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Vice-chancellors may warn against "interference in the autonomy of the university" but the Royal Town Planning Institute is relieved to see that the Government wants to make giving a year's notice before the closure of any department a condition of grant.

What is not clear is whether the funding council has to oblige universities to communicate this notice to the relevant professional bodies and sector skills councils at the earliest opportunity. Universities appear to take decisions in isolation and, if a number of institutions do the same, the consequences for the supply chain can be catastrophic.

Dory Reeves
Royal Town Planning Institute