Letter of 3 April 2009 from Professor
J S Brooks, Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University,
to Mr Phil Willis MP, Chairman of the Committee
Thank you for your correspondence regarding
Mr Walter Cairns and for the opportunity to engage with the Committee
in respect of this matter.
In this letter I would like to deal with the rationale
for the actions of the University's Academic Board on 18 March
2009. 1 will also be providing you with a brief report of the
University's position in respect of the submissions made by Mr
Cairns.
As Chair of the Academic Board, I would like
to express regret for the fact that our actions may have been
perceived as punishing Mr Cairns who, we now appreciate, enjoys
certain privileges as a result of acceptance by the House of Commons
Select Committee of the evidence he submitted, albeit after the
Committee's deadline. It was by no means my intention, nor that
of the Academic Board, to act in contempt of the House.
On 18 March 2009 Academic Board took a vote
of no confidence in Mr Cairns and decided that his Academic Board
membership should be discontinued. There were various motivations
for this decision:
1. Mr Cairns had failed to engage with the Academic
Board who had been thoroughly and correctly investigating and
deliberating this matter long before the date of the submission
to the Select Committee;
2. Mr Cairns failed to engage in the Academic
Board processes (or other University processes, which include
a whistle-blowing procedure) and to accept their outcomes; and
3. Mr Cairns chose to conduct a press campaign
in which it appears that he provided additional quotes and information
to various media outlets, particularly newspapers, as they have
reported information and quotations that go beyond that which
the Select Committee has published as evidence which it has accepted.
This has caused serious damage to the Academic reputation of the
University.
I can assure you that no molestations or threats
have been made to Mr Cairns, (or indeed to Ms Sue Evans who also
provided evidence to the Committee), because of the submissions
that they made. No action has been taken or is proposed by the
University against either individual, in relation to their contracts
of employment or disciplinary action, arising from those submissions.
The Academic Board members were not provided
with a copy of the submission to the Select Committee. However,
Board members were aware of the issues and of the views expressed
in numerous press articles by Mr Cairns.
It was the publication of these views that caused
serious concern to members of Academic Board as only one side
of a complex story was being presented, in a way that courted
negative publicity. Academic Board members, including the Programme
Leader for the course taught by Mr Cairns, discussed at length
the academic issues raised. The strong feeling of the Board was
that Academic Board routinely, through its normal processes and
systems, as well as specific investigations into issues and concerns,
takes appropriate actions to protect and maintain Academic Standards.
The Board felt strongly that this had been ignored and by-passed
by Mr Cairns, himself a member of the Board, by taking the story
to the press. In so doing Mr Cairns had demonstrated that he had
no regard for the processes of Academic Board and was not acting
in the best interest of the University—a condition which
is a requirement of all members of Academic Board.
It was on this basis that a vote of no confidence
was taken. At that time we did not believe Mr Cairns' privilege
to extend to what appears to us to be the additional material
placed in the public domain prior to the Board's meeting on 18
March 2009.
If the Committee consider that the Academic
Board has violated the privilege enjoyed by Mr Cairns, and you
consider that we may be at risk of being in contempt of the House
as a consequence of the Academic Board decision, I am willing
to reconvene the Board to reconsider this issue.
I would be grateful for your view as to the
appropriateness and efficacy of this course of action and would
be pleased to meet with you to discuss any of these issues in
far greater detail, should that be considered appropriate and
helpful.
April 2009
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