University of Sussex occupation ends

Police were present at the end of the last occupation in April - this time they were not needed

The Occupy Sussex group took over the space to object to what they claim is the “privatisation” of campus catering services and plans to outsource estates and facilities services.

The university issued court proceedings on 28 November to recover possession of the space and Brighton County Court granted a possession order today.

John Duffy, university registrar, said: “The occupiers left the building this morning, knowing that we were going to court this morning. They did not take the opportunity to offer any defence in court of their actions and the court today agreed with the university that they had no right to be there.”

He added that the group was a small number of students out of a community of 15,000 people.

Occupy Sussex said that they had left their position on the third floor of the building to join staff on the picket lines in today’s strike over higher education pay. 

In statement posted today on the Sussex Against Privatisation website the group said: “One of our main aims was to raise awareness of the strike, and we have done this.”

The statement added that discussions with staff “affirmed that they wished for us join their numbers at the strike”.

The movement has been fighting against outsourcing on the campus for more than a year. The last occupation of the Bramber House Conference Centre lasted for three months before protesters were evicted in April this year.

A statement issued by the university on November disputed claims that services had been privatised.

holly.else@tsleducation.com