EXCLUSIVE: The rejected Dundee University recovery plan that proposed 690 job losses
The 105-page document set out the institution's 'best hope' for survival from a cash-crisis which has left it on the verge of bankruptcy.
The document – obtained by The Courier hours before the Scottish Funding Council rejected it – set out a timeline for further savings and job losses.
The full plan reveals:
University insiders insist that while it is a 'tough plan' it is necessary to create a long-term sustainable future.
Crucially, managers believe it would also accelerate the ending to the university's reliance on government cash to continue operating.
Cash flow projections contained in the document show the stark reality of the institution's current situation.
Without the immediate savings and the £52 million bailout so far announced by the Scottish Government, the university would go into the red from September.
It would leave it unable to pay staff salaries and other running costs – presently around £1 million per day.
Key to the plan is a significant reduction in the 'spiralling' staff costs set out in the independent Gillies Report.
If nothing changes, around 64% of the university's budget would be spent on staffing. This would reduce to 59% in financial year 2025/26, 54% the following year and 53% thereafter.
The plan says this would bring the university in line with others in the sector.
To achieve this, a further 390 redundancies would be announced over the next 12 months – taking the total reduction to 690.
This would be comprised of:
It says: 'We would then expect to run a redundancy scheme later in the 2025-26 academic year.
'Along with the second phase of VS [voluntary severance] scheme noted above, this will reduce salary cost by a total of £27.7m on an annualised basis, with an estimated cost of £7.4m.'
The plan says the 'working assumption' is that around 20% of the posts lost would be academic, with the rest comprising professional services staff.
It says this is in line with a reduction in the number of modules offered and the anticipated fall in student numbers this academic year – down 19% on 2022-23 figures to just over 11,400.
After unfilled vacancies are taken into account, it would likely mean the university's total headcount would reduce by nearly 1,000.
Alongside the redundancy scheme the university is also proposing a radical restructure. It would see its current eight academic schools reduced to four faculties, reducing the number of middle managers.
The plan also confirms the sale of University House, the principal's official residence, has been completed. It is expected to net the institution around £800,000 in November.
A number of other buildings and assets are listed for sale:
The plan also sets out a series of other day-to-day savings, including tighter controls of operating expenses.
With the recovery plan effectively vetoed by the Scottish Government, it means any implementation of the changes is unlikely to go ahead.
The Scottish Funding Council has demanded a freeze on restructuring and redundancy plans put forward by management as the only solution to save the institution from bankruptcy.
Instead they have issued 'name your price' ultimatum designed to keep the university's doors open for the next 12 months.
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