University staff cuts could risk 'safety' - union

The University of York launched its first round of voluntary job cuts last April

A university could cut staff roles that support the safety and wellbeing of students in a bid to save £1m, according to a union.

The University of York launched its first round of voluntary job cuts last April as part of a plan to reduce its budget by £34m.

Unison has said that in the past year, 272 employees had taken voluntary redundancy, with more staff planning to leave through other severance schemes this summer.

Andy Watkins, from Unison, said the latest staff roles to go could include those who help students in crisis, as well as safety teams responding to security, first aid, and other incidents.

He said: "The impact of these proposed changes on students and staff should not be understated.

"Workers affected by the plans play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of young people, many of whom are living away from home for the first time.

"They do difficult jobs to keep students safe because they care. It's vital the university finds another way to save this money."

The union added the proposals could also result in cuts to careers staff, placement teams and faculty librarians, with some services being reduced by up to 50%.

Vice-chancellor and president Charlie Jeffery previously said on the university's website that "broad financial challenges affecting the entire university have required us to make difficult decisions across all departments".

He was responding to an open letter from students at the end of last year who were raising concerns about York's collegiate system's cost-cutting measures.

Mr Jeffery said at the time that the university had no plans to merge any of its 11 colleges, but the "outcomes of the voluntary severance scheme mean that we can no longer have one staff team per college".

He said: "We are exploring having a broader grouping of staff to support the colleges, rather than a specific team for each.

"This is the model that we are deploying right across the university with internal groups sharing centralised support teams.

"For example, all professional service staff will be supported by one shared admin team to provide greater financial sustainability and resilience."

A University of York spokesperson added: "The university strongly refutes the claims being made. The safety and wellbeing of our students is, and always will be, our highest priority.

"We are investing in more front line services which will lead to 6,000 extra patrol hours during the year, aligned with better trained and equipped staff able to more effectively deal with and triage multiple calls.

"The changes are part of a broader strategy to improve the effectiveness of our services, not to compromise them.

"We have also extended our out-of-hours support during busy periods like Welcome Week and have provided a dedicated officer for the escalation of student safety incidents throughout the year."

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