22 March 2006

NATFHE responds to the budget

Commenting on proposed reforms to further education in the budget, Barry Lovejoy, NATFHE's head of colleges, said:
 
'Much of the positive reform for FE set out in this budget will be undermined by the government's short-term funding priorities which are creating insecurity in colleges, leading to more redundancies and persistent low pay.
 
'NATFHE has just rejected a pay offer of 1.5% for lecturers next year which our employers, the Association of Colleges, reported was determined by funding uncertainty in colleges. If the money isn't there, changes such as improving workforce development, simply won't happen.'

Commenting on higher education in the budget, Roger Kline, head of the universities department at NATFHE, said:
 
'NATFHE welcomes the recognition that the Research Assessment Exercise is inappropriate, and the commitment to review it. However, we are concerned that the debate for its replacement may already be pre-judged by opting for metrics, which may do nothing more than entrench current distortions and biases in the system.

‘NATFHE is committed to a debate around alternatives to existing research funding - and will certainly want to participate in that debate."

ENDS

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