The University Council has submitted to the government its response to the White Paper on the future of higher education. Prepared after extensive consultation with University members, the response has today been published in full in The Reporter.

The Council welcomes the government's recognition that universities need additional resources and the decision to concentrate research funding on universities, such as Cambridge, which the RAE has identified as the most successful research institutions. However, the Council is concerned by the government's decision to reduce further the HEFCE unit of resource for teaching.

The Council expresses its support for the government's ambition to broaden access to higher education and reaffirms the University's commitment to "seeking and admitting undergraduate and graduate students of the highest potential, irrespective of race or nationality, or financial or social circumstances". The Council concurs with the statement in the White Paper that one of the principal obstacles to this goal is differential attainment in schools and colleges and the Council hopes that the past failures of local education authorities and central government will be addressed. The Council rejects the suggestion that the collegiate admission system may be an obstacle to widening participation and regrets unjustified ministerial misrepresentations of the current situation.

The Council has a number of concerns about the government's proposals on tuition fees, particularly relating to student hardship and the risk that fear of debt may discourage potential students. The Council welcomes proposals for the reintroduction of maintenance grants but suggests that they should be higher and should be available to a wider group of students. The Council expresses concern that under the current proposals there is no guarantee that significant extra funds will come through to universities charging higher fees and that the scheme could increase government control of universities.

The Council welcomes the government's proposals to support universities in their efforts to build their endowments but notes that the experience of Cambridge would suggest that endowments are unlikely to ever become the chief source of funding for higher education in the UK.

The Council expresses regret that there is little in the White Paper which addresses the international role of UK universities, their popularity in Europe and elsewhere and their growing economic importance as a successful export.

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