Higher Education (Transparency Condition and Financial Support) (England) Regulations 2018

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Tuesday 24th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Adonis]

I am not sure whether to speak on that now or when my noble friend moves his Motion.

[Lord Lexden (Con)]

My Lords, I want to comment very briefly as a member of the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. I would like to thank my noble friend for the detailed way in which he has responded to and commented on the committee’s 30th report. His remarks will be studied with great interest by members of the committee. I have one question to put to him. When producing its report, the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments understood that the register may not be finalised or published by the time that Parliament is expected to approve the draft regulations. Will my noble friend tell us the current position?

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine (LD)]

My Lords, I want to focus on what the Minister told us about attempts to widen access and increase transparency, particularly through a better set of data. The noble Lord will know, because I have had this conversation with him in the past, that it is profoundly important not only to increase access for disadvantaged students and students from diverse backgrounds across the sector but to have people at the top among the academic staff and university leadership, particularly in the elite universities, who represent diversity. The figures we have seen from the regulators—there is precious little data in this regard—indicate either that data is not being compiled or that the universities are not prepared to share it with us. Will the noble Lord reassure me that there are genuine attempts on the part of our elite institutions to prepare the ground for diverse minority leadership within institutions—certainly more diverse than currently exists? I have shared with him the figures for, for example, Oxford, where women hold nine of the 44 leadership positions, and not a single ethnic minority.