UK research review will target ‘unnecessary red tape’

An independent review of how the UK can cut research bureaucracy will report back later this year.

The sector-wide review will examine why research red tape has increased in recent years and make recommendations about how universities, in particular, can become “more streamlined, dynamic, diverse and transparent”, according to Amanda Solloway, the science minister, who announced the initiative on 22 March.

The assessment will be led by Adam Tickell, vice-chancellor of the University of Sussex, who said he wanted to get a “complete picture of the issues from all perspectives and [come up] with ways to improve the way our systems work”.

The review is set to conclude in early 2022, but it will publish its interim findings this autumn.

It comes after Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings used a parliamentary committee hearing last week to criticise the “horrendous bureaucracy” he saw within UK research, urging the sector to “wage war on process”.

“Universities are a massive source of bureaucracy,” Mr Cummings told MPs on 17 March, adding that ministers should “get aggressive” on red tape because higher education institutions “add another layer of…process horror” on researchers.

He called for the country’s main research funder, UK Research and Innovation, to launch a drive to “de-bureaucratise” research, saying that its chief executive, Dame Ottoline Leyser, should report to Parliament annually on her efforts in this area.

Welcoming the independent, system-wide review, Dame Ottoline said it would “enable a reduction in unnecessary research bureaucracy, wherever it is found”.

“The goal is to free up time for researchers and innovators to devote to their many vital roles at work and outside it,” said Dame Ottoline, who added that her organisation was already “making strides within our Simpler and Better Funding programme, which aims to make the funding process as user-friendly as possible for applicants, peer reviewers and awardees, as well as those who work with them”.

Adam Clarke, policy manager for the Russell Group, which represents research-intensive universities, said the review would be an “opportunity to learn lessons from the pandemic and look at the wider system to remove unnecessary barriers that make it more difficult for researchers to turn world-changing ideas into life-changing advances”.

“Slashing red tape is an essential part of this picture, but we also need to see the government’s very welcome words on the value of science and research being backed up with investment, not cuts,” he added, following reports that the country’s research councils could lose as much as £1 billion annually to help fund the UK’s association with Horizon Europe.

Ms Solloway said the pandemic had demonstrated the ability of UK researchers to work effectively to deliver vaccines and other important medical interventions.

“As we build back better by unleashing innovation, it’s crucial that we create a research environment that harnesses this same scientific speed and endeavour,” said Ms Solloway, adding that the review would “identify how we can free up our brightest minds from unnecessary red tape so they can continue making cutting-edge discoveries, while cementing the UK’s status as a science superpower”.

The review also delivered on a commitment to further reduce research tape that was made in the government’s R&D Roadmap, published in July 2020, she added.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com