Appendix 2: Correspondence between the Secretary of State and the Chair
Letter dated 19 October 2016 from the Secretary of State to the Chair
You will be aware that through the Higher Education and Research Bill currently before the House, the Government proposes to create the Office for Students, a new public body to regulate the higher education market. This new body and its new mission is at the heart of an ambitious reform programme which recognises that the higher education landscape has changed fundamentally since the last major legislative reforms of 1992, and seeks to ensure the university system is ready for the future and can fulfil its potential and sustain its global standing.
Subject of course to successful passage of the Bill, we intend that this body will lead the creation of a level playing field for new providers and increase competition in the system. It will transform the sector’s ability to respond to economic demands and the rapidly changing graduate employment landscape, and ensure that the country remains attractive internationally for decades to come. I was glad to see when I introduced the Bill at Second Reading that you welcomed the addition of Higher Education to the portfolio of my department. I think we share a view of the potential benefits this can bring both HE institutions and most importantly students.
The first Chair of the OfS will lead the body through set up into in its crucial early years, setting a vision for the future and holding the executive team to account for delivery. As such this is an extremely important role and I am writing to you to set out our plans for recruitment and our vision for the person we are looking for. Enclosed with this letter I have included our draft advertisement for the role as well as the role specification.
We know from the experience of establishing other organisations that the early recruitment of the Chair and a subsequent prompt appointment of the Chief Executive are crucial to a successful set up of a new public body. I want the executive leadership of this body in post so that the new organisation is fully ready to carry out its functions on its inception in 2018. Therefore we plan to recruit to some of the key leadership posts in parallel to the passage of the Bill to help build the vision for the organisation and form relationships with key stakeholders, including students and the sector more widely. The Chair, CEO and the Director of Fair Access and Participation are Ministerial appointments and will be recruited in a series of overlapping campaigns, regulated by the Office of the Commissioner of Public Appointments. Assuming safe passage of the Bill, they will formally transfer to the new body once it is established in law. To begin this process my department will launch the recruitment campaign for the Chair role next week on Thursday 27th October.
My colleague the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation Jo Johnson recently confirmed our intention to invite your Committee to be involved in the selection process for the Chair role. Our proposal is that the Committee undertake pre-appointment scrutiny for the Chair position given that he or she has the responsibility for leading the body. This is an approach which is consistent with the usual practice for sector regulators such as OfCOM, OfWAT and OfGEM and follows the precedent of the current arrangements for HEFCE.
Providing you with the recruitment pack is the first step in this process and I would also like to invite the Committee to undertake a pre-appointment hearing once I have chosen a preferred candidate. I will ask my officials to contact your clerk to explore suitable dates. We would expect the hearing to take place in December or January.
I am grateful for your consideration of this proposal and look forward to the Committee’s involvement in this very important role. I am sure you will share my high expectations of the positive benefits that the OfS and this role can bring to the Higher Education sector.
I have written to you separately regarding the Committee’s recent request that I consider extending pre-appointment scrutiny to the roles of Ofqual and Ofsted Chair. It is worth noting that the governance structure of the OfS is different to that of Ofqual and Ofsted. The OfS is being structured on a governance model that is akin to the economic regulators, where decisions will be made by the OfS board. There will not be a role of Chief Inspector or Chief Regulator in the way there is for the other bodies, and so it would be more appropriate for the OfS Chair to be subject to pre-appointment scrutiny than an executive member of the organisation.
Letter dated 6 February 2016 from the Secretary of State to the Chair
I wrote to you on 20th October last year to confirm our plans to recruit the first Chair of the Office for Students, which is being established in law by the Higher Education and Research Bill. We agreed at that point that the Committee would wish to hold a pre-appointment hearing once we have a preferred candidate for the role. I can confirm that the recruitment process has now completed and I am pleased to put forward my preferred candidate, Sir Michael Barber, for the Committee’s consideration.
I have chosen Sir Michael as the preferred candidate because of his impressive track record in leading and supporting public sector delivery and his understanding and commitment to the opportunities presented for the higher education sector though the creation of the Office for Students and the associated reforms.
Sir Michael has a deep understanding of education systems including higher education. Aside from his own academic experience in universities here and abroad he has extensive experience of advising international Governments on education reform, including in Higher Education, and has worked with many universities including two years advising a network of US public universities on admissions and graduation rates. He has been a member of three University Councils and was a member of the Browne Review of HE funding.
Sir Michael has an excellent grasp of what it takes to deliver in the public sector from his experience within and outside Government. He set up and led the Standards and the Effectiveness Unit in the DfE in 1997 and the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit in No 10 from 2001. In his subsequent private sector career, he has worked internationally in supporting better public sector delivery working directly with Prime Ministers and other Government leaders.
He also has been responsible for the establishment of a number of new organisations including the new Hackney Education Authority, the aforementioned Standards and the Effectiveness Unit at DfE and Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit and the US Education Delivery Institute.
Finally, he also has the track record to be a successful chair, with non- executive leadership experience within Government, for example as a member of the Ministry of Justice Board and outside, for example as Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Education.
In light of his skills, knowledge and experience I am confident that Sir Michael would make an excellent first Chair of the OfS.
22 February 2017