Universities in talks to outsource services
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Two universities are negotiating deals to outsource their services to private companies, in what could be a new model for higher education.
Unions have reacted angrily and threatened to take industrial action to stop the proposed deals, which they claim amount to privatisation.
In one case, London Metropolitan University (LMU) is in discussions with three private companies which could lead to the take-over of the bulk of its services. One of the three firms is an IT company based in Bangalore in India, the investigative news website Exaro revealed yesterday.
Professor Malcolm Gillies, vice-chancellor of LMU, said he was optimistic that a deal could lead to several London higher education institutions benefiting from shared services. He said the university was seeking to reduce its in-house support staff by as much as 40 to 50 per cent. He added that "a lot of universities" were considering how they could do the same. "There may be some staff losses and some staff gains," he said, "but if you run it into shared services, you grow a business."
LMU insists it would simply be paying an operating fee to the selected company which would have "zero ownership" of the business.
Sussex University is also seeking to put some of its services – catering and land estates – into the hands of a private company.
John Duffy, registrar and secretary, said: "As we grow we need to ensure we provide support services to our students and staff as efficiently and effectively as possible."
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments