Universities in Budget plea

NEXT year’s Scottish Budget needs to deliver a ‘reliable, sustainable funding settlement’ for universities to help with the country’s recovery from Covid-19, it has been claimed.

Universities Scotland said this week’s UK Government Spending Review failed to set out clearly how much money will be available for higher education north of the Border via either additional money announced for research or the Shared Prosperity Fund.

With the end of the Brexit transition period looming at the end of next month, it said the 2021-22 Scottish Budget will be ‘critical’ to higher education.

Professor Gerry McCormac, convener of Universities Scotland and principal of the University of Stirling, said the draft Budget – to be unveiled by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes early next year – must make ‘rapid progress towards sustainable funding of every Scottishdomiciled student’.