Scottish universities have warned they could be dealt a “fatal” financial blow under plans for a shake-up of the way higher and further education is funded.
They fear their charitable status could be put at “risk”, potentially leading to institutions being reclassified as public bodies, if the Scottish Government becomes more closely involved in overseeing and funding the sector.
A landmark report by James Withers recommended in June last year the Holyrood Government create a “single national funding body to have responsibility for administering and overseeing the delivery of all publicly funded post-school learning and training provision”.
It would take over and potentially replace Skills Development Scotland, which oversees funding for training and apprenticeships, as well as the Scottish Funding Council, which distributes grants to colleges and universities, and possibly the Students Awards Agency for Scotland as well.
In its “purpose and principles” report, the Government subsequently said it would “investigate the options to deliver a single funding body”.
Now, in evidence to Holyrood’s education committee, Universities Scotland has raised a series of concerns about the proposal, while also welcoming the “broad aspirations” of the Withers review and several elements.
The organisation, which represents the country’s higher education institutions, said it was vital that any new funding body had non-departmental public body (NDPB) status, ensuring it works independently of ministers.
"Any closer relationship with Government would have risks including risks to universities’ charitable status; and risks that universities would be reclassified as public bodies by the Office for National Statistics, which would be fatal to universities’ financial sustainability because e.g. borrowing or reserves could not be used to invest in universities’ missions,” it said.
Universities and colleges are already counting the cost of fresh budget cuts, as well as difficulties recruiting fee-paying international students, in part due to tighter UK Government immigration rules.
In its evidence, Universities Scotland said it believed “sustainable funding is needed more than a single funding model”. "We can’t afford reform that leads to a further ‘levelling-down’ of university funding,” the document said.
