Risk of ministerial control to be ‘removed’ from university governance bill

The Scottish Government has agreed to amend its plans to democratise university governing bodies to ensure ministers can’t interfere with decisions.

Critics including opposition MSPs and university principals have warned the proposals could lead to higher education institutions being reclassified as public bodies by the ONS, which would threaten their charitable status.

The government has now agreed to remove the sections of the bill which have caused most alarm.

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In a response to the Education and Culture Committee, officials said re-classification “is an outcome that the Scottish Government would never want to realise” and “is minded to put forward amendments at Stage 2 to remove sections 8 and 13 of the Bill.”

There will also be moves to remove “the need for regulation-making powers” in other sections of the bill.

“While we do not share stakeholders’ fears, the action which the Scottish Government proposes to take should allay concerns that stakeholders have about the Bill contributing to reclassification,” it said.

In her covering letter Education secretary Angela Constance said she welcomed the committee’s support for the general principles of the bill.

“The principal objective of the Bill is to enable a high level framework of higher education governance in Scotland that is more modern, inclusive and transparent, and in line with our commitment to a fairer Scotland,” she said.

The Scottish Funding council also responded to the committee, advising a governing body should consist of no more than 25 members, but it would not sanction universities if they did.

In a letter chief executive Laurence Howells said: “we will not require any any institution to remove existing members of its governing body and that there will be no sanction if the membershipof the governing body exceeds 25 as a result of the legislation. Our primary concern is that the independent (lay) members remain clearly in the majority on the governing body.”