Dundee University to benefit from £15m financial help from Scottish Government

Dundee University will benefit from £15m of financial help from the Scottish Government as it faces a multi-million-pound hole in its finances.

Shona Robison announced in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday that the money would be made available to the Scottish Funding Council to support universities, including Dundee.

The university previously announced a projected shortfall of up to £30m partly as a result of a fall in recruitment of international students.

It comes as lecturers and other staff at the university begun 15 days of strike action over the potential deficit and the threat of job cuts including compulsory redundancies.

The dispute began in November when the then principal and vice-chancellor, Professor Iain Gillespie, emailed all staff warning the financial situation made a reduction in staff numbers “inevitable”.

The principal and other senior management subsequently resigned from the university.

University and College Union (UCU) members at the university will strike each weekday over a three-week period.

Following the announcement, UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “This is a step in the right direction and the Scottish Government is to be commended for supporting the university at this time.

“Ministers elsewhere in the UK need to take heed and find funding to stop the cull on jobs and courses. For Dundee University this gives a financial injection that should allow the employer to take compulsory redundancies off the table.

“Doing that would allow UCU to stop the current strike at the university and the ball is now in managers’ hands.”