Source: CBI

Greg Clark, the new minister for universities and science, has been urged to reassure the sector of his commitment to the brief, after publication of a lengthy list of responsibilities that includes ¡°preventing violent extremism¡± and ¡°widening participation¡± to alternative providers.

Mr Clark¡¯s list of responsibilities, published last week, is far longer than the responsibilities listed for his predecessor, David Willetts. But the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has insisted that Mr?Clark¡¯s responsibilities regarding higher education are ¡°unchanged¡± from the previous minister¡¯s.

Mr Clark is a Cabinet Office minister with responsibility for cities, local growth and constitutional reform, in addition to his universities and science brief.

His universities and science brief includes responsibility for ¡°preventing violent extremism¡±, ¡°student finance¡±, the ¡°education exports strategy¡± and ¡°student experience¡±.

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Another of Mr Clark¡¯s responsibilities is ¡°widening participation ¨C students and providers¡±.

The term ¡°widening participation¡± is more usually used in relation to encouraging students from poorer backgrounds to apply to university, rather than opening up provision to ¡°alternative¡± and private higher education institutions.

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Pam Tatlow, chief executive of the Million+ group, said that although she thought Mr Clark¡¯s work on the ¡°growth agenda¡± could help universities to contribute more to local economic growth, he ¡°clearly has a much more extensive list of responsibilities¡± than Mr Willetts.

¡°Given the questions about the future funding of higher education and research and the deregulation of student numbers, both vice-chancellors and students will be keen to get assurances that universities and research remain a key focus and priority of the government,¡± she added. To accommodate his extra role in the Cabinet Office, other parts of Mr Willetts¡¯ portfolio have been transferred to other ministers, a BIS spokesman said. They added that Mr?Willetts had always been responsible for ¡°preventing violent extremism¡±, but this had not been listed online.

Andy Westwood, chief executive of GuildHE, which represents smaller institutions, said he agreed that although Mr Clark had a ¡°very long list of responsibilities¡±, there were ¡°obvious¡± and ¡°very welcome¡± potential tie-ups between higher education, innovation and local economic growth.

david.matthews@tsleducation.com