January 2017

Roberta Blackman-Woods MP 27 January 2017

Dear Colleague,

Since our last update, the Higher Education and Research Bill has almost completed its Committee Stage in the House of Lords with one more session taking place on Monday 30 January. It has been a thoughtful debate with over 600 amendments tabled. It’s expected that the Bill won’t reach Lords Report stage until after the February Recess but we will be sure to let you know as soon as the date is confirmed.  

Our first meeting of the year takes place on Tuesday, focusing on the Government’s Industrial Strategy, incredibly timely as the Green Paper was published on Monday, so lots of quick analysis of what this might mean for the higher education sector and where parliamentarians can respond. We have two great speakers, Professor Quintin McKellar, who in addition to leading the University of Hertfordshire, also heads up Universities UK’s Innovation and Growth Policy Network, and Steven Wilson, Head of Innovation at the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership, who will be speaking about the collaborative work he has seen between business and universities and how this can be emulated across the country.

Finally, if any member of the group has an opinion or particular piece of work that they would like to share I just wanted to leave you with a reminder that the group’s blog is up and running and hopefully provides you with a direct opportunity to share directly with both sector and parliamentary colleagues.

Roberta Blackman-Woods MP

Chair, All-Party Parliamentary University Group