Durham University is not being fully transparent about its financial situation. Durham UCU calls on the University Executive Committee (UEC) to provide detailed financial data for an external expert to review.
On 7 February, we requested financial data related to, among other things, monthly management accounts, approved budget documents and future projections, and loan and private placement covenants. The University has refused to provide all of the requested information and refuses to allow a trade-union commissioned expert to review the information they have shared to date.
We note that other universities in financial difficulty have shared information enabling trade unions to commission third-party reports, following standard practices to ensure confidentiality of business-critical information within the consultation process.
Durham University’s refusal to permit independent scrutiny of the financial situation that allegedly necessitates potential redundancies as a measure of last resort raises concerns about its compliance with Section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA), which requires meaningful collective consultation around ways to avoid or reduce redundancies and ways to reduce the impact of redundancy on affected employees.
Durham University must ensure a fully informed discussion with trade union representatives about how to avoid redundancies in service of its cost savings goals.