Cuts 'may damage university teaching'

Leeds and Sheffield Universities – both members of the elite Russell Group – have said their teaching and research would be affected by any further cuts to higher education in the planned emergency budget next month.

Chancellor George Osborne and his Liberal Democrat deputy David Laws have called on the higher education sector to make savings of 200m this year.

This will mean 10,000 fewer extra student places from September. The previous Government had planned an increase of 20,000 places although it has been warned up to 250,000 potential students could miss because of a surge in demand.

The cuts were announced as part of the coalition Government's plan to save more than 6bn in the current financial year as it looks to bring the country's national deficit down.

It comes on top of more than 1bn of planned cutbacks to university spending which had been outlined by the former Government. This included savings of 449m in the current financial year.

Leeds University's vice-chancellor and chairman of the Russell Group Professor Michael Arthur had previously warned major cuts could send higher education into "meltdown".

A spokeswoman for Leeds University said: "It is very concerning that – taken on top of 1bn cuts to higher education announced over the past few months – this latest cut further undermines the ability of our higher education sector to compete against increasingly stiff international competition.

"Any further funding reduction during the coming year and beyond would risk damaging the education of our students and the cutting-edge research at Russell Group universities like ours – and undermine the Government's ambitions for world-leading innovation and a highly educated and socially mobile workforce."

A Sheffield University spokeswoman said: "At Sheffield University, we looked ahead last year and took some difficult decisions to reduce costs and improve efficiencies at the university.

"However, with these further in-year reductions in Government funding, and the likelihood that more reductions will be announced in the emergency budget next month, it becomes extremely difficult to deliver our absolute commitment to preserve an environment which protects the student experience and our quality research base."

Student loans chairman sacked

The chairman of the beleaguered Student Loans Company John Goodfellow has been sacked.

Chief executive Ralph Seymour-Jackson has also stepped down after new Universities Minister David Willetts indicated he had "no confidence" in him, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said.

Mr Willetts asked chairman John Goodfellow to leave and told him he had no confidence in Mr Seymour-Jackson after a review following widespread delays to payments found causes for concern.