Response to review of red tape in UK research arrives after 18 months
Government outlines further measures including making the next Research Excellence Framework ‘measurably less bureaucratic’
It’s taken 18 months for the government to respond to University of Birmingham vice-chancellor Adam Tickell’s review of bureaucracy in the UK’s research landscape, which found that unnecessary red tape – particularly within research institutions and funders – was impeding efficiency and productivity. The government’s response sets out ‘rapid action’ to alleviate some of the most pressing problems, but calls for a longer-term shift across the sector – with reform needed within all institutions.
The detailed response outlines how systems are already being streamlined and simplified, but also includes some new announcements. For example, the national funding agency UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has now been told to ‘have due regard for reducing bureaucracy’ in all new programmes. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) will establish a team ‘to identify areas of creeping, unnecessary bureaucracy’ and recommend how to remove them. It will also judge whether UKRI is meeting its new mandate.