My Lords, I say at the outset that once again I have shortened my comments, bearing in mind the hour. Nevertheless, these amendments need to be properly addressed, so I hope that the House will bear with me.
I reassure noble Lords that the Government are committed to a fair and open appointment process for the OfS chair. The final appointment will be made by the Secretary of State, but the process will allow for scrutiny of the appointment by Parliament. We have previously stated our openness to a committee of Parliament scrutinising the nomination of the chair of the OfS before the final appointment is made. I confirm that there will be this opportunity for parliamentary scrutiny in the appointment of the first chair—for whom the selection process is well under way, as noble Lords may know. I note that the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, agrees that the chair of the OfS should not be ratified by a resolution of Parliament but that there should be parliamentary scrutiny. That is correct, despite some comments made this evening that were not particularly in favour of that.
Amendments 4 and 18 would be a departure from the accepted practice set out in the governance code. It is standard practice for the chairs of regulators to be
appointed by the respective Secretary of State. We believe that our plans for scrutiny are sufficient and that it is right that the Secretary of State should retain the power to appoint the chair of the OfS board.
Throughout the development of this legislation, the Government have engaged and consulted widely with students and their representatives and we are committed to ensuring that this approach is reflected in the final OfS structure and arrangements. We have already amended the Bill in the other place to ensure that at least one of the ordinary members of the OfS must have experience of representing or promoting the interests of students.
As regards the comments just made by the noble Baroness, Lady Wolf, and the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, requiring one member of the OfS board to be currently engaged in representing students, as proposed by Amendment 5, would narrow the choice of potential candidates for this role. It could potentially exclude someone who has excellent recent experience of representing students but who has since gone into the working world or further study, thus gaining valuable experience and skills. Furthermore, the standard length of term for public appointments is four years. As such, insisting that the student representative be a current student risks being incompatible with the standard time lines of most courses of study or sabbatical roles as student representatives. That is why we chose the form of wording that we put forward on Report in the other place.
I turn now to the desirability criteria for the OfS board appointments. The Government believe that it is essential that the OfS board should be representative of the broader range of stakeholders in the higher education system. The current legislation that sets out the appointment process for appointments to the current HEFCE board requires the Secretary of State to have regard to experience of higher education, business or the professions. I reiterate that this has worked well for many decades. None the less, this legislation goes further in ensuring a diverse range of board members by setting out seven desirability criteria. These include experience of providing higher education and experience of creating, reviewing, implementing or managing a regulatory system. The seven criteria have been framed broadly so that they allow for flexibility to include board members with the breadth and depth of experience and skills. The Bill in its current form preserves the crucial flexibility for the Secretary of State to constitute the OfS board in the most appropriate way for the challenges and opportunities of the particular day. I reiterate that we need to form a framework that allows us to look ahead a long period of time.
10.15 pm
Amendment 6 requires the Secretary of State to have equal regard to all the criteria, therefore implying equal representation from all of the list of areas, all the time. However, this would inhibit the ability of the Secretary of State to make appointments that reflect the priorities of the time. It could also unnecessarily expose the OfS to legal risk should it be seen to attach unequal weight to each criterion. It also does not recognise that some people will satisfy more than one of these criteria.
On Amendment 7, it is indeed important for board members to be in touch with current issues in the higher education sector. Current or recent experience is of the greatest value, and the Secretary of State will of course be looking to appoint board members with such experience. However, to require this for all board appointments would be too restrictive. It could prevent the Secretary of State from appointing someone with experience from several of the areas listed. Further education colleges provide a small but not insignificant amount of higher education. We would welcome representatives from the further education sector on the OfS board. However, I disagree that this needs to be specifically differentiated from other education providers.
On Amendment 10, we have placed a duty on the OfS to have a regard to equality of opportunity as it relates to access and participation in higher education across all its functions. The new Director for Fair Access and Participation will be at the heart of the new regulator, sitting on the board and appointed by the Secretary of State, reflecting the high priority that the Government give to widening participation. We would welcome this experience among ordinary members.
The noble Baronesses, Lady Bakewell, Lady Cohen and Lady Garden, raised the important topic of part-time and lifelong learning. On Amendment 5A, therefore, the Government recognise the importance of part-time education and lifelong learning to provide choice for students to pursue the type of provision that is right for them and to widen participation. I therefore thank the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, for raising this important issue—which we will return to in Committee, to give her some reassurance of the importance that we attach to this topic.
We expect that board members will have a broad range of experience covering different types of provision at different institutions. But it is essential that the Secretary of State maintains flexibility in appointments to the board.
On vocational education and professional accreditations and Amendment 11, which was spoken to by my noble friend Lord Lucas in particular, the Government recognise the important role of vocational education and professional accreditations. Again, just because it is not specifically set out in the legislation, as proposed by Amendment 11, does not mean that people with this experience would not be represented on the board. I disagree that this needs to be specifically differentiated from other higher education providers. As I said earlier, it will be left to the Secretary of State to decide on the precise balance of the skills, experience and background that make up the board.
On Amendment 12, I believe that representatives of providers will also be representatives of the staff of those providers, and it would be presumptuous to consider otherwise. They may be current academics or administrators, or senior leaders who none the less have the interests of higher education staff firmly in mind. To the extent that higher education staff need separate representation relating to their rights as employees, I would not see that as being the role of the OfS board, but rather the responsibility of the providers themselves.
The OfS will need to draw on expertise in advising students, as envisaged by Amendment 13. However, the Government believe that this experience will be drawn upon at a working level in the organisation, or in the designated data body which is responsible for publishing information. The OfS is not intended to be a student advice service; there are several other organisations which already do this, which the Committee will be aware of, including UCAS, the National Careers Service, schools and colleges.
This legislation goes further than past legislation in setting desirability criteria but also recognises the varied experience people have in their lives. It therefore safeguards the Secretary of State’s flexibility to appoint OfS board members based on the entirety of their experience. This flexibility is critical to the success of the new body. I therefore ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.