Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which any conflict of interest arises in respect of Professor Madeleine Atkins’ role as Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, given her position as a former Vice-Chancellor.

Since her appointment as Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in January 2014, there have been no conflicts of interest between Professor Madeleine Atkins’ current role and her former position as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Coventry.

All public appointees are required to declare any conflicts of interest which arise. HEFCE maintains a register of such declarations, a copy of

Professor Madeleine Atkins’ registered interests are attached. This can be found at the following address:

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/about/members/Professor,Madeleine,Atkins/.