HEFCE Cuts - Crafts Council Response
The Crafts Council response to news of HEFCE Cuts
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) announced its funding allocations to universities in England for the academic year 2010-2011 yesterday (Thursday 18th March), with most universities seeing a real-terms reduction in their funding. The Crafts Council takes the view that a funding cut for the majority of higher education institutions is an odd response to the recession. The growth of the creative industries in recent years has demonstrated that investment in the UK’s knowledge base can bring substantial economic returns: the creative industries, which have been nurtured by the UK’s excellence in the creative HE sector, now account for 7% of the UK’s GDP. The Crafts Council is especially concerned that the funding cuts could have a damaging impact on important centres of craft research and teaching in higher education.
The allocations were made in line with directions given to HEFCE by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in a letter in December. These included a requirement to increase the concentration of research funding in research-intensive universities and to focus additional funding in subjects perceived as being important for economic recovery.
Overall 99 out of 130 universities have received a real terms funding cut, 29 have received an increase in real terms and two standstill funding.
The picture behind the headlines is complex. The main elements of each university’s funding allocation are for teaching and for research. Some universities have seen cuts in both areas; others have seen cuts in one element but an increase or standstill funding in the other; a few have seen increases in both areas. There are cuts to capital funding and to special initiatives such as the fund for widening participation. Most universities have seen an increase in their allocation from the innovation fund, which is designed to foster links with businesses. Many universities with small research budgets have seen large percentage cuts in their research funding, although the cash decrease may be relatively small. This is line with the policy of concentrating research funding in research-intensive universities: 33% of all HEFCE research funding now goes to the top five research universities. The Crafts Council is concerned that this policy could weaken the link between research and teaching, which is particularly damaging in creative disciplines, as it limits the potential for students to be exposed to the most innovative practice as part of their training.
There is still uncertainty about some aspects of the funding allocations. Notably, since the BIS allocation to HEFCE for the 2011-2012 financial year is subject to a post-election spending review, it is possible that further cuts may be required towards the end of the academic year, depending on decisions in that review.
Individual institutions have of course yet to make decisions about which areas of teaching and research will bear the brunt of cuts, so the full ramifications of the cuts for the craft HE sector are not yet clear.
The Crafts Council will continue to monitor the situation and gather intelligence from our partners in the HE sector.
