§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is his policy on making new financial arrangements between his Department and the Universities Funding Council; and what requirements he intends to include in new financial arrangements concerning the monitoring by the Universities Funding Council of individual universities and the transmission of any such monitoring information to his Department;
(2) what representations he has received concerning draft terms of the new financial arrangements between(a)his Department and the Universities Funding Council and(b) the Universities Funding Council and individual universities; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what is his policy on making arrangements for annual block grants to be made by his Department to the new Universities Funding Council; and what account will be taken of information made available by the Universities Funding Council concerning the monitoring by the Universities Funding Council of individual universities.
Mr. JacksonThe Department is preparing a memorandum which will govern its financial relations with the Universities Funding Council under the Education Reform Act 1988. Discussions are being held with the council and with the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals on its proposed provisions. Some of those provisions will need to be reflected in the memoranda which the council will draw up with individual institutions. As in the Act, there is a balance to be struck in these matters between institutional autonomy and proper accountability to Parliament for substantial public funds. The council's general responsibilities mean that it needs to have a complete picture of the institutions it funds. While it consequently needs power to require information about the total funding of universities, the Act is clear that such information should not be used to affect funding decisions adversely. In the same way, the Government have made it clear that decisions on funding levels, reached in the light of the council's advice, will not penalise institutions' success in raising private income.