Current status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 28 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that university funding is meaningfully linked to best practice in healthy workplaces, specifically in relation to workload management and other drivers of work-related stress.
Whilst universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own decisions regarding pay and working conditions, the Scottish Government expects staff and trade unions to be consulted meaningfully and constructively to seek resolution to any disputes – in line with Fair Work principles. Implementation of Fair Work First must be the guiding criteria to promote fairer work practices for staff within the university sector.
Universities in receipt of government funding through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) are currently expected to meet two mandatory Fair Work First criteria (payment of at least the real Living Wage; and provision of appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice, such as trade union recognition), while being encouraged to meet all other non-mandatory Fair Work First criteria. From April 2027, colleges and universities will be expected to adopt all Fair Work First criteria and the SFC will look to include these as a condition of grant. Further details are set out in my answer to S6W-42976 on 13 January 2026: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-42976.
I also expect universities to take appropriate steps to support and promote staff wellbeing, and comply with relevant legal requirements, including the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974. The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for enforcing health and safety requirements at UK workplaces, including universities.