Brighton & Hove Labour today raised concerns at cuts to Sussex University, which has seen its income cut by 5.1%.

This is the first part of almost £3bn of cuts to universities over the next 3 years as the Government moves to load the cost of going to university onto students by trebling tuition fees.

Labour is also concerned that even deeper cuts to universities could be announced in June when the Government’s White Paper on Higher Education is due to be published.

This is because if tuition fees rise by more than the level that the Government expected, they will have to find cuts to cover the extra costs of those parts of student loans that aren’t repaid. The Government anticipated average fees of £7,500 but many universities have already announced plans to charge the maximum fee of £9,000. The higher the loan students have to take out to cover the cost of their university studies, the higher the level of non or partial repayment will be.

Councillor Pat Hawkes, Brighton & Hove Labour Lead for Young People, said:

“These cuts are the thin end of the wedge for students and their families and for university staff. Trebling tuition fees and cutting university funding so deeply, so quickly, isn’t fair, wasn’t necessary and is clearly unsustainable.”

“This is bad news for Sussex University, which like all universities is being forced to raise its tuition fees just to stand still. This is already passing extra debt to students and their families, and if the Tory-led government announces even deeper cuts, that burden could get worse.”