Universities

Baroness Prashar Excerpts

Thursday 14th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Prashar (CB)]

My Lords, to clear any confusion, I have swapped with the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, as she is currently on the Woolsack. I declare an interest as a former chancellor of De Montfort University. I currently sit on the international advisory board of IE University in Madrid and I do some ad hoc work with my local university, Royal Holloway.

I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Warwick, for initiating this debate and introducing it so well, but I also congratulate UUK for taking this timely initiative to produce the blueprint for change. The recommendations in this report are of course intended, as we heard, to achieve five big shifts. However, these shifts cannot be seen as a stand-alone. They are integral to the five missions of this Government and part of the Government’s mantra of “fixing the foundations”. If we are serious about achieving these shifts, a coherent strategy for our universities and higher education sector, which is integral to these missions, is essential. The future of our universities cannot be left to the vagaries of market forces. To avoid decline and maintain our excellence, the Government must intervene to create an enabling environment for universities to become financially sustainable and incentivise them to excel and deliver for communities, society and internationally.

At the same time, universities and other institutions need to adapt and change to meet the challenges of the future. I am grateful that this has been recognised in the report itself. The recommendations of the report, the Government’s plan for the reform of higher education as stated in their manifesto, and recent announcements about increasing the fee cap and making further investment conditional on major reform are all welcome. The direction of travel is encouraging but, as we have heard in this debate, a lot more needs to happen.

I want to amplify two areas of this report: one is the question of local growth and the other is global reputation and impact. On local development, the needs of employers, the skills gaps and a changing technological environment, the report rightly highlights the recent overemphasis on STEM subjects. Employers recognise that arts and the humanities equip students with a valuable and versatile set of skills—skills that are likely to become even more essential as technologies, automation and AI continue to transform traditional professions. It is therefore critical that arts and humanities provision continues to be available. The recent decline in the arts and humanities is worrying. It has rendered humanities and arts education vulnerable to cuts and closures. Are the Government going to take action to reverse this trend and give greater support to the humanities? I was glad to hear the noble Lord, Lord Griffiths, emphasise this point.

In recent years, there has been a shift in universities responding to local and regional needs. I highlight another example of my local university, Royal Holloway. During 2019-20, Royal Holloway contributed £190 million in gross value added to the local economy, as well as 2,700 jobs in the borough of Runnymede. The university has signed a civic agreement for Surrey with Surrey County Council, the University of Surrey and the University for the Creative Arts. This is a declaration of the partners’ shared commitment to working together to help grow a sustainable economy, tackle health inequalities, enable a greener future, and foster empowering and thriving communities.

Such approaches need to be multiplied and scaled up. At present, they are patchy, and the report rightly argues that there is a need for stability, consistency, better co-ordinated engagement through devolution and local structures—such as industrial strategy councils and Skills England—collaboration between universities and investment in the Higher Education Innovation Fund. A critical question is whether the Government can ensure that universities play a full role in supporting growth, especially in areas where there are no mayoral combined authorities. I would have liked to have seen greater recognition in the report of the role that universities can play through local engagement with communities and civil society organisations to create social capital, which helps build cohesion and inclusion. That is the social purpose of universities in tackling society’s challenges.

My second point is about global reach, reputation and impact. I was very pleased that the noble Lord, Lord Willetts, gave a broader perspective to this. It is not purely about international students but about recognising that a global strategy, and leveraging the potential that universities offer by bringing together education, training, research and global development to harness global reach, reputation and impact, should be coupled with a coherent strategy to encourage international students. Such an approach would have multiple benefits. It would create opportunities, foster prosperity, develop knowledge and make strategic use of our universities’ global reputation to build bilateral co-operation in trade and development.

As we know, one area where the UK excels is in research and innovation and the excellence of our universities, where we should endeavour to enhance our leadership and be at the leading edge. In an era of geopolitical shifts and growing competition, there is a need to develop a better understanding of universities’ role in diplomacy and foreign policy. The Government should support universities by investing in the broader infrastructure that supports universities and businesses globally—for example, the British Council. It will be helpful to hear the Government’s plans for supporting the wider structure.

Finally, are the Government considering removing student figures from the migration statistics? This has been a running sore and has contributed to this issue being politicised. It has impacted on our ability to attract international students. Such a removal would change perceptions and enable a more strategic approach to the recruitment of international students.