Higher Education and Research Bill (Tenth sitting)
Debate between Roberta Blackman-Woods and David EvennettTuesday 11th October 2016
(7 years, 6 months ago)
Public Bill CommitteesRead Full debate Higher Education and Research Act 2017 View all Higher Education and Research Act 2017 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Public Bill Committee Amendments as at 11 October 2016 - (11 Oct 2016)
Dr Blackman-Woods
I was saying to the Minister, who is now talking to the Whip—[Laughter.]
The Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury (David Evennett)
We need a cup of tea!
Dr Blackman-Woods
We absolutely do. I will try to be brief.
It is far from clear who the Minister expects the OFS to have in mind as the validator of last resort. The amendment refers to the Open University as it is well known to be a high-quality validator, but that does not mean that the OFS would have to use the Open University. We hope that the Minister will reassure us that the validator of last resort would be an institution that is as highly valued and respected as the Open University, and not just whoever the OFS thinks will validate a particular course in mind so that an institution is able to run something that perhaps should not be run if proper arrangements were put in place.