A GLIMMER of hope that four University of Liverpool departments could be saved emerged last night after its Vice Chancellor told the shadow Home Secretary closure was not certain.
Professor Sir Howard Newby met with Chris Grayling MP yesterday to discuss the proposed closure of the politics, communications, philosophy and statistics courses.
“I asked him if it was a done deal, and he said it was not,” said Mr Grayling. “It’s not certain that the closures will happen.”
Mr Grayling also met with students from the Save our Subjects (SOS) campaign.
Meanwhile, Labour Liverpool Riverside MP Louise Ellman met with students in London to discuss proposed changes to increase the tuition fee cap.
Mrs Ellman has also put down a written question to ministers about the proposed University of Liverpool closures and will be meeting with Sir Howard on Friday.
The university has proposed closure of the departments, saying they do not meet the institution’s “exceptional standards”.
Last night, Mr Grayling said: “I had a good conversation with Sir Howard about the courses, the university and education generally.
“I got the impression that he was not absolutely set on closure.
“I think it’s encouraging to hear that the university has not definitely taken the decision to close.
“There’s clearly an energetic campaign and that’s good.
“There’s every reason for the campaign group to try to engage the university leadership to resolve the situation.
“The way research funding is being allocated nationally and in future is creating a situation where universities are taking decisions to close departments that they might not otherwise take.
“The current system of funding has had unintended consequences and government should look again at it."
