Liverpool Hope University has become the latest to announce it is looking at making?compulsory redundancies, as a new wave of job cuts impacts UK higher education.

In the latest sign that universities have exhausted attempts to encourage people to leave voluntarily, the university is proposing 39 compulsory redundancies, including 23 from its Faculty of Education and Social Sciences, 11 in the Faculty of Creative Arts and Humanities, and five in its Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences, according to a against the changes.

A university spokesperson said that the proposals have ¡°not been taken lightly¡±, and that?the institution is working with the University and College Union (UCU) to ¡°explore options¡±.?

¡°The proposals are currently undergoing consultation and no plans have been confirmed thus far. We are committed to working in partnership with UCU, and with colleagues to protect their well-being during this difficult period. We appreciate this is a worrying time for staff and are supporting them throughout this process while maintaining regular communication,¡± they said.

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The announcement makes Liverpool Hope the third university in a week to announce plans to press ahead with compulsory redundancies, after Arts University Bournemouth said it was considering making 75 staff redundant, and Cardiff Metropolitan University said that between 30 and 50 full-time equivalent staff could be cut.?De Montfort University and Durham University have?also?recently announced cuts.

The Liverpool Hope spokesperson said it was ¡°not immune¡± to the challenges facing higher education, and ¡°this proposal has been put forward to ensure financial and academic stability while enabling us to continue to deliver excellent educational outcomes into the future¡±.?

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The petition against the cuts has so far gained over 500 signatures, demanding that the university withdraw the threat of compulsory redundancies, adding: ¡°When staff are forced out, the quality of education we expect and deserve disappears.¡±?

UCU said that if?the university refuses to rule out compulsory redundancies by 23 May, it will enter into a formal industrial dispute, the first step towards a possible strike ballot.

General secretary Jo Grady said: ¡°Liverpool Hope has strong finances and plays a key role in providing access to the arts and humanities to young people across the north-west, so it is shameful that management¡¯s knee-jerk response to a projected deficit is to attempt to slash vital jobs.

¡°Senior managers must think again, otherwise our members will fight to defend jobs and student provision by any means necessary.¡±

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com