On that front there has been quite a lot of recent activity in Parliament. The Renters Rights Act has now been enacted although certain implementation details have yet to emerge, but I have already outline my thoughts (see here and there is a further update this month here ). But, with little fanfare and national press coverage the Government recently published its Post-16 education and skills white paper which was due in “the summer”, although perhaps as a result of global warming, October in the UK is now is considered to be the summer! The paper is of huge significance to the HE sector as it really paints a picture as to how the Government sees Universities evolving over the next few years.

The first thing to note is that the paper is jointly fronted by the Department for Education, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Department for Work and Pensions – it covers a lot, and the coordination across government departments that will be required will undoubtedly be difficult to deliver. Cross department matters are never easy, just ask those who have been trying to identify exactly who should be approached on student accommodation – is it a Department of Education or Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government matter?

The plans themselves breakdown into three key areas: joining up skills and employment throughout the system including through Skills England and funding reform; reforms in the further education/college sector; and reforms in the higher education sector and it is obviously this latter objective that is of most interest to those involved in PBSA.

The paper was introduced in a statement in the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson, who announced what every University Finance Director had been waiting for - a commitment to increase tuition fees and maintenance loans by predicted inflation for the next two years, and to legislate to make the fee increase automatic in future. The problem is that “predicted” inflation does regularly result in a figure being applied that is less than reality with no correction mechanism but looking on the positive it is a step in the right direction.

However, there is a sting in the tale as fee uplifts will not be automatic and will require providers achieving a “higher quality threshold” via the 'OfS’ quality regime. No details are given but a best guess given the recent consultation is that this will involve the new TEF silver and gold award, so further risk for some.

It’s clear that the Government see universities a critical “strategic asset” but they see change as being needed which they state as “Our ambition is to have a more sustainable, more specialised and more efficient sector, better aligned with the needs of the economy.”

In a recent Wonkhe article, (and they certainly know more about policy than me!) Debbie McVitty and David Kernohan wrote “In practice, if the government were to have its way (and that’s a big if) the outcome would be a fair bit of sector consolidation, with a more stratified sector incorporating fewer highly research-active institutions, operating within a regional ecosystem in which different types of institutions coordinate around an education offer that remains competitive in terms of subject and qualification choice, but attentive to regional skills needs.” So less institutions, less doing research and more coordination.

The government clearly thinks that there are too many providers many of which are trying to sustain too broad a base of offering to the same student demographics, and they feel there should be a focus on the core strength of each institution. But institutional autonomy is recognised and “it is not for government to impose these changes.” So, there will be encouragement to change but no imposition of change, which in my opinion will undoubtedly lead to the status quo. But the government does have one lever which might throw a spanner in the works in that regard.

There is a statement that the government intends to use research funding to drive some of this differentiation between institutions through a “more strategic distribution of research activity,” which essentially means concentrating research funding in certain institutions which will therefore require others to overhaul their business models, thereby hopefully achieving the overall government objective. As the Wonkhe team put it “because of the close relationship between research and teaching specialisation in one will drive specialisation in the other.”

Besides the broader strategic educational issues there are two specific mentions of accommodation in the paper. In the commentary it states:

“Accommodation costs have increased significantly. Average student rents across England are now close to the level of the maximum student loan and in London they are above it. There has also been an acute lack of available accommodation in some places. This is more likely to impact on people from low-income backgrounds, influencing their choice of provider or preventing them accessing or completing higher education all together.”

This then leads the Paper to state the “Changes we will make” which include:

“An improved student experience - We will work with the sector and others so that the supply of student accommodation meets demand, including increasing the supply of affordable accommodation where that is needed.” As we all know that will be easy! The paragraph goes on “We will work with the sector, drafting a statement of expectations on accommodation which will call upon providers to work strategically with their local authorities to ensure there is adequate accommodation for the individuals they recruit.” Clearly the City of Nottingham initiative has a fan base.

It is interesting to note that there is absolutely no mention of institution insolvency which is somewhat strange given that this was on Sue Gray’s (remember her?) potential disaster list when they assumed power 15 months ago. Perhaps they think that risk has gone away – news flash – it very much hasn’t!

The White Paper covers a lot but there is no defined legislative agenda or timescale and there is no mention of public consultation, it is really a document that flushes out the relevant manifesto commitments. So, a desired final destination for universities, less in number with more specialism, has been identified, which will clearly take considerable time to deliver. For those working with the sector, such as PBSA providers, looking to the future it will be necessary to identify whether this government will be around long enough to enact this substantial change agenda and what elements will come to fruition and make an impact on student accommodation demand.