Red tape slashed at English universities

Red tape in universities has been slashed by more than a fifth in the last four years, according to new research.

Bureaucratic practices have been cut by 21 per cent since 2004, in the universities surveyed by research group PA consulting.

The research was commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) which hopes to see a further ten per cent cut in restrictive red tape within two years.

PA Consulting’s survey of twenty English institutions found that five years ago it cost £240m to comply with regulations, by 2008 this had fallen to £190m.

Mike Boxall of PA Consulting said: "Our studies have measured sector-specific accountability demands, where HEFCE and other bodies such as the Quality Assurance Agency and the Higher Education Statistics Agency have worked with institutions to reduce burdens. Institutions themselves have improved their systems significantly between our three studies, and this has further reduced their costs."

While this study focused primarily on English universities, there are similar plans to cut administrative processes within Scottish institutions.

The government has promised universities north of the border that they will reduce the burden of excessive red tape, in return for the universities' steps improving student access, research quality and teaching estates.

However, plans to cut red tape in Scottish universities have been met with caution by the president of the Edinburgh University Students' Association Adam Ramsay, who warned that cutting red tape might not always prove appropriate: “It is important to get rid of unnecessary red tape,” he said.

“However, one person’s bureaucracy is another person’s democracy. If a decision is made by one person in a university, you can be sure that person won’t be a student, and a student’s interests would often not be heard. It’s important to find the balance between making a quick decision and making the right decision.”