Newcastle College has been branded the 'Scrooge' of further education by UCU after it emerged that, just 24 hours before most staff break up for Christmas, it will not honour a nationally-recommended 0.7% pay rise.
UCU said today (Tuesday) that government plans to strip away the rights of people facing redundancy were another damaging blow for post-16 education, which has already been hit with funding cuts and threats of job losses.
Commenting on the drop in the number of students at university this year, UCU said the record fall represented a failure of the government's higher education policies.
Speaking ahead of a speech today by home secretary, Theresa May, on immigration, UCU said hardline and ill-conceived policies on immigration remained the biggest barrier to attracting the best and brightest brains from across the globe to UK universities.
UCU and the National Union of Students (NUS) have today written to the minister for universities and science, David Willetts, asking him to block any moves to grant for-profit providers of education exemption from VAT.
UCU has today written to the Public Accounts Committee asking for an inquiry into the trebling of taxpayers' money going to private providers of higher education in just one year.
Commenting on the news that the University of Strathclyde last night won the coveted Times Higher Education University of the Year award, UCU Scotland said the award was recognition of the hard work by staff at the institution.
![[image depicting] UCU - University and College Union logo](./images/common/toplogo.gif "UCU - University and College Union's Logo")
