Politicians have appealed to the Office for Students to intervene over “significant changes to the employment arrangements” at London South Bank University.
The institution has been criticised over its plans to move many of its existing academics into new “teaching and scholarship” roles, with the rest being kept in a “teaching and research” position.
Staff have claimed this will create a “two-tier workforce”, which will see most employed by a subsidiary firm, losing access to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
The university has insisted the changes are needed because of the “evolving needs” of students and will allow it to protect academic roles while securing the financial sustainability of the institution.
But the co-chairs of the University and College Union (UCU) Parliamentary Group, Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, and Christine Blower, a member of the House of Lords, have called on the English regulator to review the plans, warning the restructure could have ramifications for the rest of the sector.
