Scottish education bill embraces activist approach

Slideshow: Universities in Scotland When Petra Wend moved from Oxford Brookes to Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University in 2009, she knew Scotland was further north and colder than England. But the German-born principal of the university near Edinburgh says she did not expect to find "such a different country".

At first glance, the higher education governance bill, which the Scottish government intends to introduce in June, looks like a dry set of legislative proposals. And yet for many observers it is symbolic of the way the Scottish National party-led administration approaches public policy. For them, in higher education and beyond, Nicola Sturgeon's government embraces a more activist, statist and corporatist approach than does the coalition government in Westminster.

Ahead of the general election on May 7, Ms Sturgeon has promised to be a "progressive ally" against the Conservatives. This has led to a focus on what demands SNP MPs could make in London after that vote. But less attention has been paid to the policy record of its MSPs in Edinburgh.

In 2011, following headlines about the closure of academic departments and above-inflation pay rises for senior managers, Mike Russell, the then cabinet secretary for education, asked Ferdinand von Prondzynski, the principal of Robert Gordon university in Aberdeen to lead a review of university governance. Completed in 2012, it became the basis for public consultation on a bill, which Mr Russell published last year before his replacement by Angela Constance, an ally of Ms Sturgeon, the first minister.

"The accepted ethos of the system is now quite different [in Scotland]," Prof von Prondzynski says. He denies that the proposed ideas - such as mandated trade union nominees on governing bodies and the election of their chairs by an outside constituency - threaten universities' freedom, saying they will make senior management more accountable to staff.

The bill embodies mainstream SNP philosophy, says a party official. There are two ways of considering universities, the official says: as businesses or as organisations to serve society. The SNP, especially under Ms Sturgeon, takes the latter view.

Similar ideas are apparent throughout the first minister's programme for government; for example, in the Community Empowerment Bill - which aims to give more decision-making powers to locals - as well as the precise targets included in university funding deals.

"This is a Scottish government that has been very statist in its approach to public policy," says Elizabeth Smith, MSP and Conservative education spokesperson, citing the centralisation of police forces and land reforms. "It is a very leftwing government."

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"The Scottish government is much more directional, much more interventionist, and this legislation would make it even more interventionist", says Steve Chapman, the departing principal of Heriot-Watt university in Edinburgh.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh has said that the reforms are "entirely inappropriate for an autonomous sector". Like the CBI and other business bodies, it argues that the proposals risk weakening one of Scotland's commercial strengths. Professor Alan Alexander, the RSE's general secretary, says: "The government is overreaching in pursuit of a one size fits all agenda."

Privately, some senior university figures worry about the consequences of opposing the SNP-led government. This concern is especially acute following the referendum campaign, during which The Daily Telegraph revealed that former first minister Alex Salmond personally demanded that Louise Richardson, principal of St Andrews university, revise remarks she had made to the Times about the risks of independence to research funding.

"The SNP is pursuing a grand project - independence - and it's taking every opportunity to demonstrate the difference between England and Scotland," one senior figure says, citing the divergence on tuition fees for undergraduates. "We are therefore reluctant to speak out when our views are at variance with the project. Ideas that are unorthodox are not well received."

Another person close to the debate about the future of higher education governance says: "The Scottish government pays very close attention when you speak out."

"There's no doubt that university leaders are unwilling to speak out," says a university principal. "This is a small country where the government has a big influence. There is a fear that the next time a spending review comes around they would be punished for it."

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