HC Deb 15 February 1989 vol 147 c213W
Mr. Allan Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to end academic tenure in the central institutions.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

It is at only three central institutions where the contractual conditions of service appear to contain restrictive grounds for dismissal of academic staff ("academic tenure"). The 1987 agreement on salaries and conditions in the grant-aided colleges contained a statement of intent by both management and staff sides to agree a common set of conditions of service applying to all academic staff in the sector. We look to the management side to deal with anomalies such as "academic tenure" in the context of that exercise.