Universities could win exemption from right to know law

uNIverSITIeS could soon be exempt f rom t he F reedom o f I nformation Act under a second attack on the public’s right to know.

Ministers i n t he D epartment f or B usiness, Innovation and Skills are consulting o n w hether t o r emove u niversities from the law, which obliges public bodies t o r espond t o r equests f or i nformation about their finances and how they operate.

The proposal is in a consultation document on education reform and comes on top o f a nother, h ugely c ontroversial, r eview of the Act ordered by the Cabinet office.

In response to this first review, vice- chancellors claimed universities should be exempt from the Act because t hey a re p rivate i nstitutions – n ot p ublic b odies – d espite receiving almost £4billion a year in taxpayers’ money.

But the News Media Association, w hich r epresents t he n ewspaper i ndustry, h as c riticised t he proposal, d escribing u niversities as ‘precisely the kind of institution that FoIwas intended torender accountable’.

Lucy Gill, of the NMA, said: ‘universities are powerful institutions that exercise important public functions.

‘The educational responsibilities of universities are crucial to the future and standing of individuals, generations and the entire nation.’

It comes after the Daily Mailused the Act to expose bumper cash d eals f or a n umber o f u niversity leaders. Last year the Mail’s Investigations unit revealed how when he was vice-chancellor of Nottingham Trent university, Professor Neil Gorman pocketed £623,000 in one year, including £250,000 i n b onuses.

The highest pay deal for a university e mployee w as g iven t o a n unnamed oxford academic who pocketed £630,000 in a year – more than four times the Prime Minister’s salary. The Act has also b een u sed t o e xpose n umerous other public sector scandals as w ell a s w asteful s pending, b ut it is under threat from the Government, w ith m inisters c laiming it is ‘too costly’ to administer.

In December, the russell Group, which represents the 24 most prestigious universities including o xford a nd C ambridge, made a submission to the Cabinet office review claiming its members should be exempt.

Although most tuition fees are funded by government-administered student loans, some of which will never be repaid in full, the g roup c laimed t his s hould n ot count a s p ublic m oney.

It s aid ‘ universities a re n ot p ublic bodies’ and also complained that the cost of answering FoI queries was prohibitively high, with members spending £1.1million doing this in 2014, based on an e stimate o f £ 155 p er r equest.

universities uK, which represents 132 vice-chancellors and principals, claimed its members spend £10million a year answering FoI requests. It stopped short of calling for a blanket exemption f rom t he A ct, b ut d id seek significant curbs.

A spokesman for the business department said: ‘The Higher education G reen P aper c onsultation is not related to any other review on FoIs. The consultation seeks views on a huge range of issues t o h elp i nform t he G overnment’s h igher e ducation r eforms.

‘This i ncludes s eeking t houghts on measures to ease the regulatory burden on the sector.’