Universities must “cultivate champions at the heart of government” and address “sores that reduce enthusiasm for further investment”, as they fight to defend teaching and research budgets “inevitably under threat”, according to a recently departed Westminster adviser.
Ministers are expected to seek savings across departments to plug a £40 billion fiscal hole created when the Liz Truss government’s massive programme of unfunded tax cuts and energy spending alarmed the markets. New chancellor Jeremy Hunt spectacularly abandoned nearly all the tax cuts and scaled back the energy plan as he succeeded the sacked Kwasi Kwarteng.
For universities, that puts the spotlight on how they could make a case to government against paring back plans to grow the annual UK research budget to £20 billion, the £6 billion a year earmarked for association to the European Union’s Horizon Europe research programme or a domestic “Plan B” replacement, or the £1.4 billion Strategic Priorities Grant that includes support for the teaching of high-cost subjects.
