and the sector also generates £1.3 billion of export earnings. The cabinet secretary mentioned post-work visas and overseas students, and I note that some 30,000 students from 180 countries come to Scotland to study.

However, we know—and Ms Smith pointed out—that competitors in the rest of the developed world and in fast-growing economies are making rapid progress in competing with our higher education institutions. The truth is that, if we stand still, we will find ourselves going backwards. The Scottish Government has invested in the sector—certainly in comparison with further education, where 140,000 students have been lost to our colleges, or with schools, which have more than 4,000 fewer teachers than when the SNP came to power—but there are still worrying signs.

For example, this year’s budget, which the Parliament approved just recently, allocated to higher education a flat cash settlement of just over £1 billion. Days later, however, university funding was cut by £21 million, resulting in the abolition of the global excellence fund, which had been launched only two years previously, as well as cuts to research funding in all our major universities. Moreover, that budget cut capital funding to a historic low.

Commentators have questioned transfers of HE resource to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland to support student funding, which have created funding pressures elsewhere. The transfer now amounts to £14 million per year and, combined with the clawback, the reality is that the universities settlement this year is down by around 2.5 per cent. Those pressures are having an impact, with job cuts threatened in Aberdeen, in Dundee and at the Scottish marine institute in Oban. That shows exactly how a standstill budget can quickly turn into decline if the warning signals are ignored.

Nonetheless, our universities are the recipients of very large sums of public funding. They are autonomous, and that autonomy should be properly guarded, particularly over what they teach, what research they carry out and what academic challenges they might mount to whomsoever they choose. However, they also properly have an obligation to face a degree of accountability, transparency and consistency in their governance and administration. That was the conclusion of the Prondzynski review into higher education governance.

The lack of accountability has been symbolised, above all, by the high levels of principals’ pay, with significant increases and bonuses paid in many cases, throughout a period of public sector pay restraint. All that happened while the sector was one of the worst offenders, at least in the public sector, on low pay and the use of zero-hours contracts. I am happy to acknowledge recent progress on the living wage, zero-hours contracts and governance in the sector, although one has to wonder about the degree to which the imminence of the potential legislation that is part of today’s debate pushed the sector in that direction.

Moreover, progress has been slow and sporadic, which is why we cannot agree with the main thrust of the Tory motion. We do not believe that the Government's proposed legislation compromises our universities’ academic autonomy or that the voluntary introduction of a governance review will provide the required transparency and consistency. We support the election of chairs, although much work has still to be done on the detail; greater diversity on ruling bodies; and direct representation for trade unions on governing bodies.

We say yes to autonomy, but responsible autonomy, and we say yes to ancient institutions, but ancient institutions that are redesigned for the modern world, as they must be to maintain their crucial and pivotal role at the centre of our nation.

I move amendment S4M-13313.1, to leave out from “believes” to end and insert:

“welcomes their continued successes in attracting high-quality students and staff from all over the world and in producing research of global renown; notes that they do so against a backdrop of budget pressures, including the loss of £21 million from the Scottish Government in research funding and a planned €2.2 billion cut to EU Horizon 2020 funding, and through the efforts of hard-working staff and researchers, some of whom are on zero-hours contracts and many facing significant pressure to win funding grants and publish papers; further notes the 150 planned job losses at the University of Aberdeen, as well as recent industrial action at the University of Dundee following the announcement of 170 job losses; supports the University and College Union’s call for the Scottish Government to step in and save vital jobs at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, which is planning to make redundant 15 members of staff at the remote marine research centre near Oban, and calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that the higher education sector in Scotland remains internationally competitive.”