Cuts may put iconic Armstrong building in danger
Nov 19 2009 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
CUTS to university funding could leave one of Newcastle’s most iconic building under threat.
Government ministers have ordered big cuts in the higher education budget which will see up to £180m taken out of a national £8bn university cash pot.
As a result Newcastle University has been told it is likely to lose the £1.3m normally handed over each year to be spent on preserving the famous Armstrong building.
It follows a cash raid last year which saw some £800,000 diverted away from the university. Changes forced onto the Higher Education Funding Council by the Government will also see around £240,000 taken from Newcastle University’s post-graduate pot.
Last night there were claims further funding cuts could still be made to the region’s leading university.
Professor Tony Stevenson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, said the money for historic building maintenance would be taken from the 2010 to 2011 budget.
He said: “The money we have will have to be spread much further. In a sense the victims will be those universities lucky enough to have these old buildings. We’re about ninth in the list, so we’re far from the worst-hit university under these changes.
“But there is still the possibility of further cuts to come as well.”
