Management consultants and business school alums or professors among the Wonkhe readership are very familiar with MECE as a way of grouping options for a decision: mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive.
Following the Labour Party conference, I can present my own, exclusive framework to describe how we might start to think of Jacqui Smith’s approach to HE policy, which is WECEE (or maybe WEC/EE): widening participation, economic growth, civic, efficiency and (student) experience.
Torturous acronyms notwithstanding, it’s been fascinating watching the minister begin to engage more publicly with the sector – which really started with UUK conference earlier in the autumn – and there are some common themes we can divine.
Most importantly, the financial state of the sector is understood and appreciated by her, and she has made clear signals as much as she can at the moment that she would like to try and address it, as well as slightly more explicit commitments to address student cost of living, via reform to maintenance grants.
It remains to be seen what that looks like, of course; over what timescale any changes may come in; and whether it is sufficient to change trajectory. But for those fortunate souls among us who are experienced at watching ministers and parsing oblique and carefully crafted statements, it seems clear that the “bit of leg” that is showing, to use the minister’s words, is more than just a tease.
Teasing it out
Let us assume, then – perhaps naively – that the sector manages to stabilise in the near to medium term. What does the Smith doctrine suggest that the sector should then focus on?
Firstly, and first priority, is reform to widening participation. The minister spoke extensively in public and private meetings on the fringe about the discrepancy in access to HE between different areas of the country, and about how the ambition should be for all young people and adults to be able to go on to HE if they wished and were able.
I think this is also less about the “more free school meals kids going to Oxbridge” element of WP which sometimes frustrates, and more about a rounded perspective that builds on the work that Director of Fair Access John Blake, access organisations, and universities themselves have been doing, which is a focus on getting in, getting on, and succeeding at the end.
I would guess the single biggest thing a Starmer government would want to do in HE is make changes nationally and locally to the way in which the sector collectively focuses on widening access.
Mission control
The second theme is economic growth. The minister spoke, as did everyone, about the five missions. But Jacqui Smith laid it on very thick: no one in Whitehall underestimates the contribution of universities to growth (as well as to the other missions, tackling crime perhaps notwithstanding).
In this area, DfE will need to work closely with DSIT, whose ministers were also helpfully singing the same tune. Patrick Vallance suggested that research funding could be more explicitly tied to missions, and Peter Kyle spoke of growth and innovation being driven from within HE.
Jacqui Smith also talked explicitly, on more than one occasion, about recognising the issue around the full economic cost of research. Again, this is perhaps easier for ministers to say and appreciate in the abstract, than concretely deliver change. But it seems clear that universities are seen as pretty central to the whole government’s central mission, which is no bad place to be.
Thirdly comes civic. The Minister noted several times that “every MP wants a university in their constituency.” She talked around the fringe about the importance of place, and of university contribution to the social good of the place. Part of this is pre-empting the inevitable complaint that universities are more than just economic engines. But part of it seemed to be a genuine appreciation that universities and communities are not the same.
More broadly, although levelling up is RIP, the broader theme of opportunity that runs through the government, and that of social justice, all speaks to a wider appreciation of place and of universities (and colleges) supporting a better standard of living in their specific communities.
Then comes the quid pro quo
In exchange for a financial settlement, and for supporting universities to make progress on WP, economic growth and civic agenda, Jacqui Smith has indicated two areas where she thinks the sector should do more.
The first, and most cautiously received, was on efficiencies. This doesn’t mean that she hasn’t seen the financial cutbacks that have already happened, or that she thinks further cheese-paring of the model is the right way to go.
But it seems clear to me that in exchange for let’s say a tuition fee rise or additional direct state funding of some kind, government will want to be assured that every penny is being spent the best possible way. One simple way to do this – and this is now me talking not the minister – would be to make far better use and simpler interpretation of TRAC data to show how spending works and changes within the sector. But it may also mean harder conversations about some aspects of the HE delivery model.
And the second is student experience. The minister said several times that she sees students as being overly hit by cost of living. We know that one of the issues being discussed between the sector and the government is on accommodation, and on bed space supply versus student demand.
But it also speaks to support for physical and mental health, on addressing loneliness and belonging, and on access to facilities. A well rounded approach to WP here focuses not just on students getting in, but on having a positive time when they are at university. A whole range of issues come into play here – including some like NHS capacity which are not immediately under universities’ control – and I’d expect this to be a central part of any new financial package.
One of the immensely frustrating things about Labour conference was how much everything is on pause until the Budget and spending review. This relates not just to things which would require funding, but in essence any announcement at all. Jacqui Smith couldn’t speak easily on BTEC pause and review, or on college and lecturer pay, or on many aspects of the DfE agenda at all. But it is now possible to see some outlines emerging. We’ll see, if it’s WECEE (ok, that’s the last terrible acronym pun, I promise).
Sounds like she spoke at great length and often, but without actually saying anything.