Universities: Financial Sustainability Debate
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Viscount Hanworth
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Universities: Financial Sustainability
Viscount Hanworth Excerpts(8 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Barran (Con)
With respect to my noble friend, he makes a very speculative statement, which makes it pretty hard for me to comment on it.
Viscount Hanworth (Lab)
The Minister is doubtless aware that the pension fund of university lecturers is mainly invested in Thames Water. Traditionally, the munificence of the university pension scheme was regarded as a compensation for penurious academic salaries. Is the Minister aware of how difficult it will now be to attract people of talent into the profession, given the collapse of the pension scheme?
Baroness Barran (Con)
Obviously, the pension scheme is an element, but I am not aware that the entitlement of university lecturers is changing. Clearly, it is up to individual institutions to make themselves as attractive as possible to academic staff.