A campaign for cuts in the structure of lecturers' union Natfhe has been launched by its general secretary, John Akker. Fears of a financial crisis lie behind his proposals to reduce the number of committees and the frequency of elections and meetings.

Meanwhile subscriptions have been raised to compensate for lost income from a drop in membership, which fell in 1994 from 77,000 to 71,500. The drop is revealed in the union's annual report.

Several reasons have been given for the fall, including redundancies, staff leaving the profession, and the Government's move to end the automatic check-off of subscriptions.

Membership in higher education is said to be holding up, with the biggest fall seen in further education. The only comfort for Natfhe is that 80 per cent of members now pay dues by direct debit.

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Mr Akker is backing a series of cost-cutting proposals to be debated at Natfhe's annual conference at the end of May. These include reducing the size of the 64-member National Executive Council and holding the conference every two years.

"There can be no denying that our union has become increasingly unwieldy as it strains to meet the needs of a plethora of different membership groups within a bewildering array of committees, councils and advisory bodies," said Mr Akker. "Cutting back should not lead to less democracy but it will mean putting our resources to better use."

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He added that Natfhe's financial commitments had mushroomed, due largely to the college lecturers' contracts dispute and the duplication of debate at different levels in the union.