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European Council: 23-24 March 2006

My Lords, I fear that I do not share the hypothesis that lies behind that question. We have a considerable variety of higher education institutions, which cater for very different markets. There is no evidence that the key factors that produce world-leading higher education institutions draw off resource from the very best and distribute them around some of the other institutions that are doing a different kind of job. The concentration of research funding on its own demonstrates the degree to which some of our leading institutions are absolutely in the forefront of what can be achieved. We have a real task in Europe to ensure that we have more institutions in those areas. The critical thing will be attracting and retaining staff who are right at the leading edges of the disciplines in which we want to progress.