Britain Creates Government Department Responsible for Universities and Business

The British government announced today the creation of a government department with joint responsibility for higher education and business policy, “whose key role will be to build Britain’s capabilities to compete in the global economy.”

The move marks the demise, after less than two years, of the Department of Innovation, Universities, and Skills, which is being combined with another agency to form the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills.

The merger, which comes as the beleaguered prime minister, Gordon Brown, shuffles his cabinet, “puts the UK’s further-education system and universities closer to the heart of government thinking about building now for the upturn,” the Downing Street announcement said.

The move also “puts universities at the heart of the government’s business policies, and will be opposed by some academics who believe higher education should be in a department dedicated to education and not commerce,” The Guardian noted.

Universities UK, the umbrella body representing British vice chancellors, issued a noncommittal statement saying that it was looking forward to continuing the work that the earlier department had begun.

However, the University and College Union, Britain’s main faculty union, was unequivocal in expressing its “disappointment.” Its secretary general said in a written statement that the group was “very concerned that this merger seems to signal that further and higher education are no longer considered important enough to have a department of their own. The fact they have been lumped in with business appears to be a clear signal of how the government views colleges and universities and their main roles in this country.” —Aisha Labi