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Joint update to January 2023 joint statement

14 June 2023

Recognising the current impasse in national negotiations, the University of Exeter and the Exeter branch of UCU will continue to work locally to progress the commitments set out in the January 2023 joint statement:

  • Pay: building on the pay scale changes implemented in November 2023, which benefited around two-thirds of University staff, the University and UCU will continue to review information on salaries paid by our competitors and identify any roles or grades which should be priorities for further changes, recognising budget pressures, to ensure that the University is able to recruit and retain staff and deliver its strategic priorities and an excellent student experience. Any proposal for changes would only be agreed outside a period of Industrial Action.
  • Pensions: the University and UCU welcome the national joint statements issued by UUK and UCU on the USS pension scheme on 17 February, 15 March and 25 May 2023. We hope that the outcome of the current triennial valuation of USS will confirm that the benefits can be restored to the pre-April 2022 levels in a demonstrably sustainable manner. We support the commitment of employers and UCU to work together on 2023 valuation and future valuations are undertaken on an evidence-based basis, taking account of the open and long-term nature of the scheme so that we do not return to dispute at each valuation.
  • Workload: the University and UCU will work together to review the effectiveness of the implementation of the new University principles on academic workload, agreed by the University Executive Board following consideration of the recommendation of the working group chaired by Professor Alex Gerbasi, which included representation from UCU. The University will continue to work with trade unions to develop and implement principles for the management of the workload of Professional Services colleagues.
  • Fair Employment For All: building on the progress already made – which have led to over 750 fixed term contracts being converted to permanent since 2020 – the University will continue to work with UCU to review the use of non-permanent contracts in teaching and introduce a new procedure for staff employed on successive fixed term contracts or engaged over at least 3 successive years on eClaims to seek a review of their contact status. We will also work together to review arrangements for colleagues employed on externally funded projects to move between projects in order to maintain their experience within the University and provide continuity of employment.
  • Equality: the University and UCU welcome the improvement of the Gender Pay Gap in 2022. The University will continue to work with trade unions and other stakeholders, through our equality groups to progress and monitor the commitments set out in the Race Equality Charter and our Athena Swan accreditations and the positive impact these will have on the student and staff experience. We recognise the positive contribution which Our Culture Conversation will make to identifying further improvements to colleagues’ working environment and monitoring the effectiveness of actions.