Questions asked by Nuala McAllister in the Northern Ireland Assembly

Dr Archibald (The Minister for the Economy)

Mr Speaker, with your permission, I will answer questions 1 and 13 together. I recognise the vital role that further education colleges and higher education institutions play in supporting our economy, developing skills and promoting regional balance. Ulster University has commenced a process inviting applications under a voluntary redundancy scheme. I appreciate that it is a worrying and uncertain time for staff. My Department continues to engage with the university, and I encourage the university to continue its constructive engagement with trade unions. I hope that any compulsory redundancies will be avoided, as was the case in the further education sector two years ago. Since taking up my role, I have sought to prioritise funding for skills, specifically for our further and higher education institutions, including successfully advocating for in-year funding for both sectors. I have allocated an additional £400,000 each to St Mary's University College and Stranmillis University College. I have increased the further education budget envelope each year to facilitate a 19·7% pay increase for lecturers over the past three years in recognition of their valued contribution to upskilling across the region. I strongly support Ulster University's delivery of higher education in Derry, Belfast and Coleraine, which contributes to regional balance. Since the return of the Executive, the university has reported an approximate increase in student numbers of 22% at Magee and 12% at Coleraine. Whilst I remain committed to securing a sustainable future for our further and higher education sectors, both sectors are facing pressures as a result of operating within contingency funding allocations, along with an inescapable funding gap. Along with my Executive colleagues, I have consistently highlighted the unsustainable nature of current funding arrangements and continue to press the British Government for a fair and sustainable funding settlement that protects public services and supports economic development, including in further and higher education.

Ms Sugden

Both universities have been highly critical of the current funding model, including minimal inflationary rises. Minister, will you take responsibility for the inevitable outcome that the redundancies will seemingly have? How will we support universities so that they do have a sustainable future and will not have to consider more job losses?

Dr Archibald

I thank the Member for her question. I am on record as saying that I could not sign up to the Executive Budget that was on the table because it would have put our further and higher education institutions, in particular, in significant difficulty and limit the opportunity for wider economic development. I, along with my Executive colleagues, continue to make the case that we need to have a fair funding settlement and that we need to be able to invest in our public services, including our further and higher education institutions. I recognise the pressures that both are under. I recognise that our universities have faced pretty much flat-cash budget settlements for the past number of years and that that has had an impact. I will be making the case for them to my Executive colleagues. My paper on higher education funding was discussed at the Executive. I tabled it to make my Executive colleagues aware of the significant pressures that our higher education institutions are under. We all need to continue the work of trying to get a better Budget settlement.

Mr Delargy

Minister, from the recent Brain Gain research, there are a number of suggestions. How do you intend to use that research to support our universities' sustainability?

Dr Archibald

I thank the Member for his question. The Brain Gain research has provided us with an important evidence base for how we can sustain our universities into the future. It challenges what has been the mainstream narrative for quite some time, which is that there has been a brain drain, by showing that the number of students leaving here is fairly in line with numbers elsewhere and is significantly lower than the number in some regions of Britain. It is therefore important that we understand and consider the evidence base that we have and that we work with others on how we can attract more students to come and study here. I am keen to work with our universities, employers and agencies such as Tourism NI to see how we can present the North as an attractive place in which to study, build a career and live. The research also highlights how we have work to do to strengthen our jobs market. We particularly need to strengthen links between higher education and the labour market so that the skills coming out of our institutions align with the needs of the economy. There is therefore broader work to be done, but a significant opportunity exists for us here.

Dr Archibald

I thank the Member for her question. I agree with her. I have had significant engagement with representatives from our universities and our further education colleges, at both principal and board level, and with the trade unions that represent further and higher education staff. In some respects, we have the shared goal of arguing for additional investment, so it is important that we take on board their experience. We will take different positions on how to achieve certain outcomes, and that is also fine. Together, however, we can make a really compelling case for why we need to see investment in our public services, and in our further and higher education institutions in particular. It is because of the really important role that they play not only in developing our economy but in giving people opportunities and improving lives.

Mr Bradley

Given the announcement of £9·3 million in funding for Ulster University, which is made up of £7 million, £1·5 million and £800,000 for projects associated with the university, can the Minister clarify how much of that funding her Department has earmarked for Magee and how much, if any, it has earmarked for Coleraine? Project funding may not be available to meet staffing costs, so what direct support is she offering the university across its three campuses?

Dr Archibald

I do not have the specific figures in front of me to which the Member refers — I think that they come from a response to a question for written answer — but I am happy to correspond with him further. It goes back to my point about how we need to see investment in our further and higher education institutions in general in order for them to be able to deliver and to ensure that they are rightsized to meet the needs of the student population and to continue the important work that they do. That is why it is important that we continue the negotiations with the British Government and establish a shared position across not just the Executive but the Assembly on the need for proper and fair funding for this place.

Ms McLaughlin

Minister, such redundancies do not happen in isolation. In your answers, you said that the absence of a Budget is making the situation even more difficult. While we are supposed to be expanding Magee to 10,000 students, Ulster University is simultaneously being forced to cut jobs. How can those two things possibly be reconciled? What assurances can you give that the north-west will not pay the price not only for the financial crisis in Ulster University but for the financial crisis here owing to the lack of a Budget?

Dr Archibald

I thank the Member for her question. I reflect, as would, I am sure, our universities, that it is not a problem of just this year but one that has grown over a number of years, because we have not seen the type of investment that we need in our public services in general. Particularly in our further and higher education institutions, we have seen a kind of flat-cash settlement over a number of years. That creates challenges when there are the types of inflation uplifts that we have seen over recent years. That is a particular problem right now when it comes to the contingency allocations that our institutions are trying to work to. That is why we need to get a Budget settlement. We have seen increased numbers at Magee. We are likely to see an additional increase in this academic year. We await the final numbers in respect of that. We have a focus on expanding the number of students. A plan on how we can do that is in place, and we continue to work to that plan. I am committed to delivering against that, as are, I think, the wider Executive.