National Insurance uptick could cost Welsh universities millions

Local TV

A freedom of information request from the Welsh Liberal Democrats has found Welsh universities believe they will face as much as £18million annually. We take a look at how unis will cope during a particularly tough financial period.

Transcript

00:00Welsh universities are struggling financially at the moment, and are faced with another

00:05financial hit, with newly uncovered figures showing the UK government's rise in national

00:10insurance contributions could cost the sector more than £18 million a year in Wales.

00:17The data obtained through Freedom of Information requests reveals just how severely institutions

00:21are being affected, with Cardiff University alone saying they could face a £6.7 million

00:26increase annually – that's equivalent to nearly a third of the £22 million in savings

00:31the university recently said it needs to make up, with job cuts already being proposed as

00:36part of a major financial shake-up. Swansea University will see an extra £3.5

00:42million added to its cost, while every single university in Wales could be facing steeper

00:46wage bill just to cover national insurance changes. It comes at a time when the higher

00:52education sector in Wales is already struggling, with falling student numbers, rising operation

00:57costs and shrinking income due to inflation and the long-term impact of Brexit, which has

01:02reduced the number of overseas students applying to study here. Several institutions have warned

01:07of growing deficits, with staff redundancies, course closures and restructuring all being

01:12actively considered or already underway. The Welsh Liberal Democrats who submitted the

01:18Freedom of Information request say the added cost of national insurance will only deepen the

01:22crisis. They argue that the £18 million could otherwise have gone towards teaching,

01:26research or avoiding job losses. With many universities already stretched thin,

01:32questions are now being asked how much longer the current model is sustainable,

01:35and what more can be done to support higher education through one of its toughest

01:39financial periods in decades. James Beach Watkins, reporting for Local TV.

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