Last February a review group, chaired by University of Reading’s Vice-Chancellor Sir David Bell, was set up by UUK to review the UK HE agencies landscape.
Today, the group published its Report of the Review Group on UK Higher Education Sector Agencies, which explores the effectiveness and responsibility of the following HE agencies:
- Equality Challenge Unit (ECU)
- Higher Education Academy (HEA)
- Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU)
- Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
- Jisc
- Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE)
- Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE)
- Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)
- Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)
- Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA)
The report notes that while ‘sector agencies have been integral to the success of our higher education sector […] there is a need for reform’. It highlights the ‘widely held concerns over the rising cost of agencies to institutions, and a perceived lack of clarity over agency roles in an evolving environment’.
The review clearly support the need for ‘collegiality across the agency landscape,…better coordination of activities, and the development of more effective and joined-up services for institutions.
The report considers the diversity of all ten agencies, such as income sources, number of subscribers and board members.
The predominant recommendation of the report is that the ECU, HEA and LFHE be merged into a single body, reported today in Times Higher Education. It goes on, however, to suggest eleven key recommendations, all provided below directly from the publication:
A. A NEW FRAMEWORK OF SECTOR AGENCIES
A new body to support institutions in key strategic areas
Recommendation 1:
The core functions of the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU), the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE) should be merged into a single body to create a new, more responsive and holistic sector agency. This new body will support institutions to meet strategic challenges as they relate to equality and diversity, learning and teaching, and leadership and governance. It should seek to realise the full potential of bringing these functions together in one single organisation. The timetable for delivering the new body is September 2017, and for a new subscription model to be in place for September 2018.
Recommendation 2:
In expectation that the merger proposed in Recommendation 1 is taken forward, the review group notes that there will need to be stability over a transitional period. Affected agencies are urged to freeze all subscription rates and packages. UUK and GuildHE members are urged to maintain their subscriptions over the transition period.
A new partnership to coordinate data functions and services more effectively
Recommendation 3:
The Higher Education Careers Service Unit (HECSU), Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Jisc and UCAS should form a strategic delivery partnership with a focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of data-related functions and services. The partnership should aim to better coordinate data and innovation- led activities, with a focus on reducing the administrative burden on institutions and enhancing the overall impact and effectiveness of the system. The HESA Data Futures project may form an important part of the partnership’s future programme of work.
A new model for HECSU
Recommendation 4:
The HECSU board should move towards a subscription-free funding model over the next two years.
Extending the benefits of operational cost-sharing
Recommendation 5:
Work to share operational costs is welcomed and should continue. In particular, the development of the M5 Group of sector agencies (comprising HESA, JISC and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education) represents a positive step and should seek to include all agencies that might reasonably benefit from the services being developed.
B. ENHANCING GOVERNANCE, OVERSIGHT AND COORDINATION
Recommendation 6:
A forum should be established for chairs of sector agencies, with senior representation from both UUK and GuildHE. The purpose of this forum will be to enhance accountability to the sector, provide a mechanism for inter-agency communication and dialogue, and support an effective and coordinated approach to engaging with emerging policy agendas. This forum should also take a collective view of the costs of agencies to higher education institutions, and play a role in coordinating the implementation of the review recommendations.
Recommendation 7:
There should be an expectation that UUK and GuildHE nominees are aware of relevant policy positions of their nominating organisation. Links with relevant UUK and GuildHE officers should be articulated more clearly.
Recommendation 8:
Links should be made between agencies and relevant UUK and GuildHE networks of members. This will be particularly important for the strategic delivery partnership for data functions and services, and would help to provide a responsive forum through which input could be sought on strategic and operational issues.
C. SHARED OBJECTIVES TO ENHANCE THE INSTITUTION–AGENCY RELATIONSHIP
Recommendation 9:
All agencies will be asked to consider how they might address a number of broad strategic challenges in the future, and to work with UUK and GuildHE to deliver a more responsive sector agency landscape. As a priority, the agencies should seek to:
- embed more effective engagement and consultation with members within their processes
- deliver more effective inter-agency working, and better coordination of activities between agencies
- offer greater choice and more flexible subscription models, where appropriate
- evidence and demonstrate value for money to members and to the wider sector
- enable and support access to sector-developed assets and resourcesProgress against addressing these priorities should be considered at the sector agency chairs’ forum (Recommendation 6) and a summary of actions should be reported to the UUK and GuildHE boards on an annual basis.
D. IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE REVIEW
Recommendation 10:
A transition group should be established to help coordinate the delivery of the proposed merged body set out in Recommendation 1. This group will agree on the key elements and programme for the delivery of the proposed merged body, including liaison with the relevant governance bodies to secure their support. The transition group should consist of the chairs and additional nominated board representatives of ECU, HEA and LFHE, plus representation from UUK and GuildHE. A member of the present review group will chair this group.
Recommendation 11:
The sector agency chairs’ forum (Recommendation 6) should report to the UUK and GuildHE boards. A summary of actions taken across the sector agency landscape to implement the recommendations of this review, alongside an analysis of aggregate costs to institutions of subscriptions to sector agencies, should be submitted to the UUK and GuildHE boards on an annual basis.