REDUNDANCIES are looming as colleges in the Highlands and Islands have been “unfairly starved of cash,” a leading union has claimed.
GMB Scotland has warned that almost 40 jobs are at risk of being lost at Inverness College and that the looming redundancies have exposed how the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) funding must be significantly overhauled.
Currently, the UHI, the umbrella body overseeing seven colleges, receives 35% of student income, around £13 million a year, to pay for central services,
But the union says the UHI's percentage of the income is “too high” and has urged for more of it to reach campuses.
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser in the public sector, has urged the UHI to deliver “greater financial support” to colleges across the Highlands and Islands which he says are under huge financial pressure.
“The situation in Inverness is only the most recent and graphic illustration of a broken funding system that is unfit for purpose and demands to be overhauled urgently,” he said.
“Every centralised function of UHI must be transparent and justified and the default position must be that money is directed to the campuses where students are being taught.
“Colleges in Scotland have for years been forced to make real-time cuts because funding has failed to match inflation.
“Across the Highlands and Islands those financial pressures are even more damaging because of an unfair funding system that feeds the centre and starves the campuses.
“The system is not working for colleges, staff or, most importantly, students. It needs to change.”
The UHI oversees seven colleges across the region, including Inverness, Greater Argyll, Moray, Perth, Shetland, Orkney and the North, West and Hebrides, from its headquarters in Inverness.
A UHI spokesperson told The Scotsman that the partnership allows more than 31,000 students to access opportunities that an individual institution could provide alone.
“Through our academic partnership model and transformation programme, we are responding collectively: sharing expertise and resources, improving efficiency and focusing investment where it will have the greatest impact on academic provision and student services,” the spokesperson said.
“By working together as one university partnership, we can protect and enhance access to high-quality tertiary education and research across our regions and build a stronger, more effective and financially sustainable UHI for the future.”
Earlier this month, Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, warned Scotland’s 19 colleges faced a £5.6 million deficit in 2024/25, up from £1.9m the year before, while funding had fallen almost 8% in five years.
He said: “The financial pressure on Scotland's colleges is increasing, and their situation remains extremely challenging.
“Without urgent and successful reform of the sector, it's not clear if colleges can continue to deliver for students and employers.”
