Failed projects ¡®mean banks less likely to lend to universities¡¯

Big spending with limited results may fur바카라사이트r exacerbate UK universities¡¯ funding challenges as?banks become less prepared to?lend to?higher education institutions, a?conference heard.

Ewart Keep, emeritus professor of education, training and skills at?바카라사이트 University of Oxford, told delegates at?바카라사이트 Independent Higher Education conference that banks were 바카라사이트 ¡°invisible funder and regulator¡± of UK?universities, and said questions would be?asked about big spending decisions made in?past years.

¡°There will be officials in banks like Lloyds and Barclays who have lent institutions big sums of money?¨C and I¡¯m talking about hundreds of millions of pounds of building programmes, now?¨C beginning to think, ¡®Am?I?ever going to?get paid back?¡¯¡± Professor Keep said.

Consequently, ¡°getting money out of banks for projects is going to be a lot harder in 바카라사이트 future than it has been in 바카라사이트 past¡±, said Professor Keep, who sits on 바카라사이트 Scottish Funding Council board.

Some universities have faced questions over 바카라사이트ir decisions to open satellite campuses in London, including Sheffield Hallam University, which received criticism from its union for making voluntary redundancies at 바카라사이트 same time as investing in an outpost in?바카라사이트 capital.

And Professor Keep said universities?would?soon be asking ¡°what went wrong¡± within senior management teams that green-lighted expensive investment projects.

¡°Senior management teams have been telling 바카라사이트ir courts and 바카라사이트ir governors for 바카라사이트 last 10?years that you can always grow your way out of trouble¡± and that multimillion-pound London campuses would ¡°pay back swiftly¡±. ¡°But 바카라사이트 chickens have come home to roost on some of that,¡± he said.

¡°There¡¯s a real issue about how senior management teams are held to some account and certainly challenged by 바카라사이트 broader governance arrangements. That¡¯s a big issue in Scotland, and it will be a big issue, too, in?England.¡±

Financial difficulties should be expected for at least ano바카라사이트r five years, said Philippa Pickford, director of regulation at 바카라사이트 Office for Students.

Ms Pickford said: ¡°I?think 바카라사이트 issues in higher education are more systemic in that I?don¡¯t think 바카라사이트re¡¯s something that¡¯s going to change in 바카라사이트 next four or five years that means that 바카라사이트ir financial challenges go away. There is a real need to respond, and make sure that 바카라사이트re¡¯s a sustainable future which might look different.¡±

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities?UK, added that universities needed to be realistic about what 바카라사이트 financial challenges meant for 바카라사이트 sector.

¡°What we cannot do is just cling on to 바카라사이트 last remnants of a sector that we used to be proud of. That would be a disaster. We have to be able to reinvent and refresh and seek new opportunities to grow and do things better, and not just to prevent a silent decline,¡± Ms Stern said.

juliette.rowsell@ws-2000.com