John Swinney sparked a blame game over Dundee University’s plans to slash jobs by claiming Labour’s hike on national insurance for employers is responsible.
The first minister insisted his government was continuing to “invest” in the sector when quizzed over the crisis facing higher education.
Dundee University staff members were stunned last week when bosses revealed cuts will have to be made due to a £30 million financial black hole.
Principal Professor Iain Gillespie warned a “reduction in staffing levels” was “inevitable” due to strains facing the institution.
Mr Swinney was asked at First Minister’s Questions today by North East Tory MSP Liam Kerr if he was willing to accept redundancies across the wider sector.
Dundee is not the only Scottish university bracing for cuts.
The SNP leader told MSPs: “What’s not helping our universities just now is the fact that they’re facing a significant increase in employer national insurance contributions.
“That particular policy approach by the UK Government needs to be reversed.”
He added: “I prefer to invest in the university system, which the government does.”
Labour tax changes
Labour’s new policy means the threshold at which employers start paying national insurance will fall from £9,100 to £5,000.
But the controversial policy was not cited by the university as being among the main reasons for its huge budget deficit.
Prof Gillespie said the university had suffered a “significant drop” in recruitment of international students.
That was despite “record numbers” coming to the city from abroad in previous years.
He acknowledged it would be a “difficult period” for the institution.
Earlier this year we revealed Dundee University had scrapped five masters course due to the dwindling student numbers.
Dundee Labour MSP Michael Marra said: “The first minister needs to get his facts straight.
“The difficult financial situation facing universities across Scotland, including Dundee University, is the result of 15 years of underfunding by the SNP government.
Prof Gillespie said the university will likely still have a deficit of at least £25 million even after cuts are made and staff recruitment is frozen.
We later revealed the university principal’s salary was bumped up to £305,000 just months before he confirmed plans for redundancies.
Prof Gillespie later came under-fire for missing a staff question time event on Monday days after the announcement.
Dundee university said: “The national insurance changes are among a range of rising cost pressures which are contributing to our current financial position but it is not the major one.
“The drop in international student recruitment, for example, is a considerably bigger factor.”
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