The British University Grants Committee 1919–83: Changing relationships with government and the universities

Since its creation in 1919 the University Grants Committee (UGC) has been seen in Britain and many other countries as a model piece of machinery for channelling funds from Government to universities. Over these 60 years there have been many changes and fluctuations in its relationships both with Government and universities, and its effectiveness has varied, depending on the circumstances of the period.Up till World War II the UGC achieved its purpose of serving as a buffer or shock absorber (UGC, 1968). These metaphors picture a largely reactive body responding to initiatives either by Government or the universities. After the Second World War there were calls for the UGC to play a more positive role in university development and national planning and its terms of reference were changed. The UGC's response to this change has been variable and only in the period post 1979 has it consistently played the broader role envisaged for it in 1946 although its rhetoric claimed this role for it in the 1960s. This more active role in the 1980s has brought mixed reactions: more respect from the Government but more criticism from the universities.Insofar as this criticism relates to the processes used by the UGC during its selective retrenchment activities (1981–83), these could be improved by a strengthened UGC; insofar as the criticisms relate to the basic idea of a committee composed primarily of academics apparently aiding and abetting a Government's policy to cut back higher education, the future viability of the UGC idea itself is called into question.Another variable in the UGC's future is connected with the recently created National Advisory Board for Local Authority Higher Education (NAB). Discussions have ranged widely over the future options for the coordination of higher education: a merger of the two bodies, their separate development or creation of an overarching body over both sectors and their respective agencies. For the moment, however, the continued existence of the UGC represents an extraordinary example of institutional longevity over a period when immense changes have occurred in British society, the machinery of Government, and the British education system.