Mandelson strikes back at universities

Lord Mandelson has struck back at university lecturers and administrators, accusing them of using “extreme rhetoric” to spread alarmist claims about funding cuts.

Higher Education faces meltdown, critics have claimed, as universities have been demanded to save £449m in 2011-12. Spending on teaching has been slashed by 1.6 per cent, while building budgets face a 15 per cent reduction.

In a speech at the first Lord Dearing Memorial Conference in Nottingham on the 11th February, the Business Secretary denied the cuts would bring universities to their knees, accusing academics of being “set in aspic”.

He added: “Much of the rest of the public sector will receive similar constraints in the course of this year or soon after. The appearance that universities are in the frontline of public spending cuts is an illusion created by that need to plan ahead”.

Mandelson went on to state it would be wrong to guarantee every applicant a full-time place at university, insisting: “Our best further education colleges and apprenticeships can provide a preparation for the world of work that compares in its excellence and market value to the best of our universities”.

Many remain sceptical however. Sally Hunt, University and College Union general secretary, said: “It is quite outrageous that students who have been told by this government to aim higher their entire school lives are now having the door slammed shut in their faces”.

“Cuts have consequences, and Lord Mandelson would be better off listening to the academy’s concerns rather than rudely dismissing them.”