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Universities UK raises concerns in evidence to House of Lords inquiry into Office for Students
Vice-chancellors in England have vented their frustration with changes to the Office for Students’ remit that have “placed considerable burden on the sector” and given rise to “disproportionate” demands for evidence.
Universities UK, which represents UK university leaders, laid out its dissatisfaction with the regulator in evidence submitted to the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the work of the OfS.
Commenting on the proportionality of the OfS’s activities, UUK claimed that although England’s regulator operates a risk-based approach, “the expansion of its remit and some of its ongoing requirements remain disproportionate”.
“There are inevitable issues in setting up a new system. It was reasonable to expect the sector to adapt and adopt new ways of working,” UUK wrote. “However, frequent revisions and expansion of the OfS’s remit has placed considerable burden on the sector, and risks attention being diverted away from the outcomes the regulation is aiming to achieve.”
The OfS has said it will not comment on the Lords inquiry until the final report is published.
Mission creep
Since it was established five years ago, the OfS’s remit has expanded to include issues such as unexplained grade inflation, harassment and sexual misconduct, mental health and wellbeing, freedom of speech and diversity of provision.
UUK also said that the OfS’s consultation with the sector—with 33 consultations conducted in the past five years—had felt “tokenistic”. It pointed out that “while the sector and other public bodies are making savings, the OfS will be increasing its registration-fee income”.
Commenting on the regulator’s approach to transparency, the representative body said that “processes are often opaque, notably in the initiation and conduct of investigations, which is undermining trust”. It urged the regulator to “address the outstanding challenges [arising from the] tone and complexity of their communication”.
The Lords committee is exploring the OfS’s independence from the government and its interactions with ministers; how its regulatory framework has developed; and how it manages financial risks among universities.
UUK stressed that its evidence to the inquiry and the eventual findings of the committee should also be used for an upcoming public bodies review of the OfS in 2023-24, which it said “should look to consider the performance of the OfS, as well as the relationship between the regulator, its sponsoring department and government ministers”.
It said it wanted to see “progress on reducing regulatory burden” from the OfS, as well as a review of registration-fee funding, “a broader understanding of value for money” and “a more joined-up approach to assessing financial sustainability, including consideration of wider income streams such as research”.