The University and College Union (UCU) Scotland has welcomed the recent funding increases for higher education. In the budget statement on Wednesday 14th September John Swinney announced a cash increase of £76m for universities in 2012/13, which reverses last year’s 8% cut.

The Finance Secretary told the Scottish Parliament that universities could expect increases in the following two years of £39m in 2013/14 and £20m in 2014/15.

UCU Scotland President, Gordon Watson, said: “We welcome the funding increases announced today which reverse the cuts of last year that led to job losses and threatened Scotland’s ability to compete in the international higher education marketplace. Given this good news we call on universities to halt redundancy plans across the sector.”

UCU Scottish official, Mary Senior, said: “Considering the pressure on public finances this is a good settlement for universities which will allow staff to concentrate on teaching and innovation, which can only benefit Scotland’s society and economy.”