For Staff

Why is it needed?

The economies exercise was initiated in October 2009 in the light of actual and expected cuts in Government funding of higher education.   A series of reductions were announced during 2009-10 and in October 2010 the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review confirmed that there will be a further 40% reduction in the higher education budget, excluding research, by 2014-15.

Although the details of funding cuts are still unclear, funding for research has some protection and will remain steady in cash terms (which is of course equivalent to a cut in real terms of about 10% by 2014-15). We expect significant reductions in the funding for teaching - the recent Browne review suggested that these might be as large as 80 per cent over four years - and it is unlikely that fee increases alone could make good all the shortfall in other income streams.

The economies exercise is helping us prepare for these reductions in funding and protect us from the worst effects of the increased volatility in funding.
More information about changes in higher education funding, including student support, is available on the fees and funding web pages

More about the economies exercise and the information published in 2009-10 is available at www.leeds.ac.uk/comms/financial