Sheffield Hallam University has halted plans to move academics into a wholly owned subsidiary company without access to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. At London South Bank University, staff are set to walk out next week over changes that would see some being moved to a subco.  

University and College Union members at Hallam have secured an agreement that academics will remain directly employed by the university and retain access to the TPS, meaning strikes planned for this week have been called off.  

UCU members went on strike on 27 May after the university proposed employing teaching staff through a subsidiary company, removing access to TPS, as well as cutting jobs, ending automatic career progression and increasing maximum teaching hours.

 
“We welcome the decision of Sheffield Hallam to keep staff employed by the university and in their pension scheme, but they must now rule out compulsory redundancies,” said UCU general secretary Jo Grady. “Senior leaders now need to sit down with us and work to protect jobs and student provision.” 

In a joint statement, Sheffield Hallam and the Hallam UCU branch said as well as an immediate withdrawal of the proposal to move existing employees to a subsidiary, the agreement includes an increase in the voluntary redundancy payment. 

“We hope this enhanced offer will result in a sufficient uptake of VR to meet the required savings without the need for compulsory redundancies,” the statement reads. “Both parties welcome this positive outcome, in which both the university and UCU have committed to continue with constructive discussions for the remaining aspects of the proposed changes.” 

The university said it agreed to the changes as it expects a significant reduction in the employer pension contribution rates to TPS from April 2027, due to be announced soon. TPS employer contributions are currently double those in the Universities Superannuation Scheme. They are expected to come down because the 'superannuation contributions adjusted for past experience' discount rate for the 2024 valuation was recently set at CPI+2%.  

At London South Bank University, UCU members will go on strike for two days next week. The London institution has proposed terminating all academic contracts and reassess them based on a two-way framework, where one stream would then be employed through a subsidiary, with the UCU saying this would overwhelmingly affect women. UCU accuses LSBU of having turned down ACAS talks to resolve the dispute.  

“Our members are taking strike action because they refuse to stand by as management tears up their contracts, pits them against each other for their jobs and pushes new starters out of the industry standard pension scheme,” said Grady.  

“We are disappointed that management has refused to work with us to stop these unnecessary changes to terms and conditions, even rejecting ACAS talks to resolve the dispute. Senior leaders must change course, get round the negotiating table and work with us, or face disruption on campus,” she said. 

UCU has been fighting attempts to undermine university employees’ access to TPS at multiple modern universities. It organised strikes at Southampton’s Solent University in February as 286 professional services employees were moved into a private company, being offered a defined contribution scheme instead of the Local Government Pension Scheme.  

At the University of Chichester, all new hires join a subsidiary firm with access to DC only. In April, the union did not rule out a strike ballot and potential action. 

Northumbria University is giving academics the option to move out of TPS and into USS. Having originally proposed lower salary increases for those staying in TPS, the university later agreed to negotiate pay rises for those staying in the scheme. 

LSBU has been contacted for comment.