MINUTES OF THE SECOND MEETING OF THE TRIPARTITE ADVISORY GROUP (TAG)
14 October 2009
10 - 11 30 am
Attendees
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
Andrew Scott, Director of Lifelong Learning
John Ireland, Deputy Director, EAS (items 1-3)
John McClelland, Chair of Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC)
Mark Batho, Chief Executive of SFC
Anton Muscatelli, Convener of Universities Scotland
Martin Cheyne, Chair of Chairmen of Universities Courts
Alastair Sim, Director of Universities Scotland
Apologies
Bernard King, Vice Convener of Universities Scotland
Laurence Howells, Senior Director of Learning, Research and Knowledge Exchange
Leslie Evans, DG Education
Stephen Kerr, Deputy Director and Head of Higher Education and Learner Support
Secretariat
Ann McVie, Higher Education and Learner Support Division
Agenda
1. Minutes of the last meeting
The minutes of the last meeting were agreed for the record.
2. Review of Draft Budget Bill 2010-2011
Universities Scotland said that the draft Budget Bill had provided a good outcome for universities, not least in the very difficult climate for public expenditure that was now emerging. It also said that the draft Budget Bill recognised the role of Universities in promoting economic growth and which had been identified in New Horizons.
Looking ahead, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning said that notwithstanding the Scottish Government's firm commitment to higher education, the draft Budget Bill required the Scottish Government to meet pressures on its budget over the course of the year. Moreover, the position in Scotland was always subject to whatever budgetary action may be taken by the UK Government. Taken together, these factors created a regrettable but inevitable degree of financial uncertainty.
The SFC said that in making financial plans to cover the full Academic Year 2010-11, it would be necessary to make a judgement about the financial provision that would be available from Government in financial year 2011-12 (beyond the current period for Government planning of public expenditure). It would be necessary for the SFC to make this judgement prior to issuing grant letters to universities in the spring of 2010.
3. Progress report from Technical Subgroup
The Scottish Government presented a report progress report from the Technical Subgroup. The Subgroup's remit had been agreed and work was now under way. Unforeseen difficulties in appointing external contractors to undertake two of the workstreams had resulted in some slippage against the original timetable. Given the complexity of the work, it was agreed that it was important to take the time necessary to ensure the work was robust and high quality.
In the interests of transparency, it was agreed that the terms of reference for the Technical Subgroup would be published on the Scottish Government website, together with the specifications for the Subgroup's workstreams. It was further agreed that the final report from the Subgroup would be made public.
4. Implementing New Horizons
The SFC updated TAG on its work to implement New Horizons. Internal restructuring of the SFC senior executive team was almost complete. This would enable the Council to promote the work of New Horizons more effectively and, in particular, to manage the Horizon Fund in a more systematic and coherent way for the future.
During the discussion, Universities Scotland said that it was committed to the principles of New Horizons but that it had reservations about the way in which the SFC was managing aspects of the reforms to teaching prices, knowledge exchange and outcome agreements. The SFC said that it was happy to discuss all aspects of the proposed changes and that, where it judged that rapid change was desirable, it would give every consideration to introducing proportionate transitional protection for institutions.
On teaching prices, there was discussion as to the merits of obtaining additional data. The SFC agreed to look at a way forward, whereby (and subject to the outcome of the current consultation on the issue) new teaching prices would be agreed by the middle of 2010, informed by a more robust set of data, for introduction in Academic Year 2011-12.
On knowledge exchange, the SFC said that it was looking to support the delivery of outcomes from knowledge exchange activity which had positive economic, social or cultural impact in Scotland. The Council intended to achieve this through a range of strategic projects and would also look to universities to submit portfolios of lower-level knowledge exchange activity. Universities Scotland said that there was merit in developing portfolios which demonstrated how universities' knowledge exchange activities were aligned with the Government's economic strategy. Universities Scotland's members were concerned, however, not to lose the strengths of the existing formula-based Knowledge Transfer Grant. Scottish Government saw change as an opportunity for the university sector to demonstrate better alignment with the needs of the Scottish economy.
The SFC said it intended Outcome Agreements to be a means of developing a better understanding of the strategic contribution of particular institutions, rather than become the basis for allocating funding. The Scottish Government recognised the case for a national-level articulation of the university sector's contribution to national outcomes and the strength of some universities' contribution to local-level community planning partnerships' work on outcome agreements. The development of outcome agreements was not a tool for Government-driven or SFC-driven change in the structure of the sector.
Summarising the discussion, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning said that in the coming months, she expected the parties to maintain the momentum set by the Taskforce. Universities Scotland and the SFC agreed to work collaboratively and constructively together to ensure this end and to report progress at the next meeting.
5. Communications
It was agreed that the minutes of the meeting would be published on the Scottish Government website.
6. Next Meeting
It was agreed the next meeting would take place in February 2010.
Ann McVie
Scottish Government
November 2009