We consider each of the ‘action areas’ of the draft strategy & what it might mean for higher education.
The 5 November 2021 had the theme of “Youth and Public Empowerment” at COP26. It was therefore fitting that the Secretary of State for Education released the draft Sustainability and Climate Change strategy for education and children’s services systems. The draft strategy will apparently be built upon over the next six months in collaboration with young people, educators, sustainability experts and environmentalists, with the final version of the strategy being published in April 2022.
Not much publicity has been given to the fact that as well as the schools sector, the draft strategy is currently proposed to apply to all actors in the education sector, including to higher education.
We consider each of the ‘action areas’ of the draft strategy and what it might mean for higher education below, but it is worth also touching on the two initiatives which are put forward to drive the strategy:
Moving onto the action areas, the first area focuses on enhancing teaching in schools on the causes and impact of climate change. As might be imagined, most of the proposed policy/activity in this area is focussed on schools, and the curriculum.
Higher education is mentioned in the context of teacher training, teaching of sustainability within university courses, partnerships with schools (the example given is universities linking with schools to share green spaces and climate expertise), and the encouragement of sharing of examples of “effective, evidence-based climate education” across all settings.
Of those the six-word reference to “teaching of sustainability within university courses” is the most intriguing, given that the Government has no control over the content of university courses. Presumably, the Government is relying on the higher education sector co-operating with its aspirations here! That said, with the world increasingly concerned about climate change, and changing as a result of it, the topic is likely to need to be included in many courses of study going forwards in any event.
This area is, naturally, of much more relevance to the higher education sector. Indeed, the draft strategy opens this topic by stating that the Government will “support the further and higher education sectors as they deliver programmes teaching the skills of the future, develop research and drive innovation to develop solutions to the climate crisis, and nurture future leaders.”
Beyond that though, much of the detail is focussed on qualifications which are skills based and will sit primarily in the further education sector, and adult re-training for people working in areas which will be impacted by changes in climate policy (for example, re-skilling heating engineers). There is reference to improving take-up of STEM subjects at all levels, and a commitment to grow the number of Institutes of Technology.
Again, the limitation on the Government’s ability to dictate the content of degree level content is the reason for the lack of detail about higher education initiatives in this space, but that again leaves the door open for the sector to drive the ambition.
There are three main aims within this action area, reduce carbon emissions, adapt the estate to cope with climate change and increase biodiversity.
Again, none of the detail under this heading refers to higher education specifically, and most is specifically aimed at the school sector. However, there is a commitment within the draft strategy that the Department for Education (DfE) will work with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to evaluate the best value for money approaches for retrofitting education buildings to reduce carbon emissions.
Even if the higher education estate is not ultimately specifically targeted in this strategy, it will undoubtedly be caught by some of the new regulation which is likely to flow from the Government’s Net Zero strategy. That strategy envisages reduction of energy consumption in commercial and industrial buildings by 2030 (driven by regulations and a performance-based measurement scheme), and a reduction of direct emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037. Accordingly, however the buildings in the higher education estate are categorised for these purposes, change is coming in this area and organisations need to be commissioning highly energy efficient new buildings (where required), and making plans for retrofitting older buildings. The most ambitious will take steps which has the potential to drive community wide benefit, such as a university being the focus for a district heating scheme.
Again, none of the content in this area specifically references higher education, but the draft strategy does commit to reducing food waste across the education sector working with Defra and the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), and considering the emissions from food consumed in the sector and reducing.
Likewise, the draft strategy commits that the DfE and its arm’s length bodies will mandate that all suppliers bidding for contracts over £5m per annum commit to achieving Net Zero by 2050, and must produce a Carbon Reduction Plan, showing how they will meet that target. Likewise, the DfE will work with schools to embed sustainable buying in their purchasing decisions. Again, there is no reason why the higher education sector as a whole, or individual institutions, could not adopt similar, or more stretching, objectives even if that is not ultimately mandated for the sector by the strategy.
The main objective set out in the draft strategy in relation to data is to work with all sectors in education and childcare to improve reporting for carbon emissions, and in this context, higher education is specifically referenced. The draft strategy indicates that the DfE will work with the sector to expand targets and mandatory reporting of carbon emissions across HE providers by 2022.
Clearly once mandatory reporting is in place for HE providers, the next step is likely to be mandatory reductions, although we anticipate that many sectors will become subject to such over the next few years.
All in all, for a draft strategy which is supposed to cover the higher education sector, it says very little about higher education! However, the action areas neatly divide up the main ways in which most higher education institutions can contribute to the drive to minimise emissions, and adapt for the future, and so perhaps provide a framework for your own action. We anticipate that the higher education sector will increasingly be subject to regulation in this area and would encourage the sector to take the lead on setting the agenda.
Not only does the sector have an opportunity to make a significant positive contribution to reducing the UK’s emissions, it is also the sector serving some of the most demanding consumers – young people. COP26 showed us that if there is any hope at all for the world, it lies in our young people, and so our higher education institutions must rise to the challenge of supporting them in their aspirations for a greener future.
If you’ve not already seen it, in their recent publication ‘Confronting the Climate Emergency’ Universities UK have documented how some universities are leading the way with climate action which makes an informative read.
There’s been little evidence of interventions or financial management reviews this year and it appears the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has re-focussed on financial delivery. It’s also telling that there were no discernible changes to the reporting of financial irregularities in the Academies Trust Handbook 2022.
The Children’s Commissioner, Rachel De Souza, has recently published a report “Beyond the labels: a SEND system which works for every child, every time”, which she intends to sit alongside the DfE’s SEND Review (2019) and SEND Green Paper (2022) and which she hopes will put children’s voices at the heart of the government’s review of SEND system.
There’s greater opportunity than ever for parents, carers and guardians to voice any concerns they have relating to their child’s education and for their concerns to be heard and to be taken seriously. While most staff in schools and academies are conscious of their legal duties relating to complaints management, many are struggling to cope with such a significant increase in the volume of complaints they must manage.
We’re pleased to collaborate with Lloyds Bank, who recently asked us and audit and risk specialists Crowe UK to offer guidance that academy trusts would find helpful when considering setting up a trading subsidiary.
The war on plastic is being taken to a new level, and businesses that don’t consider sourcing recycled packaging materials could face costly implications.
The DfE has published new guidance and opened the application process for window two of the Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) for 2022/2023, with a fund of £86m in trust capacity funding focused particularly on education investment areas.
Earlier in the year a number of fashion retailers, boldly announced the introduction of a charging fee for returning any product purchased via their online store. Yet, despite this commercial, and perhaps somewhat controversial decision, at least one major fashion giant that adopted this approach has recorded ‘historic highs’ in its September profits. Browne Jacobson partner, Cat Driscoll who heads up the firm’s commercial team in Manchester and is also head of its Fashion & Beauty sector discusses whether this change has put the average consumer off and whether the days of free returns are long gone.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was established in March 2015. We now have its report. As you would expect with such a broad scope, the report is long and makes a number of far-reaching recommendations. In this article, Dai Durbridge highlights seven of the 20 recommendations, sets out how they could impact on schools and suggests what steps to take now.
Browne Jacobson’s education team has been named as winner of the ‘Legal Advisors to Education Institutions’ category at the Education Investor Awards 2022 for a record sixth time.
Since the new Suspensions and Exclusions Statutory Guidance was published, we have received a lot of questions about the use of managed moves. For the first time, the Statutory Guidance does explain what a managed move is, but in relatively broad terms and does not cover the mechanics of how a managed move should operate.
Over 3000 young people from across the UK and Ireland took part in a virtual legal careers insight event, aimed at making the legal profession more diverse.
Holly Quirk, an associate barrister in Browne Jacobson’s Manchester office, was awarded the Legal Professional of the Year Award at this year’s Manchester Young Talent Awards.
The risk of assault against staff is, sadly, something that all schools need to consider carefully. Here one legal expert explains what they can do to protect staff and ensure they fulfil their duty of care.
Browne Jacobson’s education team has again been confirmed as a national powerhouse after securing five Tier 1 rankings relating to Education in the latest edition of Legal 500 and maintaining a Band 1 UK-wide ranking for Education in Chambers & Partners UK 2023.
The fashion industry has a mountain to climb when it comes to sustainability. More than 8% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the apparel and footwear industries, and approaching three-fifths of all clothing ends up in incinerators or landfill within a year of being made.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).
In this article we set out the criteria, expectations and support schools should consider if notified they fall within this new category.
The words “Grammar schools” are once again being whispered in government and the question of whether the creation of new grammar schools will finally be implemented as a central focus to DFE policy has re-surfaced.
As a result of a recent Charity Commission legal action, the former trustee of a Welsh charity was ordered to pay over £117,000 to Wrexham charities which support cancer patients.
Academy trusts no longer need to seek consent for contractual indemnities within the ‘normal course of business’. What do trusts need to consider?
In this article we set out the most common issues we encounter, along with guidance on assessing and mitigating the risk from assaults.
In this article we set out some of the support that's available to schools in a bid to reduce the overhead that complaints management generates.
As we start the Autumn term, the first part of the process for changing school admission arrangements can begin.
On 21 September 2022, we had the pleasure of hosting a Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG) lunchtime briefing, delivered by the Director General for the DfE’s Strategy Group, Julia Kinniburgh.
Law firm Browne Jacobson and the University of Nottingham are launching a ground-breaking two and a half year Knowledge Transfer Partnership which aims to develop and embed long-lasting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles and learnings into the firm’s practices and processes, amongst its key client-bases and the national legal sector.
In an academic environment, there can be pressures to publish, particularly where funding is dependent upon research and reputation. Whilst there can be competition between Higher Education establishments to be the first to publish, there can also be internal conflicts over authorship rights where several individuals have contributed to the work.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have announced they will be carrying out a programme of inspections to primary and secondary school establishments from September 2022. The inspections will assess how schools are managing the risks from asbestos and meeting the Duty to Manage requirements, set out in Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
In July, the long-awaited statutory guidance on the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (Act) was published in draft form (Draft Guidance). A consultation on the draft guidance has recently ended and the results have not yet been published – it may therefore change before the final version is published.
In July 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited Judgement in the case of Harpur Trust v Brazel relating to the correct calculation of statutory holiday pay for part year workers. This decision has implications for all part year workers on contracts which subsist all year round, whether their hours are normal or irregular.
Universities and colleges are not immune from deception by unscrupulous bad actors. The extent to which educational institutions can manage and control risk not only depends on financial management and internal controls, but also the robustness of security and processes which can be exploited from outside the organisation.
The new set of Legal 500 directory rankings have been published and we are proud to once again be recognised as one of the country’s leading firms advising the Education sector.
Browne Jacobson has been ranked as a Top Tier law firm in 25 key practice areas in Legal 500 UK 2023, the independent directory of comparative law firm performance. The firm also continues to underpin its status as one of the leading law firms in the East Midlands region with 16 Tier 1 rankings.
