Keele University verdict is warning to all institutions that they cannot ignore the rules, says UCU

Thursday, 04, Sep 2008 12:00

The University and College Union (UCU) said today (Thursday) that a key ruling on university rules sent a clear message to all institutions that they cannot ride roughshod over regulation and warned any that do that they can expect to feel the full force of the union.

The ruling, from the Rt. Hon. Sir Roy Beldam, came after Dr Peter Fletcher, a Keele UCU officer, lodged an official complaint with the Visitor of the University, the Right Honourable Baroness Ashton of Upholland, over plans that would have left half of a world-renowned department facing redundancy.

The Visitor adjudicates on complaints about how the university conducts itself and asked Sir Roy Beldam to deal with the complaint made in April. At the time the Visitor also asked the University to take no further steps towards implementing redundancy proposals pending the inquiry.

The complaint centred on an unprecedented ‘redundancy committee’ established by Keele University Council on 6 December 2007. The committee bypassed the normal consultation and decision-making processes at the University’s Senate or faculty meetings. It also agreed plans that left more than half (38) of the 67 academic staff in Keele’s world-renowned School of Economic and Management Studies (SEMS) facing redundancy.

Upholding the petition by Dr Peter Fletcher, the Visitor concluded that, as required by the Charter and Statutes of the University, the University Council could not make resourcing or structural decisions without first seeking the opinion of Senate, which has responsibility for the management of academic programmes.

This is a provision in the statutes of all chartered higher education institutions and the UCU today (Thursday) said the ruling sent a clear message to all universities not to try and sidestep proper procedures.

Dr Fletcher said: 'Senior management have cut corners with university procedures in order to force through a major restructuring plan without proper academic scrutiny. The result was an unnecessary and highly damaging industrial dispute.

I hope the Visitor's ruling will ensure that, in future, decisions receive proper scrutiny and are justified on academic and not just financial grounds.'

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “This ruling sends a clear message to all institutions that they do not have the right to act above their own laws. UCU will never allow institutions to treat its staff unfairly or disregard its own standards and procedures. Any institution that tries to go down this route will feel the full force of the national union.”

The full verdict from Sir Roy Beldam can be found at http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/i/h/keele_visitordecision_08.pdf

In June Keele University was 24 hours away from becoming the first institution to receive an international boycott from UCU. However, an interim agreement with the University was reached which resulted in both the industrial action and the threat to ‘greylist’ Keele University being suspended.

ends

contacts:

Dr Fletcher t: 01782 583260; e: p.fletcher@maths.keele.ac.uk

National UCU enquiries - Dan Ashley t: 020 7670 9705; m: 07789 518 992; e: dashley@ucu.org.uk