President's weekly update
20 May 2021
We held an informal briefing for the Board on the staff pulse survey and on the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). The latter discussion was attended by an independent pensions expert, Paul Hamilton, who explained the complexities of USS, which is now the largest private pension scheme in the UK. The latest valuation of the scheme has led the USS Trustee to propose very major increases in costs for employers and members.
Universities UK (UUK) has proposed actions by employers to offer additional financial backing – or covenant support – to lessen the rise in contributions. Considered alongside other reforms, this could enable a significant defined benefit element to be preserved at current contribution levels. Employers are also asked whether they would support the introduction of a new, short-term flexible option for the growing number of early career staff who are currently being priced out of the scheme. With any changes to USS, past benefits that members have already built up are protected and not affected by changes.
At the main Board meeting we again discussed our response to the UUK consultation on its proposed changes to USS which we will publish as soon as it is complete. We also discussed the final stages of the selection of our commercial partner for Innovation District Manchester, our North Campus Development, received a report on health and wellbeing, an update on our communications strategy which was attended by our new Director of Communications, Matthew Moth, received the report of the Task and Finish Group on the actions arising from the Fallowfield fences enquiry and considered the regular reports from me, from the Chair, the Students’ Union and the various committees and Senate. An important item was our response to the Office for Students on regulatory compliance and how we can provide assurances that we have delivered the learning outcomes that students’ should have expected, albeit that these have been delivered in a very different way due to the pandemic.
At a regular meeting with officers of our Students’ Union we discussed student support packages, the independent review of our University governance, student occupations and our global top position in the THE league table on Sustainable Development Goals and how we improve our position still further in some categories, notably on support for international students.
I took part in a debate that was recorded for our Productivity Institute with Lord Jim O’Neill and Professor Phil McCann from Sheffield on the challenge of enhancing productivity in the north of England, the many factors that impact on this, growth, employment and prosperity. The event was hosted by Professor Bart van Ark, Director of the Productivity Institute. It will be broadcast on 23 June as part of their podcast series.
I chaired a meeting of the Russell Group with Tony Danker, Director General of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and one of our alumni. We discussed the contribution of universities such as ours to net zero, ‘levelling up’ and economic growth. Tony stressed the importance of our work with industry. Our assessment under the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), which was also reported to our Board, showed that we perform very well in this area and innovation is one of our key future goals.
I continued with my programme of regular meetings with staff networks and met with members of the LGBTQ+ and BAME networks. At the LGTBQ+ network, we talked about openness and recognition of different orientations, awareness by managers, ensuring that staff feel comfortable in reporting their orientation and encouraging wider participation in Pride events. BAME staff raised concerns about recruitment, progression, representation and grievance claims, and wanted more effective training and mentoring schemes. We agreed that we need to learn from what we got wrong in the past and work together with the staff networks in developing and implementing strategy and solutions.
I also attended a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary University Group with the Minister for Universities, Michelle Donelan, along with over 80 participants, including many vice-chancellors. There were numerous questions on the Freedom of Speech bill, anti-Semitism, arrangements for the next academic year (hoping that we will be back to a greater level of normality), degree apprenticeships and the press reports claiming that the government was due to implement the recommendation of the Augar report. The Minister robustly rebutted the claims on Augar which might result in a reduction in UK undergraduate tuition fees to £7,500, with possible top up for science and engineering degrees. She said that no decision had been reached and the story had no basis.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor