GMB Scotland hits out at ‘top-slicing’ of college funding

Justice System / 21 September 2026 Specialist rape courts to be rolled out across England and Wales 21 September 2026 Scotland / 21 September 2026 Charles Windsor challenged on council tax 21 September 2026 Workers' Rights / 21 September 2026 Rail union protests against Chiltern Railways’ plans for driver-only services 21 September 2026 Politics / 21 September 2026 Davey insists he will remain Lib Dem leader despite concerns over party's relevance 21 September 2026 Wokers' Rights / 21 September 2026 UCU dismiss bosses' ‘wishful thinking’ on Dundee strike 21 September 2026 Education / 21 September 2026 Headteachers' union calls for halt to ‘even more stressful’ graded Ofsted inspections 21 September 2026 COLLEGES in the Highlands and Islands are being unfairly starved of cash, putting jobs and courses in jeopardy, GMB Scotland warned yesterday.

The union raised the alarm as Inverness College launched a redundancy scheme to save £2 million a year by cutting 38 jobs, while about £4m in student funding continues to be diverted to the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), which oversees the region’s colleges.

Across the region, the 35 per cent “top slice” amounts to around £13m — money which GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said belongs on the front line.

“Every centralised function of UHI must be transparent and justified and the default position must be that money is directed to the campuses where students are being taught,” he said.

“The system is not working for colleges, staff or, most importantly, students. It needs to change.”

Pointing to “significant financial pressures across the sector caused by years of underfunding,” a UHI spokesperson responded: “By working together, we strengthen our whole partnership, protect access to high-quality tertiary education and research across our regions and build a more effective and financially sustainable UHI.”

Workers' Rights / 18 September 2026 Glasgow Caledonian Uni staff to escalate strike action after bosses refuse to rule out job cuts 18 September 2026 Scotland / 10 September 2026 Scotland’s colleges face increasing deficits and pressures, watchdog warns 10 September 2026 Science and Society / 12 August 2026 The best defence 12 August 2026 The Defence Universities Alliance is a bit to co-opt higher education into the wider drive to war — we should resist as earlier generations of scientists did, argue say ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT of SCIENCE AND SOCIETY