It's February, and so it's time for another letter from BIS to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), setting out the government's priorities for the HE sector for the coming year. I've written before about the political to-ings and fro-ings at the heart of these correspondences.
Typically, there is a covering letter, and a series of numbered paragraphs (usually in annexes) that contain the detail. Sometimes the annexes just contain the financial detail. Although I've already catalogued the way in which these letters address sustainability over the years, this post summarises these, before bringing the story up to date.
2008 – #18. "When I announced your capital budgets, I noted that among other things this would allow you to commit resources to your proposed Green Development Fund. I warmly welcome this initiative, and your plans to work in partnership with Salix to deliver it. I know that institutions will help develop responses to the problems we face, and I am pleased the Council is providing leadership in this area. More generally, while higher education institutions have made some progress in reducing their carbon emissions, more needs to be done if the 2050 commitment to reduce emissions by 60% is to be achieved. I expect HEFCE to work with the sector to ensure these targets are met. Over the spending review, all institutions in receipt of capital funding should have plans to reduce carbon emissions, and performance against these plans should be a factor in future capital allocations. I would be grateful for a report on your plans for taking this forward by September 2008."
2009 – #2. … "Other themes that will certainly be relevant to that framework, and where I hope the Council will continue to focus during 2009-10, include engaging with business; widening access to higher education; supporting quality in HE; enhancing employability; sustaining world class research; and responding to climate change."
– #19. "Last year, I set out our ambition that capital funding for institutions should be linked to performance in reducing emissions. Following your advice to me, I am now confirming that such links should be in place for 2011-12. In May 2008 I asked you to finalise during 2008- 09 a strategy for sustainable development in HE, with a realistic target for carbon reductions that would reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent against 1990 levels by 2050 and at least 26 per cent by 2020. This former target should now be upgraded to 80 per cent, in line with Parliament’s decisions in passing the Climate Change Act 2008. I hope that some of the capital expenditure I have asked you to bring forward into 2009-10 will support strategic, long-term action to tackle climate change, but institution-wide strategies to reduce carbon emissions are also needed."
2010 – #9. "I welcome the work the Council and the sector have done over the past year to ensure the development of carbon management strategies for all higher education institutions. I hope universities and colleges will show leadership in this area, both in reducing their own emissions, and in seeking to include sustainability in their teaching and research."
2011 – #25. "We welcome the positive engagement of the sector over recent years in environmental sustainability. Even in fiscally challenging times, we remain committed to achieving the targets for carbon reduction and making progress on the wider sustainable development agenda. We hope you will continue to support the sector in its efforts here."
2012 – #22. "The HE sector has made good progress in recent years on environmental issues. You should continue to support institutions in their efforts to improve their sustainability."
2013 – #28. "We thank the Council for its activity which has contributed to the HE sector’s good progress on sustainable development. In particular, by developing strategies and using the Revolving Green Fund to provide recoverable grants to help HEIs in England reduce emissions the Council has supported the sector to reduce carbon emissions. We look forward to the development of a new sustainable development framework that should seek to build on the achievements of universities and colleges and the enthusiasm of students and continue to support institutions in their efforts to improve their sustainability."
2014 – ... (sic)
2015 – "We welcome the publication of the HEFCE sustainable development framework and HEFCE'S continuing role in facilitating the sharing of good practice on sustainable development. We note the HE sector's performance and look to the sector to continue improvements in this area. ... We endorse your new business plan for the period 2015-2020 including the commitment to working in partnership with other organisations."
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Although there was a lot of detail in the annexes that accompanied the 2015 letter, there was no mention of sustainability – hence the lack of a paragraph number this time. What you make of all this will likely depend on your optimism levels. Some think that it's rather good that there's any mention at all, given the current political preferences to ignore sustainability issues. Personally, I don't think there's really much difference in what is being said in 2015 from that said in 2013, 2012, and 2011, although 2013 provided detail. 2014 was, of course, rather a low point. Reference to the business plan is included because this contained references to sustainability, though, as I've already noted, these were muted at best.
I'll end by noting that BIS has not mentioned teaching in the context of sustainability in one of these letters since 2010.
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