Liz Kendall’s appointment as UK science secretary may lead to a much-needed reset in universities’ strained relationship with authorities after Peter Kyle’s restricted engagement on science and analysis points, consultants have recommended.
The arrival of Kendall from the Department for Work and Pensions within the latest Cabinet reshuffle has raised hopes that the sector may need a extra sympathetic ear within the new secretary of state for science, following what some noticed as Kyle’s confrontational method to academia.
That hostility culminated in Kyle’s speech at Universities UK’s annual convention final week, when he challenged vice-chancellors to use the “colossal resource” of their establishments and “leadership skills” to “inspire the change that your region…might need” – a rebuke that went down badly amongst college leaders, a few of whom have been pressured to make main cuts amid deteriorating sector funds.
That speech adopted concern over a scarcity of engagement from Kyle on science insurance policies – with the latter agenda seen to be led by Patrick Vallance, the federal government’s former chief scientific adviser.
Instead, Kyle concentrated primarily on the expertise facet on the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), with Vallance steering science alongside his position as official champion for the Oxford-Cambridge economic growth corridor.
“If Vallance does the detail as we expect, Kendall may at least do a bit more of the sector engagements that have been missing of late,” argued Diana Beech, director of the Finsbury Institute at City St George’s University of London, who was a particular adviser to three Conservative science ministers.
“That could go a long way to making the sector feel it is being listened to and loved, and not just having things done to it,” stated Beech.
While Kendall, a University of Cambridge historical past graduate who labored in thinktanks and as a ministerial adviser prior to her election to parliament in 2010, did “not have a strong track record in science and innovation, she is a seasoned and capable politician – and a safe pair of hands for DSIT”, continued Beech.
“Her appointment marks a welcome shift from the male-dominated science policy agenda of the past year and could signal a return to a more traditional focus on publicly funded research and innovation, rather than the technocratic emphasis on digital transformation that preoccupied her predecessor,” she added.
The arrival of a longtime Cabinet member at DSIT would possibly show tough for the division given Vallance’s huge coverage affect and profile inside the division, warned John Womersley, former government chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Research Council, who’s now a particular adviser on the University of Edinburgh.
“Vallance is a big person for a relatively junior role in government and his presence [across government] expanded to recognise this,” stated Womersley, including: “It was clear it was Vallance making the decisions on UK Research and Innovation and the Research Excellence Framework”.
Describing Vallance as a “domain heavyweight” to Kyle’s “generalist minister”, Womersley continued: “Kyle was the political one who’d sit on sofas in TV studios on a Sunday and defend the government in general. He also got stuck into the online safety and digital disinformation debates, which seemed to be a personal hobby horse of his,” he continued.
“He came across as very much a Labour party political actor with ambitions elsewhere, rather than being close to the DSIT brief.”
Referring to Vallance’s twin ministerial position at each DSIT and the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero, the place he was appointed minister on 6 September, Womersley added: “Kendall might need to be more hands-on with universities and research – she might have her own vision and that will be interesting to see how this works.”