A WAVE of anger is spreading through Britain鈥檚 six research councils in the
wake of union claims that the government is planning to cut 500 administrative
jobs from a total of 1340. The Office of Science and Technology denies that
any such decision has been taken but admits that John Cadogan, director-general
of the research councils, is reviewing staffing levels.
Unions representing research council staff based in Swindon and London
calculated the number of planned redundancies from a memo detailing
negotiations over staffing levels between Cadogan and Tom Blundell, chief
executive of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Blundell it says, is 鈥渦nder severe pressure from Sir John Cadogan to reduce
苍耻尘产别谤蝉鈥�.
The memo, from Rae Fitzgerald, manager of the BBSRC office, says Cadogan
asked why 15 posts could not be lost on top of 28 already lost through
vacancies and voluntary redundancies. 鈥淲e believe this is in keeping with the
cuts asked for in other research councils,鈥� says Fitzgerald. By extrapolating
from these figures, the unions estimate that 500 jobs are under threat.
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At union meetings this week to discuss the affair, staff expressed feelings
of anger and despair, says Kevin Brandstatter of the National Union of Civil
and Public Servants. 鈥淭his is the third or fourth staff review we have lived
through in the past ten years.鈥� Much of the anger is aimed at Cadogan himself,
whose management style has come in for heavy criticism from staff.
A statement from Cadogan鈥檚 office says he is reviewing research council
staffing, as foreshadowed in the government鈥檚 policy document, Forward Look,
published in April. 鈥淒ecisions are unlikely before the turn of the year,鈥� says
the statement. It stresses that Cadogan鈥檚 aim is to free up money from
administration for research.
Brandstatter argues that Cadogan鈥檚 plans would produce false savings. 鈥淚t
is all very well to say that cutting jobs here will mean more money for
research,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut it will also mean more administration thrust onto the
research institutions because we shall have to pass on what we shall be unable
to do here.鈥�
The unions argue that the research councils鈥� administrative systems are
already efficient, accounting for only 3.5 per cent of their overall budget.
The average across the European Union is about 7.5 per cent, they say, while
the administrative bill for the Ministry of Defence鈥檚 procurement executive is
25 per cent.