As the issues around the Office for Students (OfS) continue to be explored in the press, particularly with regard to the appointment of Toby Young, the inadequacy of the structure developed by the DfE is starting to emerge. As I wrote on Tuesday in my initial response to the appointments, the fact that Toby Young is not suitable to the role particularly given that his biographical details on the Government website which I quoted in the piece have turned out to be exaggerated by someone? How on earth did that happen? was not just a matter of what he has written on social media in the past, it was also the fact that he is a poor fit for the elements contained in the DfE press release on face value.

The OfS board is made up of 15 people, 9 of whom are already appointed, including the CEO and another member of staff. The rest came from the existing HEFCE which OfS is replacing and a number of senior University people. The Press Release published a minute after midnight on 1st January explained who the remaining 6 people are and what their contribution is intended to be. The outline stated “These appointments will not only reflect the diverse needs of the HE sector but will also make sure the interests of employers and students are represented by the new body, which will also hold universities to account over issues such as vice chancellor pay and free speech”

To this profile was appointed the following people

• Managing Partner and Co-Global Chief Executive Officer of a global law firm and a Visiting Professor and Lecturer at Imperial College Business School.
• Toby Young – co-founder of the West London Free School and director the New Schools Network. He is a Fulbright Commissioner.
• Senior Vice President, Managing Director of Boots.
• A partner at Chairman Mentors International who was previously Group Head of External Affairs and Sustainability at HSBC
• Chair of College of Theatre & Performance, Trustee of an independent fundraising charity for art who was invited to join the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
• A civil engineering student at Surrey University.

One of the most obvious omissions in this list of 6 people is at least one additional student, ideally representing students from the North of England. However there is a second obvious omission and that is someone whose business operates at an SME level as it is SME’s who potentially have much broader scope for employing students. In an ideal world a couple of SME voices would be included.

The issue which has been made clear late last night via the Guardian newspaper is that these appointments are intended to run for a period of up to 5 years with the potential of being extended by Ministers. This group of people are not the executive decision makers, they are the people who will bring outside points of view into the group. It would make far more sense to limit their appointment (and commitment) to 3 years and then if required and no other voices were needed this could be extended to another 3 years. This is the best practice approach adopted by Charities to ensure Trustees are refreshed on a regular basis. Surely it makes even more sense at a national level for external voices.

One of the voices defending the appointment of Toby Young is Margot James who said Young was “worthy of his appointment”, but that it was a “mistake for him to belittle sexist comments by labelling them ‘politically incorrect’, a term frequently used to dismiss unacceptable comments about, and behaviour towards, women and minorities”.

One of the reasons why I find this dispiriting is that Margot James is the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility. Why would the Minister for Small Businesses defend one of the worst appointments in this group and not call instead for a small business voice to be heard by the OfS?