GlaxoSmithKline's graduate fund highlights UK businesses' failure to contribute to higher education bill

UCU said today that big business should finally start footing some of the bill for higher education. As pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced it was putting £3m in to paying off the student debt of future graduates, the union said the government had to look at ways to ensure all businesses that benefited from higher education started to pay their way.
 
UCU welcomed GSK's initiative as forward-looking, but said the problem was that the firm was acting alone without being compelled to contribute. The union said the fact that GSK dismissed the £3m fund as a 'relatively small amount'* highlighted that business had been getting away with enjoying the benefits of higher education and graduates for too long without paying its way.
 
UCU has suggested that an increase in corporation tax to just the G7 average would raise funds that could be put back in to meeting the cost of higher education. More on that can be found at: www.ucu.org.uk/bet
 
A landmark report from the late Lord Dearing suggested that all the beneficiaries of higher education should pay and that the three beneficiaries were students, the state and business. Since his report student fees have been introduced and risen to £9,000, the state has contributed, but the contribution from business has been negligible.
 
The news comes the same day as research by Oxford University revealed that very large companies pay lower rates of corporation tax than smaller businesses.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The Government insists that we are all in it together, yet it is cutting corporation tax for big business and failing to collect it properly. We welcome GSK's initiative, but without being compelled to contribute fear they will be going alone. GSK's dismissal of the £3m fund for graduates as a small amount highlights businesses' failure to pay for the numerous benefits they get from graduates and our higher education system.
 
'The time has come for all three beneficiaries of higher education to pay their way. It is clear that the government needs to find a way to solve the current mess it has got in to over fees. We suggest the fairest way is getting business to finally pay its way.'

* GSK chief executive Andrew Witty said the investment cost was a "relatively small amount" compared to the company's £4bn research and development costs.