Additional £10m support package announced amid Dundee University cash crisis

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said the funding would be provided to the Scottish Funding Council to support higher education institutions “as they navigate current financial challenges”.

It brings the total additional support for the sector to £25m, following the announcement of a £15m support package last month.

Dundee recently announced plans to cut 632 jobs as it bids to plug a £35m deficit. The redundancies account for around 20 per cent of the more than 3,000-strong workforce. The cash-strapped university will also look at selling off intellectual property rights and parts of its estate.

Earlier on Friday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Scottish Government must work with universities across Scotland to ensure the crisis at Dundee is a “one-off”.

The Scottish Government said it would convene a range of expertise to support the university while it developed its financial recovery plan.

Ms Gilruth said: “The Scottish Government is providing an additional £10m support package to assist universities such as Dundee with navigating immediate financial challenges. This is on top of the £15m of extra support previously announced for the sector in February.

“Ministers have held further meetings with the University of Dundee, unions and the Scottish Funding Council this week, building on the extensive engagement that has already taken place with the institution since financial issues came to light.

“Both the higher education minister [Graeme Dey] and I have conveyed our deep concern at the level of job losses currently being discussed at the university. While the university is an autonomous institution, it is our clear expectation that the university’s leadership works with us, and engages fully with staff and trade unions, to explore all options to protect jobs.”

Speaking to journalists during a visit to the Babcock shipyard in Rosyth on Friday morning, Ms Reeves said the problems at Dundee were “quite specific” and “reflect some of the decisions made there”.

Asked whether the “hostile” immigration environment had made recruiting international students harder, she said: "There are still huge numbers of international students coming to UK universities. I was at Glasgow University with the vice-chancellor yesterday, where a large amount of their income comes from international students and they have a large number from countries right around the world.

"There are obviously some specific issues at Dundee University, but you know my thoughts are with that community at the moment and with the staff and the students who are concerned about their future.

“It is now imperative that the Scottish Government work with both Dundee University, but also with other universities across Scotland who have seen cuts in their budgets to make sure that this is a one-off and doesn’t affect other universities around Scotland, whilst also working with Dundee University to limit the impact of these cuts."

Dundee is not the only university to suffer from money problems. Edinburgh University recently said “nothing is off the table” as it seeks to reduce spending by £140m, while institutions down south are also struggling.

Asked why she thought universities were experiencing a cash crisis, and whether the SNP’s policy of free tuition fees for Scottish students could be playing into it, Ms Reeves said: "Well, I think the issues at Dundee University are quite specific to Dundee.

“I think that the problems at Dundee are greater than other universities across Scotland and reflect some of the decisions made there.

"University tuition fees are a devolved matter. We have our policy in England and Wales. Scotland rightly makes those decisions for themselves, but these cuts at universities do show the importance of university finance.”

She described universities are “one of the jewels in the crown in the United Kingdom”.

Staff cuts at Dundee will hit every school at the university and include 197 academic roles, 119 school-based service staff and 316 directorate-based professional staff. The university said it will open a voluntary redundancy scheme, but added it is “very unlikely” it can avoid compulsory redundancies.