University and College Union responds to Chancellor’s budget statement

Responding to the Budget statement today (Wednesday), University and College Union (UCU) general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 

‘The Chancellor spoke warmly about the importance of skills in his speech today, but the pockets of funding announced for T-levels and a national retraining scheme will do little to plug the hole in college finances left by cuts in recent years. We urgently need proper public investment in our colleges to address the crisis in further education pay, which is causing major issues with staff recruitment and retention.

‘The glaring omission from today’s speech was any support for current higher education students, or further detail on the Prime Minister’s promised review of university funding in England. Rather than leaving the sector in limbo, the government urgently needs to set out a clear timescale for this review so we can begin to address the problems in the current system.’