The University of Edinburgh has said it needs to cut about ?140 million from its annual budget, with jobs set to go following an announcement which was branded ¡°devastating¡± by unions.

Earlier this month Scotland¡¯s biggest university warned that staff that ¡°nothing is off the table¡± as it sought to close a black hole in its finances, with school and degree closures among the options under consideration.

After updating staff on the institution¡¯s predicament on 25 February, principal Peter Mathieson said that Edinburgh must reverse years of forecasted deficits ¡°to sustain our position as a world-leading institution¡±.

He said Edinburgh must save around 10 per cent of its annual turnover over the next 18 months, equivalent to around ?140 million, or slightly over the university¡¯s monthly running costs of ?120 million.

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¡°To make these recurrent savings, we need radical university-wide actions, which will lead to a smaller staff base and lower operating costs,¡± Mathieson said. ¡°We are also reviewing all capital expenditure ¨C including previously approved projects ¨C with a renewed lens of affordability.¡±

In his email to staff, Mathieson says that Edinburgh¡¯s spending on staff ¡°is no longer sustainable and we must reduce it¡±, adding that an ongoing voluntary severance scheme would not be sufficient by itself.

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The university would ¡°work to identify the right size and shape of our academic and professional staff body, informed by a strategic rationalisation of our current educational portfolio¡±, Mathieson writes, adding that this would be accompanied by a review of professional services likely to result in greater centralisation.

¡°We can no longer afford to run duplicative services across the university, often with inconsistent practices which create inefficiencies, increase staff workload and impact our student experience,¡± Mathieson says.

In the email, Mathieson blames Edinburgh¡¯s situation on ¡°inadequate¡± teaching funding from the Holyrood government and a downturn in international student recruitment, warning that it was ¡°no longer sensible, practicable or sustainable¡± for the university to ¡°grow itself out of financial challenges¡±.

However, the University and College Union said that Edinburgh should consider using some of its reserves rather than cutting staff, highlighting that the institution¡¯s most recent accounts listed net assets worth ?3.1 billion. Edinburgh posted a ?25 million surplus last year.

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UCU general secretary Jo Grady said that the proposed cuts were ¡°shocking¡±. UCU members at Edinburgh recently passed a motion of no confidence in the principal and senior management.

¡°Professor Mathieson needs to use the billions of pounds the university boasts in wealth to protect jobs, protect provision and protect the university's global reputation,¡± Grady said.

¡°The Scottish government also needs to call on university management to halt these devastating cuts. Scotland cannot afford to allow one of its great public institutions to engage in academic vandalism of this scale.¡±

Union members at the University of Dundee began strike action this week after it said job cuts were ¡°inevitable¡± as it looked to tackle a ?30 million deficit.

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St Andrews, Abertay, Robert Gordon and Heriot-Watt universities, the University of the West of Scotland and the University of Aberdeen all posted deficits in their most recent accounts.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com