Supplementary memorandum submitted by
Prospect (FC 16a)
I am writing now to ask that you draw the Select
Committee's attention to notification on 5 February of 70 proposed
redundancies in Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural
Sciences.
The letter from the University of Aberystwyth
initiating the formal redundancy consultation procedure makes
clear that the proposed redundancies are attributable in part
to "an expected reduction in public funding of at least 15%
over the next three years" coupled with "increased
competition in all areas of research funding".
We would emphasise that these proposed cuts
arise less than two years after the transfer of the Institute
of Grassland and Environmental Research to the University. In
our view, this situation also highlights the fragility of the
"independence" governance model espoused by the Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council. It follows hard on the
heels of the decision by the University of Warwick to close the
Kirton Research Centre and to downsize and merge Warwick HRI—as
outlined in our main evidence—and is in addition to the
University's decision to close Bronydd Mawr facility in 2009.
Sue Ferns
Head of Research and Specialist Services
February 2010
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