Liverpool higher education cuts could cost North West economy over £170 million

THE North West economy could lose over £170 million if the government pushes ahead with funding cuts to universities in Liverpool, according to a report released by the University and College Union (UCU).

Universities at risk looks at the impact of proposed government cuts to the university teaching budget and reveals that Liverpool’s universities face a combined budget cut to their core funding of £78,841,957.

The report uses new research, carried out by Ursula Kelly and Professor Iain McNicoll from the University of Strathclyde, to demonstrate how a reduction in teaching funding to a university has a knock-on effect on its regional economy.   For example, a £38,868,180 cut to Liverpool John Moores University’s teaching budget would result in an additional £45,087,089 loss to the regional economy. Adding together the funding cuts to all the universities in Liverpool, this could result in an estimated loss to the North West economy of £170,298,627.

Earlier this year 90% of university leaders said they expected a university to close due to financial pressures and just last month the business secretary, Vince Cable, said that many universities were essentially bankrupt, adding if they were private businesses they would have gone under by now.

UCU North West official, Martyn Moss, said:- “Government proposals to slash funding for the vast majority of university courses will leave many of our universities vulnerable from the massive changes to their funding arrangements. It is incredibly naive to expect our universities to be able to carry on as normal after such sweeping changes. Inevitably there will be winners and losers and we are really concerned about what the cuts will mean for the local economy.”

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said:- “Universities are vitally important to their regional economies. They are often among the biggest employers, they attract thousands of international students and visitors, and their academics are working with every sector of society. Any net loss of income to a university not only adversely affects them but also has a negative knock-on impact on many local businesses and industries."

James Dole, who manages Jo’s Café, which is based close to Liverpool John Moores University, said:- “Around 80% of our revenue comes from the university and it is absolutely vital for our business. Students and lecturers form a large part of our customer base, but we are also popular with cleaners and workmen who may happen to be working at John Moores. People from across the university come and eat and drink at Jo’s.”
 

Children’s Services is ‘performing well’

SERVICES for children in Liverpool are ‘performing well’, according to the government’s independent regulator for education and care.

The annual OFSTED judgment has given the city council an overall score of 3 out of 4 - after looking at everything from schools and nurseries through to support for children in care and what is being done to make sure young people are healthy.  It found the large majority of services are ranked good or better, and the number of pupils getting 5 good GCSE's with 83% - "very strong". The rate is a massive 14% better than the national average, and improving five times faster than the rest of the country.

The incredible attainment levels are helped by the record attendance levels at secondary schools, due to the success of the truancy team who work with Merseyside Police to carry out daily sweeps, and work with schools to tackle absence.

Councillor Jane Corbett, cabinet member for education and children’s services, said:- “We are making good progress in improving the education, health and well-being of the city’s young people, and I’m delighted our achievements over the past 12 months have been recognised by OFSTED.  I’m especially pleased that we have been rated as ‘good’ in improving the chances of our young people, particularly when many of them have had a challenging start to life.  We are committed to helping them develop into achieving, healthy and safe individuals and this report shows we are heading in the right direction.”

It is the 5th year in a row that children’s services has been given the ‘performing well’ grade, despite a toughening of the inspection regime in the wake of the Baby Peter case.  The report says that an unannounced inspection of front-line child protection services earlier this year found “much that was strong and no areas for priority action”.

Also singled out for praise in the assessment are:-

► The reduction in teenage pregnancies

► Success in reducing obesity among 5 year-olds

► Physical activity and healthy lifestyles, which are both “promoted strongly”

► The “important ways” in which the Schools Parliament and youth councils influence decision making

► The reduction in the number of young people not in education, work or training

Stuart Smith, director for children, families and adults, said:- “Staff are working really hard to keep young people safe, give them a better education and provide them with every chance to succeed in life, so we are really pleased with this praise from OFSTED.  Receiving this rating in every area of the report reflects our commitment to providing high quality services for all children, from our most vulnerable to the highest achievers.  But we are not complacent and we know there is much still to achieve, and we will continue to build on the work we are doing to create better futures for all of our young people.”

The report found that behaviour is “outstanding” in nearly all secondary schools, and that fewer children report being picked on than elsewhere thanks to a “strong focus” on anti-bullying initiatives.

Areas for further development highlighted by inspectors include improving early years and childcare services so that more is good or better; improving primary schools which don’t meet minimum standards for 11 year olds and improving the achievement of 16 year-olds from low income families.

It comes just a fortnight after the local authority scored ‘excellent’ and got top marks for adult care in a similar inspection by the Care Quality Commission.