Universities

Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone Excerpts

Thursday 14th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone (Con)]

My Lords, this debate is, to me, the House of Lords at its best. Earlier this week, we were discussing the future of the House of Lords. I do not think that an elected House would produce the quality of debate that we have seen. As I listened to each speaker—all infinitely better qualified to address the House than I am—I was struck by the cumulative experience, knowledge and contribution.

I have known my noble friend Lady Warwick since she was at the AUT, and subsequently at Universities UK, and I recommended her as the person who should join the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life. She is such a wise person, as are so many other noble Lords. I look forward to the Minister, who I have not yet heard in her new role, winding up. I will not need to remind her about the importance of universities for training doctors, nurses, paramedics and so forth. I knew her very well in her health days.

I congratulate UUK on what is a tremendous report. I enjoyed reading it, which is rather strange. I do not know about others. I enjoyed the excellent chapter written by my noble friend Lord Willetts—“Two Brains Willetts”—and Andy Haldane’s chapter on the impact of universities. I even enjoyed the chapter by the noble Lord, Lord Mandelson, who we now know is auditioning to be not chancellor of Oxford but British ambassador in the United States. I know that the only aspect of higher education the House is really interested in is not, why did Oxford turn down Baroness Thatcher, many years ago, but will it be my noble friend Lord Hague, the noble Lord, Lord Mandelson, or maybe AN Other? These are, of course, extremely profound points.

I want to speak about the London School of Economics. My great-grandfather, a Wrangler at Cambridge, in a part of East Anglia, went to Toynbee Hall and worked with the Webbs in setting up higher-education institutions across London. In 1894, they received a bequest of £20,000—would that it could be that today—and within a year Beatrice and Sidney Webb were admitting their first students. My great-grandfather, Dr William Garnett, was one of the seven signatories who signed up for the incorporation of the London School of Economics. What a magnificent institution; University of the Year this year; performing exceptionally well across a range of areas; and with a formidable new president and vice-chancellor, who I hope the House will get to know better, Professor Larry Kramer. Twenty Nobel Prize winners and 40 past or present world leaders have studied at the school.

I know that the noble Lord, Lord Rees, will say that this is nothing compared with Cambridge, but Cambridge was not founded in 1894. I frequently agree with the noble Lord on various issues. He has often talked about the importance of social sciences. The issues that we face today are about behaviour change. Climate change, net zero, is about not only science, technology and industry but about how we can persuade people to change their habits. The Minister will know that so many of the issues involved in health, healthy lifestyles and life expectancy have nothing to do with surgery or pharmaceuticals but are all to do with behaviour change—diet, exercise and all the things that are so much more difficult than simply having an operation. I hope that when the Government discuss the importance of STEM, science, innovation and research, they will not forget the importance of economic, social and legal analysis.

The other area where I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Rees, is that the sector is incredibly reactionary. The Open University and the University of Buckingham changed the paradigm. We talk about major efficiency changes, innovation and transformative change, but I do not see much of it. I entirely agree that we need greater diversity of institutions, flexibility, institutional variety and different courses. Of course, many people would much rather go to university when they are older. When you are young, you are too distracted and have too many emotional problems to actually study. I must mention my 17 years as Chancellor of the University of Hull. Who got the firsts? It was the mature women, who had made a great sacrifice to go to university and do well. I hope that we can be more radical and more innovative about what we mean by a university education.

Talking of Hull, I have to say that being in a troubled area with great challenges, its success is all the more important. It is a global institution, but it makes a profound difference to the local community, with Professor Dave Petley doing a remarkable amount. Since Richard Lambert’s review of business and university collaboration in 2003, there has been a great change in innovation, research, collaboration with business and spinouts. The noble Lord, Lord Krebs, talked about his work. All over our universities, we have institutions helping with funding, innovation and intellectual property, and we should celebrate that. I also endorse the vulgar comment. Academics are paid remarkable little. We want our best people to be academics. We need to respect them and support them.

Next time, please can we have a debate that lasts twice as long?