HC Deb 10 February 1987 vol 110 cc171-2W
Mr. Knowles

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has yet received the report of Lord Croham's review of the University Grants Committee; and if it will be published.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

The report of the committee, chaired by Lord Croham, which has been reviewing the role and functions of the University Grants Committee is being published today. Copies are available in the Vote Office.

It is a valuable report with important recommendations for the future of a body which is central to the relationship between Government and our universities. My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and Scotland and I are grateful to Lord Croham and the members of his committee for their work and the clarity of their report.

I am inviting interested bodies to let me have detailed comments on the report's recommendations by 30 June 1987. In order to inform this consultative process the Government intends to announce fairly quickly its own broad conclusions on the principal recommendations. I am therefore asking for any comments on the general approach proposed in the report to be submitted within the next month.