Dundee council leaders urge ministers to prevent further university cuts

Dundee City Council leaders have written to the Scottish government urging ministers to prevent further job losses at the University of Dundee.

The university plans to cut 190 more jobs, after losing 675 jobs through voluntary redundancies, as it deals with a large financial deficit.

The letter, signed by all four political groups on the council, asks ministers to "identify every possible option" and consider additional financial support.

It highlights potential closure of facilities, including the Botanic Garden, and says the cuts have implications for Dundee's economy and wider community.

The Scottish government provided £40m in emergency funding last year.

But last week the university said it still needed to find annual savings of about £20m, mostly from staff costs.

The Dundee Council letter, endorsed by SNP leader Mark Flynn, Labour group leader Kevin Keenan, Lib Dem leader Fraser Macpherson and Conservative leader Derek Scott, says the university "supports thousands of jobs directly and indirectly".

It adds: "There is now a strong case for the Scottish government to consider whether further targeted financial support or other forms of intervention are required".

The university first announced a potential £30m deficit in November 2024 and "inevitable" job cuts.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) have already staged 28 days of strikes. They voted in favour of strike action again earlier this month.

Ian Ellis, Dundee UCU co-president, said staff were "paying the price for management failings and a catalogue of managerial mis-steps."

When the Scottish government provided £40m in emergency funding last year, ministers expected this would limit job losses to about 300 staff.

However, interim principal Prof Nigel Seaton told Holyrood's education committee in November that the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) accepted more redundancies would be needed.

Last week, First Minister John Swinney described the announcement of further cuts as "extremely disappointing".

He said the Scottish government was prioritising dialogue with staff who would be feeling "deeply alarmed".

Prof Seaton said there was still "some way to go" before the university was financially sustainable.

He added: "We have made progress in recuring non-staff spending, and this has already been substantially reduced.

"But there is a limit to how much further we can go, so the greater part of the additional saving will have to come from staff costs."

A critical report in June 2025 into the university's financial collapse led to the resignations of its interim principal Prof Shane O'Neill and two senior members of its governing body.

The Gillies Report said university bosses and its governing body failed multiple times to identify the worsening crisis and continued to overspend.

The university said the report had been a "chastening experience and triggered a time for deep self-reflection".