High cost of university openness

Consultants say a new system is needed

England's universities are spending up to £250m a year on meeting external demands to be accountable, much of it unnecessarily, according to an independent study.

... unjustified data requirements, intrusive checks and mutual misunderstandings ...

Consultants' report

The review of accountability follows rising complaints from higher education institutions about the demands on them to account for their use of public funds.

It was commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) and was carried out by PA Consulting.

The consultants back the complaints and paint a picture of muddle and mistrust in a system which they say has grown up in a piecemeal fashion and needs a complete overhaul.

They considered the needs of a variety of "stakeholders" in higher education, including the institutions themselves, the various funding bodies, government departments, unions, banks and the watchdog Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

Uneasy relationships

Their report says there were "many examples of internal benefits" from the demands on universities and colleges to be accountable.

But the institutions had "very significant costs" in responding - put at £45-50m directly in terms of administrators' and academics' time, plus an estimated £100m for such things as information and secretarial systems and as much again in "unmeasured" costs.

Relationships between stakeholders and institutions were often "fragmented, unco-ordinated and insular", the report says.

There was "a distinct lack of the mutual understanding" on which better accountability arrangements should be built.

"This, in turn has generated duplication and/or unjustified data requirements, intrusive checks and mutual misunderstandings."

Mistrust

Universities often did far more than had been expected of them, for example to meet what were intended as straightforward requests for information.

And they were "nervous" that information might be used against them.

"The prospect of assessments, or even factual data about libraries or accommodation, appearing in published league tables is one inhibiting factor," the report says.

"Another is suspicion of a hidden agenda behind stakeholders' information requests."

PA Consulting recommends a new system which it says would offer considerable benefits all round, reducing costs and fostering more open and cosntructive relationships.

The way forward

But it says the changes involved are too big to achieve in one go. The first step should be consultation on the way forward.

Hefce's chief executive, Sir Brian Fender, said: "We are committed to ensuring that the accountability requirements placed on universities and colleges are kept to the necessary minimum, and are as cost-effective, streamlined and co-ordinated as we can make them."

The report's conclusions had led already to the formation of a Higher Education Forum to monitor progress.

"This is a chance for universities and colleges to reap substantial rewards, by removing unnecessary requirements, improving working relationships between stakeholders, and maximising the cost-effectiveness of the effort expended," he added.