Iain Gillespie looks at what Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation could mean for Scotland’s universities
Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation as Scottish first minister is one of those points in the cycle that prompts the question: ‘What next?’
While it marks a change in leadership and not government, the person who occupies the role of first minister has an undeniable impact on the direction of policy, the priorities the government takes forward and the resources attached to those priorities.
Over the years, several policy agendas have been described as defining priorities for Sturgeon. While one of these—widening access to higher education to underrepresented students—meant there was a shared commitment between the first minister and universities, it is fair to say that research, development and innovation were not as close to her heart.
Sturgeon’s successor will also have their own passion projects: specific areas of policy or opportunities for Scotland that personally excite them and that stand slightly above the full spectrum of government business. So Sturgeon’s resignation and the prospect of Scotland’s first new leader for eight years is an interesting time to speculate on the future prominence that research could have.
Early reflections on Sturgeon’s legacy will also prompt Scottish National Party contenders for the role of first minister to consider what they want their impact to be. The set of issues waiting in their in-tray is considerable. Among them is the need to catalyse stronger, inclusive economic growth in Scotland. Universities are a huge asset and willing partner to assist the next first minister in driving greater progress.
Continuity and change
Regardless of the change of first minister, we expect continuity from the Scottish government in a number of areas. University research is already a prominent feature of Scottish government strategies, some of them published very recently. It is unlikely that we will see a change in the architecture of strategies such as the National Strategy for Economic Transformation or the inward investment and export growth plans. Universities occupy a central part of the narrative of those strategies and we will be hoping that this remains true.
Scotland’s R&D community is also expecting an innovation strategy imminently since this has been the subject of considerable consultation and is fairly well developed. One cannot imagine that the change in leader will signal a significant change in direction here.
However, there are opportunities for the Scottish government to connect its narrative to action and investment in more meaningful ways, if the next first minister were so inclined.
There’s much in these strategies that points to expansion of existing routes to impact and some interesting new ideas to be pursued. There is also new policy thinking around—and potential investment in—entrepreneurship, company formation and growth. There are new ideas on city and regional growth, drawing on areas of established research strength, including collaborative initiatives around fostering and securing inward investment.
So while the strategies might not change significantly, we might see adjustments in the policies and decisions beneath them—and there are opportunities here that merit consideration.
Research base
There needs to be greater concentration on the foundations for the research base. These strategies acknowledge that a strong research base is key but they are insufficiently attentive to the realities of sustaining it in the face of global competition. There is already strong evidence of the need for far greater focus and action on our research base, where support for its sustenance is rapidly falling behind that of other home nations and our competitors.
Recent years have seen a decline in the share of research council funding won by Scotland’s universities, which fell from a peak of 15.7 per cent of the UK total in 2012-13 to 13.4 per cent in 2020-21. This needs to be a cause for concern.
As a review by the Scottish Funding Council of tertiary education and research reflected in 2021: “The trend indicates that Scotland’s research base is increasingly being outperformed by other nations of the UK in terms of our research council funding share and we should consider whether we are positioned appropriately to win new types of funding flowing from UK Research and Innovation.”
The response to these challenges and the route back to punching above our weight as a nation is more nuanced than simply injections of more funding into core grants. However, funding does ultimately matter a great deal and the ability to compete successfully within a UK landscape for research grants matters too. It is concerning that the Scottish government has not used Barnett consequentials to match the profile of investment flowing to institutions in England through Research England.
Funding policy
While budget decisions would have been difficult for any first minister of any government in the context of current public finances, the whispers are that Scotland’s last budget round and the spending decisions in it very much reflected the decision-making of the first minister—more so even than of the finance secretary.
The broadly flat trajectory of research funding for Scotland’s universities over the past decade not only diminishes the contribution that the sector can make economically, culturally and societally; it also diminishes universities’ direct impacts. Work by London Economics shows that the sector in Scotland delivers an 8:1 economic impact for every £1 invested in research.
There is a case, then—and potential opportunity—for a reappraisal of funding policy for our research base, alongside implementation of the new initiatives in the Scottish government’s economic strategies. Indeed, the best delivery of those strategies is dependent on such a reappraisal.
Business partnerships
Strategy and policy should also put a much stronger focus on enabling universities to leverage not just Innovate UK resources but the wide breadth of industry and charity partnership. Scotland’s business base is very different from that of the rest of the UK. Universities can and need to be more of a catalytic force in support of innovation and investment for the business community and for regional growth. But we need the right policy support structures.
As an example, Scotland’s universities are far more likely to be lead partners in successful project bids to Innovate UK—at around 30 per cent of the time—than those in other parts of the UK; in south-east England, that figure is only 10 per cent. As Scottish government policy seeks stronger growth in the economy, such policy must be tailored to local economic circumstances and fully enable universities to play the leading role where needed.
Sturgeon’s successor has three years until Scots next go to the polls. That is a good amount of time to make a mark and score some significant policy wins against which to be judged by the electorate. Research, development, innovation and enterprise have the potential to play into this political context in a powerful way. It will be the job of universities to demonstrate our worth, show what we can deliver and make the case for the right funding and policy structures to the next first minister.
Iain Gillespie is principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Dundee and research and knowledge exchange committee convenor for Universities Scotland.