Welcome to the monkey you're trained into this week's higher education news policy analysis. I'm sharon chief. Mark leech and it's a special episode this week as we had an avalanche policy from the government westminster so joining me to bash away through the policies won. Ki's top editorial team in what foods we have jim dickinson associated. Jim your heart of the week. Plays a think for me. It was actually not related to the policy saw me it was wednesday morning i was lying in bed and i opened up the times and saw that she's chair. Michael baba walls to give a speech where he would say. I am told that the vast majority of controversial speaking engagements go ahead on uk. Campuses are willing to believe it. But i'd love to see the data had line in bed. Sorry thinking you your regular of michael. Of course then. I left her a bed. Lucky kelloggs cornflakes hyper improved. Much much too much. Fanfare reciter was read things all week. Actually and in the southwest can ever remember exactly where. But it says david conner decay because other associated decay. You're valued this week. I have to say well I suppose building on from jim story. we then went to the event and we challenge michael barber to see if Data could possibly release an put nicely firmly commit to it but he did say that One key is strong on the detail but needs to sink more about the wider strategic picture. Which is really interesting. feedback from the outgoing chair of the office students and something that will reflect on future. We're taking that under advisement. Thanks thanks michael. And suraya london. It's monkeys editor. Vici w hearts of the week. It's non michael. Proper related highlight The the highlight of my week. I received a lovely email at the beginning of this weekend and over the fact that from a senior colleagues at a at a university scrubbing university saying how much she enjoyed last week swanky show and how useful she find it so that was really lovely given how busy everyone is that. She took the time to do their only hope. That this week's episode be equally useful. Interest seemed to remember it was. It was light relief which was saying commentary of the times. We live in right everyone. Let's let's dive straight into it and the big ticket item was of course the jobs skills white paper long awaited further education skills white paper and along with it the interim conclusion as a civil service relation for you to the to the review debbie. What do we need to know. But the first thing we've identified is the problem at the heart of the naming of the paper which is scheduled for jobs not job skills. Things feel quite quite interchangeable. So we're all gonna have to keep our keep our lifelong skills entitlements in our life cycle. The name of the white paper wrong there. I would say. I would recall that. But of course jimbo edit the incorrect one. Because it's funny is an example of a wider strategic focus rather than attention to detail that we're michael will be happy to say Yes so i think the one of the one of the things we've said is the radius. Today's fema day to shine really and the the sector has been waiting waiting so long for this for this white paper. And it's it's it's really kind of setting. I think quite clear agenda for what needs to happen in further education. And that's really important but there will be able to be ramifications for higher education as well so the accompanying interim conclusions to the post eighteen review of education funding. The am has very little in there. That isn't actually covered in the skillful white paper. But the kind of key nuggets coming out of that. Where a re alignment of the teaching grants little bit consultation on this towards areas deemed to be more highly strategically important so we're looking stem provision health care areas of an additional need in the labor market. And that sort of thing potentially which wasn't which will not be welcomed imagined by those in the humanities and social sciences areas and the other thing that we knew was coming but the confirmed with there will be nothing on fees or student finance or any major changes to the funding regime until the comprehensive spending review. Which is pencilled for data this year. But we we've been here before on the timing of the comprehensive spending review so we we know what that means all the souls left dangling online because the source left activates. It feels often with these these conversation about auger. It's what's not in. It is almost more than what actually is. So the big as you say. Jim is seven point. Five k fees which is also minimum entry requirements. I mean i remember. There's a month wasn't that wherever that was like a thing and then chris skidmore Out but it's consultation. Yeah there is that promise of more consultation in the spring. Which of course in parliamentary terms could mean anything up to the summer recess. So what you could imagine. A plan of action in which there is a largest consultation in spring or summer looking at the glory and all these different at different proposals including things like minimum entry and things like foundation years. All these like little bits and pieces the overlook that and caused controversy and then disappeared followed by sensitive final conclusions at the are but it's hard they would require the government to quiet lot of bandwidth to deliver and all of that and of course there's also this strategy paper that we know is floating around and that talks about things like freedom of speech and grade inflation and perhaps some more about quality so there is a kind of basket of emergent policies. They're just not. We can't necessarily be confident that it's actually going to happen. I mean the justification given for not giving a full conclusion to the order response to order in response today was that the government focuses is on the pandemic. i mean. I think the current focus shouldn't still we'll be on the pandemic in six months or you kind of kind of hope it will be what's going to change to get us to a point where the government suddenly has hold second. I know what we need to push up. Agendas cuts cutting attrition fees. I think i've just about lost count of the number of major Fiscal events that the response to audible wall supposed to come alongside and either. The fiscal event itself was canceled. All their response to order was pushed back. I would not be putting money on that not.