University of East Anglia saves £6m by voluntary severance

A university facing a £45m budget black hole in three years' time says staff agreeing to leave their posts has saved it more than £6m.

The Norwich-based University of East Anglia (UEA) has warned of compulsory redundancies as it tries to bring its budget under control.

To save money the university offered a voluntary severance scheme.

Those who applied for it have now been told the outcome and were expected to leave in August.

The university said 136 of the 224 members of staff who applied for voluntary severance had been approved and received offers.

The scheme is one of a number of measures aimed at reducing costs at the university, which expects a budget deficit of up to £30m for 2023-24 and £45m in three years.

Prof Christine Bovis-Cnossen, acting vice chancellor at the UEA, said: "This will give us in excess of £6m in savings - a significant contribution to our overall cost-saving target.

"This is in addition to not filling some vacant posts, the deferral of the annual pay award by 11 months and other voluntary cost-saving measures.

"Of course, all these measures are regrettable, but they will help us minimise the risk of compulsory redundancies - which I must stress again, will be a last resort."

Other savings measures are being finalised and will be put to the university's council in May. If approved, discussions would begin with unions, the UEA said.

Dr Michael Kyriacou, branch chairman of the University and College Union, said: "While this saving reduces the scope and scale of any compulsory redundancies it is important to remember that every pound saved through voluntary severance already represents a member of staff leaving UEA.

"[We] have made it clear to the university executive and council that we believe it is possible to avoid compulsory redundancies and expect mitigations to be made to ensure that savings do not come at the costs of staff livelihoods."

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