'Climate of fear' claim as Leicester University announces job cuts to save £8m a year

The University of Leicester (UoL) has announced that job cuts will be necessary to help it save millions of pounds. The amount it spends on staff is £8 million a year too high, the chancellor has said. No figure has been given for how many roles that equates to.

Many jobs are expected to be lost under the Voluntary Severance Scheme (VSS), while compulsory redundancies are not being ruled out. The news, coupled with a freeze on replacing any staff who have left, has been heavily criticised by the University and College Union (UCU) which said it was "deeply concerned" that the Leicester cuts would increase "stresses and strains on the whole university community" and mean staff would face anxiety over the Christmas period.

The union said in a statement: "For a critical period during the voluntary severance scheme window, [staff] will lack access to colleagues, union reps or other support networks based in the university." It added: "Staff already feel overworked and suffer the consequences in terms of their wellbeing." However, UoL said it needed to "explore further ways to reduce [its] expenditure" to "ensure the university’s long-term sustainability".

READ MORE: Leicester university staff face threat of redundancy amid financial troubles

The union said staff "already feel overworked and suffer the consequences in terms of their wellbeing", and that the "workload crisis has been made worse" by "months" of "one in five vacant posts" not being filled. It added that while the job cuts were described as “voluntary”, staff could feel pressured to apply.

UoL staff were told in an email yesterday (Tuesday, November 27) that compulsory redundancies could not be ruled out. The union has vowed to ballot for strike action if compulsory redundancies are announced. It added: "This is creating a climate of fear and uncertainty across the university."

Leicester UCU co-chairman and UoL staff member Dr Joseph Choonara said: “The university leadership has bizarre priorities. Since 2016 they have spent almost a third of a billion on estate and infrastructure, while cutting staffing costs relative to income. Yet staff are the beating heart of this institution - delivering and supporting superb teaching and research.

"Our vice-chancellor’s answer to financial problems is always to squeeze staff harder. We already have a workload crisis and the fact that posts lost under VSS will not be replaced will make this far worse. We also have the threat of compulsory redundancies hanging over us. If they move in that direction, we will immediately seek a ballot for strike action.”

According to the union, UoL has £35 million in reserve - a figure the university disputes - and could "weather the storm" while waiting for its income to be improved by increased education funding that the union said the university hoped it would achieve in the future.

The union said: "Unfortunately, the University of Leicester seem determined to lose yet more valuable staff to redundancy and force those who remain to shoulder ever more unmanageable workloads. The university relies on the passion and goodwill of staff, which will continue to diminish as the pressure ramps up and the hard effort of staff goes unrecognised.”

The university said it had a "historically low" £22.4 million in reserves at the last count.

A UoL spokesperson said: “While Leicester continues to perform well in league tables, teaching and research, we are not immune to the external forces affecting the Higher Education sector.

"To ensure the university’s long-term sustainability, we must now explore further ways to reduce our expenditure. Other universities have introduced similar voluntary severance schemes, which we believe can provide a mutually beneficial way to lower staffing costs while minimising disruption to staff and students.

"Leicester remains in a strong position, thanks to the exceptional dedication of our colleagues. With careful planning and our collective efforts, we are confident that we will navigate these times effectively and continue to thrive."

There is also a possibility of job cuts at De Montfort University in Leicester, with it announcing earlier this month that it would be opening its own voluntary redundancy scheme.