HM Government has published its White Paper on higher education, entitled “Students at the Heart of the System”.
In it, the Government says that “savings so far from collaborative buying are nearly £80 million. This is good but is capable of improvement.”
“There is room for further efficiency savings and institutions should be looking at ways they can save money and so reduce the cost passed on to students. HEFCE and the sector have done valuable work to date in promoting efficiencies in areas like procurement, shared services and the use of e-market places but there is scope to do more and more radically.”
There’s also hope for those institutions who desire de-regulation from EU public procurement rules:
“Changes to the way institutions are funded may also reduce regulatory requirements. For example, because in future, most funding will follow students in the form of loans and direct grant funding from the Government will decrease, fewer institutions may be subject to EU public procurement rules.”