Strathclyde University announces plans to cut 70 jobs

A Scottish university is planning to cut more than 70 jobs.

The University of Strathclyde announced the measure as part of a bid to save £35m over the next two years.

They said the savings were about ensuring the university operated on a "sound financial basis".

The University and College Union (UCU) said it would fight any job cuts and urged the institution to rule out compulsory redundancies.

Details of which jobs may be at risk have not been made public by the university.

It is thought they could include roles at Strathclyde Business School and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.

The university could not confirm whether the cuts could have a direct effect on any courses.

A spokesperson said: "Strathclyde maintains a strong strategic, academic and reputational position, and we are proactively reshaping our finances to ensure we continue to deliver excellent teaching, research and innovation.

"This is a continuation of the approach we have taken over the past two years to manage costs and increase income.

"Using a wide range of measures, we are implementing £20m of planned savings this year and £15m next year."

Strathclyde was recently named Scottish University of the Year in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide.

It is the latest Scottish university to announce job cuts.

Last month, staff at the University of Edinburgh took part in three days of strikes over the institution's failure to rule out compulsory redundancies as part of a £140m savings package.

Hundreds of staff have already taken voluntary redundancy.

Lecturers at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) ended strike action in November after receiving a "guarantee" that planned job losses would not go ahead.

Meanwhile, more than 40 staff left Aberdeen University as part of a voluntary severance and early retirement scheme as it sought to find £5.5m in savings.

Each university is a self-governing institution and receives its money from a number of different sources.

These include the public money from the Scottish Funding Council to pay for the tuition of Scottish students, fees from students from outside Scotland and money from a range of organisations to pay for research work.

Mike Williamson, regional officer for UCU, said the threat of compulsory job cuts at Strathclyde was "unacceptable".

He added: "We have urged the university to find other ways to make up its budget shortfall but so far it has refused to rule out compulsory redundancies.

"We will use any tool at our disposal to stop these job losses and will be consulting with out members at Strathclyde over the coming weeks as we decide what to do."