UNIVERSITIES need more funding from the taxpayer. That was among the interim findings of a taskforce set up to seek a solution to funding the sector in future.
Funny, that's what university principals were saying before last year's election, when they said £168 million over three years would be needed to stay competitive with English institutions, which access extra funding through tuition fees.
The prin
cipals and the Scottish Government were both left in an embarrassing situation after the Budget, when universities were given far less funding after a poor settlement for Scotland from Westminster.
The principals didn't want to be seen to be backing down, even though they privately understood the financial pressures on the SNP administration, which had failed to live up to its education manifesto pledges.
So the Joint Future Thinking Taskforce was set up, ostensibly for the university principals to thump tables at government officials in smoky rooms.
Cynics considered it simply a face-saving exercise.
Now that it has published its interim conclusions, critics are casting doubt on whether the final report of the group can come up with anything more solid.
A university source said: "The fact is, it hasn't come up with very much so far."
The insider revealed many in the sector fear the result if, as recommended in the report, principals get more power over how to spend their cash.
A "summit" of key stakeholders in the autumn has been announced by Fiona Hyslop, the education secretary, for August to comment on the interim findings, before a final report is published later in the year. However, the source said: "I doubt the final report will be very much different from the interim one."
The full article contains 288 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
