University of Surrey: Vote of no confidence over job-cuts fears

The University of Surrey is facing a demand to withdraw a threat of job cuts after staff and students delivered an overwhelming vote of no confidence in its management team.

The university is proposing a series of cost-savings, including a redundancy program which the University and College Union (UCU) says will lead to the loss of 140 jobs.

In a UCU ballot, 97% of voters said they had no confidence in Surrey’s vice-chancellor Professor Max Lu, its provost Professor Tim Dunne and the executive board.

A university spokesperson said it was “not immune to the unprecedented financial pressures facing the UK’s higher education sector”.

In March, the university set out proposals for voluntary redundancies, the sale of university assets and other cost-cutting exercises.

Mr Lu cited high inflation, soaring energy bills and overall cost of living pressures as reasons why the university needed to reduce its expenditure.

The university spokesperson said it was “taking a focused and nuanced approach to tackling these sector-wide challenges”.

It added that it had adopted a “variety of measures” to increase income and save on costs, while voluntary severance had “minimised” the need for compulsory redundancies.

But UCU said its members feared further cuts to jobs, provisions and course content were likely in the future.

It added that more than 140 staff had already accepted voluntary severance and called on Mr Lu and Mr Dunne to rule out future plans for compulsory redundancies.

Michael Moran, a UCU regional official, said it was “little surprise that staff confidence is at an all-time low given the cuts that Surrey is implementing”.

He added: “We fear these cuts are the thin end of the wedge and, unless urgent action is taken now, Surrey staff and students will suffer further.”