15 November 2017 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
The Chief of Executive of the OfS, Nicola Dandridge has spoken to the Times Higher this week to urge universities to respond to the consultation on the new regulatory framework for HE. She said that it would be “utterly wrong” for universities to think that the consultation document represented a done deal, adding that “If we were going to turn ourselves into a regulator that was just going to dive in and take action without any foundation or context, that would be really worrying. That is not what we are doing… We are going to be transparent, risk based, thoughtful and intelligent, so we should be an organisation that institutions are comfortable engaging with”
While some are concerned with the additional regulatory powers outlined in the framework, the regulatory direction for EU grants appears to be heading in the other direction. From next year, the £70bn Horizon 2020 programme will pilot the complete removal of cost reporting, timesheets, and financial audits for some of its research funding, as part of a change from a “control-based to a trust-based” system, the Times Higher reports.
Universities will still need to be careful however. New research produced by CIPFA in conjunction with the accountancy firm Moore Stephens has found grant misspending to be the top public-sector fraud risk.
