UCU Commons newsletter #22, 15 July 2026
Dear subscriber
Welcome to the UCU Commons newsletter, a curated set of links and information about what's happening in UCU Commons, our union, and our sectors more generally. As always, we welcome any feedback you may have on this or any other matter.
In today's issue:
What UCU Commons has been doing
Mark Pendleton, Tilly Fitzmaurice, Ben Pope and Laura Chuhan Campbell attended the annual Durham Miners’ Gala on Saturday 11 July. Tilly Fitzmaurice, who has lived in the area since 2017, says “The Gala is one of my summer highlights and I try to go every year. The atmosphere is so unifying and a wonderful reminder that we belong to a world-wide community of trade unionists, with a shared commitment to organising and solidarity with all workers, whoever they are. It is also a reminder that unions are crucial to resisting the far-right with its insidious co-option of working class histories and dangerous division of communities. Just this year, when Durham Pride was stripped of funding by the Reform-led Durham County Council, the Durham Miners’ Association stepped in and rallied the unions to raise funds, making the event bigger and better than ever. In the spirit of mutual aid and solidarity, do consider joining the Friends of Durham Miners’ Gala to support this incredible unique event in the years to come. This year’s slogan says it all: “the past we inherit, the future we build”.
Jo Edge (co-chair) chaired the meeting of UCU’s national Anti-Casualisation Committee (ACC) on Wednesday 8 July. Jo says, “I am delighted to report that our motion to open up the nomination process to the ACC was passed after a brief discussion. It will now go to the National Executive Committee (NEC) for ratification. We also welcomed three new co-opted members, heard from regional representatives attending as observers, and discussed several important papers from committee members and staff relating to academic freedom, health and safety, ‘subject-to-funding’ open-ended contracts and more. Additionally, we are planning an online meeting about branch organising, spearheaded by Commons member and ACC vice chair Ben Pope, which will take place later this year. I’m really enthused and excited to get on with important work alongside a brilliant team of staff and members”.
Struggle to understand all things pension-related? Fear not: Bijan Parsia has written a blog post on the latest Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS) news. Bijan says, “In some rare good HE funding news, the Government announced a cut to the TPS's employer contribution rate. Some people have been confused how this could happen without loss of benefits and we explain how. It strengthens the position of some branches facing redundancies, subsidiarisation, or forced transfer out of TPS”.
News from UCU
General Secretary Jo Grady has responded to the unwelcome news this week that the government has cut the Strategic Priorities Grant. This includes funding for nursing and computing, as well as history, archaeology and creative arts. The statement calls out the antithetical nature of the cuts, given the government’s own purported strategic priorities, and urges this short-sighted reversal of funds. Rob Clarke says, “Once again it is clear that Rachel Reeves and co do not understand that value of anything that doesn’t begin with a pound sign. Cuts to nursing courses are just plain bizarre given the state of our NHS, cuts to humanities will cost us the criticality that our society so desperately needs right now, and cuts to the arts just show that this government is entirely lacking in creativity and joy. I never imagined that we’d be facing such a dystopian future, and certainly not one that was deliberately manufactured by politicians that are so entirely lacking in vitality and soul”.
UCU is holding a Prison Education Development Day on Saturday 8 August. This hybrid event will focus on health and safety, workload, branch building and rep development. Attendees will have all expenses covered for in-person attendance. email David Bussell. Our prison educators face some of the most challenging and difficult workplace conditions in our sectors, made worse by rampant privatisation, cuts to pay and ever-increasing constraints on the curriculum.
In our sectors
This week, the government has announced a £485m funding injection for Further Education. While details have not yet been released, this is much-welcomed news for our exhausted members in FE, whose campaign for a New Deal is ongoing. We look forward to hearing more in due course.
On Wednesday 9 July, suspended Vice Chancellor of the University of Greater Manchester (previously, the University of Bolton), George Holmes, along with his partner and the University’s Director of Facilities, were arrested on suspicion of fraud. This is thought to be the first time a VC has been arrested during a criminal investigation, which centres around the misappropriation of around £1.7m of university funds. All three have been bailed pending further enquiries. Rob Clarke says, “Obviously it would not be right to comment on an ongoing police investigation, and I do not know the exact circumstances of the Vice Chancellor’s arrest, but if he was, for example, knocked up by the police in the wee small hours as he was counting his money, and had his pornstar martini torn from his hands by a burly police officer as he was dragged from his grace-and-favour mansion, then obviously my thoughts and prayers go out to him. If other Vice Chancellors are starting to look a bit sweaty at the moment, it might not be due only to the heat”.
We hope you have enjoyed this round up. Want to get involved? Join UCU Commons and work with us towards a more effective union for post-16 education here.
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