Concerns: Nicola Dandridge

Securing real-terms protection of the science budget in the next spending period will require a ¡°Herculean¡± lobbying effort, the chief executive of Universities UK has said.

Nicola Dandridge told The Future of Impact, a conference held in London on 10 April, that the UK¡¯s economic outlook in the short, medium and long term was ¡°quite frankly grim¡±, and that the spending review to be held after the 2015 general election was likely to be ¡°even tougher¡± than the coalition government¡¯s 2010 review.

That review protected the science budget in cash terms but slashed capital spending in the sector by more than 40 per cent.

Ms Dandridge said that post-election, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills would probably be hit with further cuts over and above the estimated reduction of between 4 and 8 per cent likely to be imposed in the interim spending review for 2015-16, scheduled for June.

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She said that UUK had been given no assurances by any of the political parties that they would protect university or science spending, even though their value was recognised.

¡°In our discussions with the Treasury it has been made abundantly clear that government absolutely understands the importance of universities to society and the economy, [so] there is no need for us to reiterate that,¡± she said.

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¡°But, they tell us, the problem is that there is simply no money¡­So making the case for continued investment in science, even real-terms protection [of the current budget], is going to require a Herculean effort, and the most focused case to be made for the sector.¡±

She added that the implications of the economic situation for university budgets were ¡°far more significant than is often recognised¡±, pointing out that the back-loading of cuts in the current spending period - which runs from the 2011-12 financial year to 2014-15 - meant that only about 20 per cent had been implemented by this year.

She said that there was ¡°absolutely no doubt the strong case made for the social and economic importance of the research base played a crucial role¡± in securing the current flat cash science budget.

Most people believed this was a ¡°good outcome in the [economic] circumstances¡±, even though it amounted to a 14 per cent real-terms drop by 2015, she added.

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Ms Dandridge said that the rise of the impact agenda in research had coincided with the ¡°repositioning¡± of universities from being, according to the caricature, ¡°somewhat remote and scholarly¡± institutions to bodies ¡°at the heart of the knowledge economy¡± following the sharp expansion in student numbers during the past decade.

But the financial situation had led impact to attain a particular ¡°resonance¡± with policymakers, and the impact case studies that universities were preparing for the 2014 research excellence framework would undoubtedly constitute a ¡°critical part¡± of the case UUK would make for investment in science and higher education in 2015.

paul.jump@tsleducation.com