Director-General of Higher Education (Hansard, 15 January 2004)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland I

Sir Alan Wilson, as the Director-General for Higher Education, will be the senior civil servant responsible for the department's wider strategic policy development and its corporate management within higher education. He will be a member of the DfES Board, reporting to the Permanent Secretary, and will be responsible for advising Ministers on the overall development of higher education policy and for ensuring that processes, systems and people are in place to convert policy into action. His key task is to develop and implement a long-term strategy for investment and reform in higher education which reinforces excellence in our universities and increases participation. He will lead relationships with a range of key players in Whitehall and beyond, engaging partners and stakeholders in the design and implementation of the Government's higher education strategy and presenting government policy on higher education to the sector and the public. Sir Alan Wilson takes up his post on 1 February. The appointment was made after an open competition, which was overseen by the Office of Civil Service Commissioners to ensure the principles of fair and open competition on merit were observed.