Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of appointing an SME Champion within the governance structures of the Office for Students.

The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 specifies that the Office for Students’ (OfS) board consists of the following members appointed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education: a chair, the Chief Executive Officer, the Director for Fair Access and Participation, and between 7 and 12 ordinary members.

In appointing the chair and the ordinary members, the Secretary of State must also have regard to the desirability of the OfS’s members having a range of experience. The current board is therefore made up of members with a range of experience and expertise including Monisha Shah, the former chair of Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, Monisha brings expertise and experience from a small provider perspective to the OfS board.

The OfS also works closely with Independent HE, along with other higher education sector mission groups, to understand how regulation impacts higher education providers, including the challenges for small and specialist providers.

Finally, the OfS Director for Fair Access and Participation, John Blake, for example, recognised in his speech on 8 February that smaller providers found the access and participation plan process more challenging and that the OfS will work closely with them to ensure that regulation of them is proportionate, effective and fair, John Blake's speech is available to view at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/press-and-media/next-steps-in-access-and-participation/.