University’s plan to shut down Nursing School ‘could have led to £5m fine’

Martin Shipton

Cardiff University’s original plan to shut down its Nursing school could have resulted in a £5m “fine”, we can reveal.

Contract documents released to Nation.Cymru under freedom of information legislation shows that the university had a legally binding contract to supply nurses to NHS Wales until 2029.

Yet under the university’s original cuts proposals, announced on January 28 2025, the School would have ceased training nurses in 2028, when the final cohort of students graduated.

The contract entered into by Cardiff University contains a break clause with a financial penalty of £5m if it pulled out of the agreement early.

Tender document

The contract states that “in respect of all other claims, losses, or damages, whether arising from tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising under or in connection with this Agreement, shall be limited in each contract year to the greater of £5,000,000 (five million pounds) or the total charges payable in such contract year”.

According to point 6.1 of the Invitation to Tender document, the contract was agreed to run for “seven years from August 1 2022 (ie the Services Commencement Date) to July 31 2029 with three 12 month extension options for HEIW (Health Education and Improvement Wales – the strategic workforce body for NHS Wales). Bidders to note that there will be a 12 month implementation period from August 1 2021 and accordingly it is proposed that, notwithstanding the Services Commencement Date, the contract will take effect on August 1 2021.”

According to point 7.11 of the Invitation to Tender, there are minimum agreed numbers of students that education providers have to take each year.

The proposed monetary value of the proposed contracts is outlined in detail in point 10 of the Invitation to Tender, but the actual value of the contracts themselves has been redacted.

Alternative proposal

In mid April the university changed its position, stating that it was prepared to consider an alternative proposal that did not envisage the closure of the Nursing School.

Reacting to the documents disclosed to Nation.Cymru, a spokesperson for Cardiff University and College Union said: “These revelations raise real questions over the university’s decision last month to backtrack on its nursing proposals. Not unreasonably, people are drawing the conclusion that university senior management drew up their original January proposals to scrap nursing without considering, among other things, the financial penalties which could hit them if it went ahead.

“The nursing plans have impacted upon the university’s reputation as well as relations with the Welsh Government. Staff deserve the truth about this and they also deserve more competent governance in the future.”

A Cardiff University academic who prefers to remain anonymous said: “This looks very much like managerial incompetence. After all the damage they’ve already done, now we learn that one of their flagship cuts proposals may have been a costly mistake made without checking the small print.

“On this University Executive Board’s watch, the university is becoming a shambles. It seems from this that they’ve alienated the Welsh Government and exposed the future staffing the Welsh NHS to serious uncertainty too.

“Confidence in their leadership was at rock bottom even before this. It’s just been one thing after the other since they announced their cuts. But this looks like the most serious scandal by far.

“Surely, we’ve now got to the stage where the University Council – the supreme decision-making body of Cardiff University – has to look at the competence of our senior management team and ask if they can be trusted to lead us out of this crisis.”

‘Bruised’

An academic source at the university told us: “Conversations with staff affected show that morale is incredibly low, and the staff feel extremely bruised, afraid, and uncertain about their futures.

“A third of staff have applied, and been accepted, for voluntary redundancy, most of whom are very senior – and therefore the most experienced and knowledgeable.

“Mental Health nursing, in particular, has been hard hit by Voluntary Redundancy (VR) as staff sought to jump ship before they were pushed (half of all that team took VR).

“The VR scheme was hastily paused before the university’s announcement in mid April;

“Remaining staff feel cautiously optimistic about the future of the School, and glad that their campaigning, that of the union, and their students, has forced a partial U-turn, but are very worried about the future of the School.

“They worry that with the large numbers accepted for VR there will not be enough resource to deliver existing programmes, let alone get new ones planned and validated in very short time frames. A new foundation programme in nursing was announced by the university in April, and in the proposals currently being considered by university managers a number of new programmes are suggested as ways for the School to help turn around university finances.

“As with staff elsewhere in the university, staff feel that a reduction in the size of the faculty could have been done over a longer period, in a more collaborative way, without holding a gun to staff’s heads, causing huge disruption to staff and students, and largely destroying the reputation of an excellent team of educators.”

Options

Ian Mathieson, HEIW director of education strategy and transformation, said: “As the commissioner of nurse education in Wales, our priority is maintaining the provision of high-quality education across Wales.

“Cardiff University has confirmed that education for current nursing students and those enrolling in September 2025 will continue until graduation.

“We are actively discussing options with various stakeholders and partners to ensure that nurse education continues in the Cardiff area beyond this period.

“As these discussions are ongoing, we are unable to provide further information at this time.”

A Cardiff University spokesperson said: “We have been clear that Our Academic Futures proposals are University-wide. We have full confidence in our decision-making processes. In preparation for the launch of the consultation, all legal and contractual obligations were identified and considered. In terms of the specific reference to nursing, we were aware of the break clause in our contract which is why we ruled out the option of immediate discontinuation from the outset.

“Constructive discussions between the university, HEIW and the Welsh Government helped secure an alternative proposal. This is now subject to contractual re-negotiation. We recognise that the last few months have been incredibly difficult and challenging for many in our university community. Help and support has been available throughout, and we continue to work with staff and do everything possible to support them during these incredibly challenging times.”