Financial Impact of COVID-19 at Perth College UHI

We have presented the impact of COVID19 to our Board of Management as part of our 2020/21 budget approval. This outlines a savings requirement of £1.925m, reflecting a similar financially uncertain position faced by other Scottish Colleges.

College Principal Dr Margaret Cook stated, “While the College has stable recruitment, a significant proportion of our revenue is generated from non-publicly funded sources. This has resulted in a disproportionately heightened deficit position which has been exacerbated by an estimated £1.4m direct impact of COVID-19 on our range of income streams. This coupled with absorbing increasing operating costs has become extremely challenging and we need to identify ways of reducing our costs going forward to continue the financial sustainability of the College.

The College will be working with our staff and trade unions to explore the viability of a range of potential mitigating actions to reduce this deficit and to work towards achieving a balanced budget within a 3 year period.

This projected deficit position currently assumes no additional funding support and we are engaging with a range of stakeholders, including our funding bodies and Colleges Scotland on this matter. We are beginning early discussions with our staff and with the Trade Unions on the range of proposals that we can implement in order to achieve these savings. We will endeavour to achieve this with the least possible impact on our students and staff and remain committed to continuing to deliver an excellent student experience.”