Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish all research and consultancy reports prepared by consultancies or associated companies on any aspect of the preparation of reforms introduced by the Higher Education and Research Bill in the last three years.

The policy work that underpinned the reforms introduced by the Higher Education and Research Bill (HER Bill) was largely undertaken by civil servants and drew on previous published material including, for example, the Gaskell Review that was prepared for Universities UK. This material was referenced in the Green Paper published in October 2015 and again in the White Paper in May 2016 that preceded the introduction of the HER Bill.

BEIS commissioned Deloitte to undertake preliminary organisational design work ahead of the establishment of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), working with BEIS, the UKRI Interim Chair and senior leaders from the existing Partner Organisations which will form UKRI. The brief was to set out high level organisation design principles, assumptions and options for UKRI consistent with the framework set out by the White Paper and the HER Bill. The work was completed in October 2016 as preliminary specialist advice for BEIS officials and ministers to inform further organisational design work being carried out within BEIS and hence it is not planned to publish the commissioned report.