Red letter day

An open letter from the shadow universities minister, and OfS board papers from pre-pandemic times

We start this morning with the publication of an open letter to university staff and students from shadow universities minister Emma Hardy. Writing exclusively for Research Professional News, Labour’s universities spokesperson says: “I was very disappointed that the government rejected the collective proposals put forward by Universities UK and chose instead just to bring forward the payment of student fees alone. This does nothing to address the underlying loss of income in the long term and consequently universities are being forced to set budgets in the dark without a safety net.”

In her letter, Hardy addresses university budgets, widening participation, casual contracts, student rent, open learning, mental health, anchor institutions, skills and training. She rounds on the government’s apparent neglect for students, saying that students are seen as “somehow a different category of person whose welfare is the sole province of universities and the Office for Students”. She calls Monday’s financial rescue package an “abdication of the government’s responsibility”.