Arts and humanities 'need more investment'

The arts and humanities are suffering from worse underinvestment than the sciences, according to a report commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principals.

The report says that £500 million of remedial investment is needed for buildings, services, equipment, libraries and information technology. It blames prolonged underinvestment in research facilities, growth in student numbers and limited external funding.

The recent £1.75 billion Joint Infrastructure Fund and the Science Research Investment Fund were exclusively for science. The study says the government needs to improve the recurrent funding of research so that, over time, institutions can cover the full costs of their research, including maintaining their infrastructure.