YOUR VIEWS: UHI needs to talk to address finances

It is with dismay that we learn about mass redundancies and budget cuts to UHI’s Executive Office, as you reported on August 16. As your other recent columns have demonstrated (April 16, 2023; August 1, 2023), UHI is a valued and respected educational institution in the region, with a hugely important role to play in keeping and educating people within the local area.

The significant number of staff now facing redundancy are employed throughout Highlands and Islands communities, and we urge UHI to rethink its strategy and avoid creating unnecessary hardship for our staff and their families.

Our staff are exceptionally proud to work for UHI, and especially of our recent national student survey results (https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/media/news/uhi-rated-highly-in-national-student-survey.html), and we want to continue our focus on providing exceptional services to students throughout their time at UHI.

UHI receives a substantial amount of public funding, and UHI management are right to ensure all parts of UHI are providing good value for money and are financially sustainable. Yet cuts of this magnitude, just as we welcome students to UHI for a new academic year, are alarming, and must raise questions about the potential impact on the quality of education and services our staff provide to the university’s 36,000 students.

We therefore urge all parties to come together – including UHI senior managers, staff, trade unions, the student association, and the Scottish Funding Council – to find a sustainable solution to address UHI’s financial issues without resorting to mass layoffs or any disruption to our students’ education.

Dr Heather Fotheringham, University and College Union UHI Branch President

Bottle bank sites overwhelmed

Inverness bottle bank sites were recently shown overwhelmed by deposits, with banks at five sites full and dozens of empty bottles left lying on the ground in front of them. Vehicle breakdowns by contracted collectors were blamed.

“I don’t understand why we don’t have kerbside collections of glass like in other parts of the country. When I asked the council, they said id was because they couldn’t separate out the different colours but the bottle banks are mixed now.” – Barry Hird

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