Vice-chancellors are growing frustrated by the ¡°flurry¡± of new government levies that will substantially increase university running costs, the head of the Russell Group has said.

Wendy Piatt (pictured), director general of the mission group representing 24 research-intensive universities, said that there is also considerable unhappiness that higher education institutions¡¯ fundraising efforts would soon be restricted by new rules aimed at cracking down on unethical practices in the charitable sector.

¡°We feel quite exasperated by this and are pushing to be exempted,¡± Dr Piatt told an audience at the Association of University Administrators¡¯ annual conference in Leeds on 22 March.

As large charities, universities will soon fall under the remit of a new regulator introduced in the wake of scandals exposed last summer regarding aggressive fundraising practices.

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Those charities, including universities, that spend more than ?100,000 a year on fundraising will have to pay a levy to finance the new Fundraising Regulator.

Dr Piatt said that it was unfair that universities had been ¡°dragged into regulation that covers charities¡±.

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Efforts by universities to build lifelong relationships with their alumni should not be viewed in the same way as begging letters sent by charities or aggressive cold-calling methods employed in some cases.

Asking a graduate to contribute to their alma mater represented an ¡°entirely different relationship to cold-calling¡±, claimed Dr Piatt, saying that the rules were a ¡°major threat to an income stream¡± for universities.

¡°The irony is that successive governments have encouraged us to diversify sources of income so we do not depend on the state, including encouraging us to build a relationship with alumni,¡± she added.

Universities will also have to pay a new apprenticeship levy that requires all employers with a salary bill in excess of ?3 million to contribute to a new training fund from April 2017, Dr Piatt said.

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¡°That is 0.5 per cent of payroll,¡± she explained.

New proposals to stop organisations using state funds to lobby the government may also have a negative impact on universities, she said.

However, the ¡°flurry of levies and additional charges¡± due to be imposed on universities is unlikely to include the proposed ?1,000 annual levy on employers who use skilled workers from outside the European Union, Dr Piatt said.

¡°We have been led to believe from comments in Parliament that the levy will not be charged on employees who have a PhD qualification,¡± she said.

¡°That would be a big relief,¡± added Dr Piatt, saying that similar levies on overseas workers introduced in other countries had generally sought to remove staff with doctoral qualifications from restrictions.

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jack.grove@tesglobal.com