I was asked by Reading University to attend a meeting at Parliament with representatives of the Universities to discuss university funding.
I heard presentations from Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of Universities UK, and from Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, who chairs the UUK Spending Review Task Force. They both talked in general terms about why universities need adequate funding.
I explained that the immediate debate is about the amount of money universities should receive from the state in 2015-16, the subject of the present public spending review. I said I was happy to intervene in this debate, but would need figures from them about how much they were seeking and why. They did not have any proposals at the meeting.