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Chris Grayling: Surely, the Minister is not suggesting that a university that decides to vary its activities within the confines of an overall plan—for example, by introducing a new scholarship—would have to go back to the regulator to seek permission to do so. That would be ludicrous. Alan Johnson: I do not think that that would be ludicrous. Once a plan is agreed, any proposed variation must go back to the regulator. That would be a simple process. In the circumstances that I have described, it would be a very simple process. Chris Grayling: It is mad. Column Number: 558 Alan Johnson: The hon. Gentleman may think it mad, but what is the point of setting up arrangements to ensure that the access plan meets the approval of the regulator and is in accordance with the regulations and the widening participation agenda, if we then tell institutions that they need not come back to the regulator if they want to change any aspect of it in next five years? That would be rather mad. I appreciate the fact that Opposition Members do not want the plans or the regulator, but if an institution has a plan, which is to be in force for five years, we must be flexible enough to allow it to propose changes to that plan, but we cannot allow it to make changes in isolation without informing the regulator that the plan that they had agreed openly is being changed. I simply cannot understand an opposite point of view. Mr. Rendel: If, as the Minister has said all along, these plans would be light-touch regulation, surely they should be drawn up in such a way as not to specify the precise detail of which scholarships will be given—whether there will be three of £500 and six of £600, for example—but to give a more general idea, thus allowing some variation between the exact number and value of the scholarships as time went on, without having to go back to the regulator. Alan Johnson: I think that common sense will prevail. That is the kind of arrangement that will apply in such circumstances, but both parties to the agreement have to know what it is. If the agreement changes—Members on both sides of the Committee seek assurance that only one party will be able to change it—both parties must know that it has changed.
10.45 amChris Grayling: I will press the Minister on this point, which is hugely important for the universities. Does he believe that the plans will set out broad parameters for action by a university, such as by its saying, ''We've identified within our region certain social groups that are under-represented, and we will take steps through better marketing, and so forth, to attract applications from those groups'', or is it his intention that they will say, ''We will run these nine specific activities, timetabled and set out in a detailed structure''? Which of those two models is the plan supposed to be? If it is the second, does the Minister accept that the burden of bureaucracy on universities seems to be extraordinarily onerous and inflexible? Alan Johnson: As we said in a debate last week, the Bill provides a light touch, but not a soft touch. Paragraph 7 of the guidance says:
Column Number: 559 instance, it is decided after three years that the fee should be increased from £2,000 to £2,500 or to £3,000, the regulator will want to assure himself or herself that the additional money going back into bursaries and grants is properly reflected.Universities and higher education institutions can put more into a plan than is necessary. We are looking for a light-touch approach, but the whole point of our debate is who has the authority to change the plan. Mr. Patrick Hall (Bedford) (Lab): Does my right hon. Friend not agree that the institution in question will want to improve its agreement to widen access, given the likely circumstances? Having secured the agreement of OFFA and publicised agreement of the overall plan, the institution will be pleased to publicise the relevant information. In the context of a light touch, that would mean a letter or perhaps a few phone calls. The institution would have the opportunity to say, ''We're putting forward these amendments, but they are wider than just this institution. They are being introduced in the context of which OFFA approves.'' That would therefore be seen as a positive thing to say. Alan Johnson: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The major concern is, as he and the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale rightly said, who has the authority to change the plan. Provided that there is a sensible system, there should be no problems whatever. The institution may wish to change its fee levels or bursaries. We think that it is right that the institutions should have the option to apply to the director, so that they can make such changes and the director will have to be satisfied with the access arrangements in the plan. Some changes, as we have discussed, will be relatively small, such as outreach to a new area or a small requirement to the bursary scheme, and therefore will not cause the director any great concern. However, the director may want to examine in more detail with the institutions variations such a significant rise in fee levels—within the cap, obviously—or a wholesale change to a bursary scheme. It will be for the director to decide how light touch he or she should be, depending on the circumstances. Mr. Collins: The Minister is right that the sector is concerned about who has the final authority and he has given some helpful clarification on that point. However, the clause says that regulations about how the system operates may be made. The sector would therefore further welcome a guarantee from the Minister that the relevant decision would indeed be up to the director and that no regulations either now or in the future would give the Secretary of State a right to overturn a director's decision relating to approval of a variation. Alan Johnson: I can give that assurance. The task in question is the job of the regulator. Incidentally, the hon. Gentleman asked me in a previous debate whether I would reassure the Committee that OFFA would not interfere in individual cases. I can give that Column Number: 560 reassurance. Provided an agreement is in line with the legislation, we do not intend the Secretary of State to be involved in any individual case.The draft regulations provide more detail about the process to be followed by an institution and by the director if an institution wishes to vary its plan. Institutions may allow some variation in their initial access plan, such as building in at the outset changes to the fee and bursary levels over the lifetime of an access plan, so that a student is fully aware, when they go to that university, of what the arrangements will be over the three years—if it is a three-year degree course. In deciding whether an institution can vary its access plan, the interests of its current and prospective students will be paramount. I draw the attention of hon. Members to paragraph 7 of the draft guidance from the Secretary of State, which makes it clear that a key principle of varying access plans
Jonathan Shaw: I am grateful for the comments made by my right hon. Friend the Minister. He has provided the reassurance that Universities UK and I sought—that is that institutions alone can vary the plan. If there is a departure from the agreed plan, it is reasonable that the institution should then return to the regulator to seek permission for that change. As the Minister said, such a change might be minor or major. As my hon. Friend the Member for Bedford (Mr. Hall) said, recourse to the regulator should be seen in a positive way, because one of the purposes of the regulator is to spread good practice. The Minister is not sinister in this context—[
I hope that the Committee was reassured by the sound words from my right hon. Friend the Minister and that the debate has been useful in providing clarification. It is important that we get OFFA right, and that the universities understand both what we mean by OFFA and what the expectations of institutions' relationships with it are. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Column Number: 561
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Motion made, and Question put, That the clause stand part of the Bill:—
The Committee divided: Ayes 19, Noes 2.
Division No. 13]
AYES
NOES
Clause 34 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
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