- Conference
- 2025 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 24 February 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes:
1)The failure of central government and devolved national administrations to fund higher education properly has led to a major funding crisis across the UK. Many higher education institutions are struggling financially, and some are likely to be close to bankruptcy if student recruitment and retention does not improve;
2)The £9,000 tuition fee for UK undergraduate students, introduced a decade ago, temporarily gave universities financial stability at the expense of a generation of students, many of whom now have thousands of pounds’ worth of debt hanging over their future prospects in life;
3)However, this money was not passed on to university workers, with many institutions choosing to spend it on buildings, marketing and vanity projects to entice future students to enrol. Marketisation of universities has created colossal amounts of waste and duplicated effort when public services could be so much more efficient if not forced to compete with each other;
4)Since the introduction of the £9,000 fee, it has increased twice. Once to £9,250 and then more recently, to a maximum of £9,535 for eligible institutions. This will leave more students in more debt, but will not solve the underlying funding problem, as the real fee value has been eroded by inflation and government teaching grants have been systematically cut in real terms;
5)University leaders are reacting by making cuts – closing down courses, campuses and limiting research and student choice. Students are relentlessly ripped off by university accommodation providers or private landlords, who rake in publicly funded student maintenance loans, just as housing benefit flows to rich property owners;
6)Our members’ jobs depend on higher education being recognised as a public service with genuine value to society and funded as such. UNISON’s policy is for an end to tuition fees and for general progressive taxation to fund childcare and education at all levels, from nursery, to primary and secondary, to further and higher;
7)Good quality free education has the potential to benefit all, whether it’s study for interest, learning skills for a profession, or quality research that advances human knowledge and understanding of the world. The Tories have sold off, privatised and limited access at all levels, making it harder for young, working class students in particular;
8)Our union expects and demands that this Labour government reverses the damage done and takes urgent steps to protect jobs and ensure that those working in education are properly rewarded.
Conference calls on the National Executive Council to:
a)Support all those branches and members campaigning to save jobs at higher education institutions across the UK;
b)Reaffirm its commitment to campaign for higher education as a public service, an end to tuition fees and for general taxation to support proper funding of all universities and student grants;
c)Publicise the situation facing universities, using its influence, including though Labour Link, to make the case for UNISON’s agreed policy.