University chiefs furious over curbs on autonomy

University chiefs are in open revolt at the Government's new higher- education Bill, which they regard as a Draconian attack on university autonomy. Lucy Hodges says they plan to ask the Education Secretary to drop the powers he is giving himself to intervene in university life.

The Government's plan to introduce pounds 1,000 tuition fees but stop universities charging any more than in top-up fees has angered vice-chancellors, who are seeking an urgent meeting with David Blunkett.

Described as unnecessary, excessive and unprecedented, the Teaching and Higher Education Bill should be opposed, they decided at a meeting last week .

Some vice-chancellors suggested that universities should refuse to co- operate over government reforms, including possibly the pounds 1,000 tuition fee. If that did happen - and there were one or two voices yesterday advocating such a course - it would cause mayhem in higher education, because universities are supposed to collect the new fee.

Diana Warwick, chief executive of the vice-chancellors' committee, said: "These powers give Government an unacceptable power to interfere politically with the courses universities run and with their ability to make totally reasonable charges for anything from field trips to photocopying. They go far beyond what would be necessary to rule out top-up fees. We will fight hard to get the reserve powers removed from the Bill."

The vice-chancellors would agree not to charge top-up fees to students if the Government provides what they consider to be adequate funding for the universities. In return they want Mr Blunkett to drop the clauses in the Bill which they regard as unreasonable.

At Friday's meeting, vice-chancellors called for a guarantee to be included in the Bill that money raised by student fees would be genuinely new, extra money for higher education and not be used merely to replace existing funding.

At present, no university has hard plans to introduce top-up fees, though some vice- chancellors in the "old" universities are keen to keep the power to charge extra if government funding falls short. They are worried that the funding crisis in higher education is simply going to get worse. Under government spending plans, universities in the United Kingdom face a cut of 4.2 per cent, 1.5 per cent, 2.5 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively over the next three years. And the higher-education funding council is predicting that more than half of universities will be in the red by the turn of the century. This is the third time the Department for Education and Employment has tried to gain more control over the university system. Previous attempts have been fought off fairly easily but the new attempt looks altogether more serious.