Jobs are under threat at a top Midland university amid claims bosses are hoping to save more than £1 million.

Around 800 researchers, lecturers and support staff at the University of Warwick's Medical School and School of Life Sciences have been warned that the departments are under-performing financially.

Sources suggest the university is aiming to save £1.6 million but the number of jobs at risk has not been confirmed.

Staff have been told the university will aim to avoid compulsory redundancies.

If it plans to make more than 20 people redundant, it has to enter into a formal consultation process with the recognised unions although this has not yet taken place.

Professor Dennis Leech, president of the Warwick branch of the University and College Union (UCU), said: "The university management has informed the unions about possible job losses in Warwick Medical School and the School of Life Sciences.

"They have also notified all the staff of the two departments. However, to date they have not divulged to us the scale of the job losses they are seeking.

"UCU is not prepared to take it on trust there is a need for job losses in a very wealthy university like Warwick when it is spending millions on buildings, landscaping and a range of prestige projects.

"If there are to be job losses, we need to be convinced these do not result from either poor management or flawed governance.

"Teaching of students' courses should not be cut as a result of a shortfall in research grant income or overambitious financial plans, nor should staff have to pay with their careers.

"We need to see the detail of the university's proposals and to enter into a process of meaningful consultation with a view to avoiding the need for compulsory redundancies of staff."

Warwick's Medical School was opened in 2000 and is one of only two solely graduate-entry medical schools in the UK.

It was established as a collaborative venture with the University of Leicester and was granted independent degree-awarding status in 2007.

The School of Life Sciences offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and conducts research into bacteria, viruses, fungi, micororganisms, animals and plants.

A spokeswoman for the University of Warwick said work was underway to try to improve the financial standing of the two Schools without the need for compulsory redundancies.

She said: "Staff at both Warwick Medical School and the University of Warwick’s School of Life Sciences have both been made aware that the university is concerned that they are operating significantly below their financial targets.

"The university now needs to work with both of those departments to help them rebalance their plans to ensure that they have a strong and sustainable future.

"The university is setting up review groups to work with each School to determine where and how savings can be made and to explore potential improvement in income.

"While that work has just begun the early indications are that in order to secure the long-term viability of both Schools it is likely that there will have to be some reduction in staffing levels.

"However, should that be the case, the University will seek to achieve that reduction through voluntary means."

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