De-regulation, corporate form and
the privatisation of higher education
The Coalition’s
de-regulatory agenda
• Creating a regulatory level playing field for new private
sector providers – eg, access to subsidies, reform of
DAPs, University Title: removing the regulatory ‘barriers’
to new entrants.
• Reshaping taxation in favour of private providers VAT
exemption
• Opening up the assets – giving institutions more
‘flexibility’ in choosing and changing their corporate
form.
Why is corporate form important?
“Sweating the assets”
• In part, solving the ‘problem’ of the asset locks on post92 universities – the higher education corporation.
• Chartered corporations and companies limited by
guarantee – more ‘freedoms’ to use their assets.
• Push is coming from private companies looking to take
over institutions and from private equity funds active in
the sector.
UCU’s national response
• After the defeat of the ‘Big Bang’ legislation (a UCU led
campaign) Coalition’s new strategy: non-legislative means
UCU’s response:
• Strategic response: regulatory blocking; ‘raising the cost’ for
private companies; restrictions on institutions’ freedom
• Our argument that for-profits are different and our regulatory
system cannot deal with them
• Pursued through lobbying and campaigning around
consultations on Student number controls and VAT, plus
pressure on HEFCE over regulatory framework and corporate
form
The nightmare that is the HE
regulatory framework
UCU’s future strategy?
• We have national policies of opposition to
privatisation
• Continue national level campaigning to defend
existing barriers and raise regulatory burden on
private companies
• Lobbying/bargaining for workforce regulation
• National policy debate about what constitutes public
post-secondary education and how to rebuild it
The local impact of de-regulation:
• increased market pressure on HEIs, changing
corporate behaviour and ‘innovation’
• Bond issues, joint venture companies, subsidiary
companies, shared services, outsourcing
and…takeovers?
• ‘two-tier workforces’, race to the bottom and
transfer
UCU’s local response
Strategy:
• raise the cost to institutions in terms of reputation damage
and raise the cost to private companies (poisoned pills)
Our agenda:
• Asserting our right to early consultation and negotiation
• Limiting use of assets in relation to corporate form
• Establishing a Fair Employment Charter to govern transfers
and new workforces
• Active and early campaigning in support of our bargaining
objectives (eg. UCLAN)