Sheffield Students’ Union is set to face a financial shortfall of £692,000 in the coming year.
The main source of the problem is a cut from the University grant, by 11%- and it is believed this will not increase with inflation, until the university’s finances are healthy again.
In real terms, this means a cut from £4.15 million to £3.75 million, a cut of £400,000.
This comes at a time when universities across the UK have had to make major cuts to staffing at a time of financial crisis.
The Students’ Union currently employs 144 FTE (full-time equivalent) staff, and these staff cost 73% of their budget.
The outcome of these cuts could result in 7 to 10 FTE staff and hour losses.
A further £150,000 cost arose as a result of the Labour government’s budget in October, which saw National Insurance contributions rise. Additionally, living wage adjustments and inflation mean a further shortfall of £142,000.
Daisy Watson, SU President, said in an SU Council Briefing: “It’s been an extraordinarily long process. It’s been months of continuously assessing where we need to make adjustments to make sure that we remain sustainable as a functioning students’ union, but also how to ensure that student interest and representation remains central”.
Sources from within the SU say that staff teams are set to experience changes to structures/roles and are currently consulting with the leadership of the organisation. Services including the Student Advice Centre, Activities and Volunteering are amongst the areas currently under review.
This is after news that the University is cutting jobs in both academic and professional services, leading to the closure of the Architecture and Landscape MA, the minimisation of East Asian Studies and continual stripping of vital student services.
However, there are strategies being put in place to reduce the negative impacts.
This includes; vacancy control, recruitment freeze (from November onwards), reduced non-staff spending, promoted support for flexible working requests and asking staff to find suggestions and feedback on additional savings.
A member of the SU council raised concerns about how this would impact societies through budget cuts.
Daisy Watson continued: “Society budgets are an absolute priority.”
She appreciated that societies have taken significant budget cuts over the past few years and knows this has been ‘extremely hard’ for some societies, however the change programme ‘aims for impacts on students to be minimised’.
Watson stated: ‘The most significant changes they’ll see will be in the staff team supporting them and most likely not in their budgets.”
More details about exactly how these cuts will be actualised will come out in March, and those at risk of redundancy have already been told.
Daisy added: “Proposals are subject to a staff consultation period which is currently taking place.
Regarding their own financial situation, a spokesperson for the University of Sheffield said: “In response to the financial challenges facing UK universities, including Sheffield, we have been making savings across the institution with a focus on maintaining an excellent education and experience for our students.
“This also applies to the annual grant the University provides to the Students’ Union, with the same expectation that student support is prioritised. To give the SU as much time as possible to plan for these savings, we made no changes to its grant for this financial year.
“We will continue to work closely with our SU to deliver the fantastic student experience and education for which Sheffield is renowned.”
In a statement, Sheffield Students’ Union said: ‘Sheffield Students’ Union is facing the challenge of a tough financial climate for Higher Education in the UK leading to a reduction in grants given by the University, an increase in national insurance contributions, and inflationary costs. We have been proactive in working on mitigations to address these impacts, including identifying non-staff cost savings, and additional income opportunities.
We are currently reviewing and re-prioritising our staffing roles and structures to align them with our new strategy, and to respond to current financial challenges. Our strategy will see us undertake ambitious and exciting work focused on student influence and belonging, but it is essential that we are able to deliver this in a sustainable manner.
We are endeavouring to minimise impact on our staff whilst ensuring our services are aligned with the ambitions of our new strategy. Proposals for the revised structure are now under consultation with staff.’
