Swansea University UCU members have voted overwhelming that they have “no confidence” in the leadership of Vice Chancellor Paul Boyle and the direction of the university.

The no confidence vote was triggered by the announcement of a planned £30 million cuts to be made this academic year, £25 million of which will come from staff costs. The £30 million is in addition £50 million cost savings made over the previous two years as part of a “financial sustainability programme” which has seen nearly 400 staff leave the university as part of a voluntary severance scheme alongside the removal over nearly 200 vacancies.

Estelle Hart, President of Swansea UCU said “This vote reflects the anger and frustration felt by our members who are facing yet another year with the threat of redundancy hanging over them, while they are expected to deliver more and more with less and less. The inability of the University to rule out compulsory redundancies or to offer any guarantee that this latest round of cuts will be enough to balance the books is creating an impossible working situation for staff who are not simply concerned with their jobs but with the future of the University itself.

The financial crisis at Swansea, and across the sector, has not been caused by ordinary staff or  students and that they continue to feel its impacts most sharply is completely unacceptable. There must be accountability for those at the top of institutions.”

The text of the vote

Swansea University UCU declares no confidence in the Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Boyle and the strategic direction taken in response to the continued dire financial position of the University. This approach cleaves to a market doctrine indicating that job losses and spending cuts are the only solution.

We do not believe that the University can solve this crisis through continued rounds of staff and spending cuts, and wholeheartedly reject the idea that a truly successful educational institution can ever exist within a marketised system. We do not have faith that the VC has made the best possible strategic decisions for our staff or students so far, nor do we believe in the ability of the VC to take us on the best path forward.