| 10 October 2007 |  |
| To | Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions |
| Direct Line | 0117 931 7300 |
| Direct Fax | 0117 931 7203 |
Circular letter number 26/2007
For further information contact Tracy Allan, 0117 931 7025, t.allan@hefce.ac.uk
Dear Vice-Chancellor or Principal
The Leadership, Governance and Management Fund: £10 million new funding 2007-10
1. I am writing to inform higher education institutions that, following independent evaluation, our Leadership, Governance and Management (LGM) Fund has been extended to 2010 with a further £10 million in funding committed to supporting a wide range of projects.
2. In this new phase the LGM Fund will be working in partnership with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. However, the LGM Fund will continue to seek proposals from higher education institutions for specific projects that will identify, develop and disseminate good practice in higher education leadership, governance and management.
Background
3. As an organisation, we are charged with promoting value for money in the sector and we aim to achieve this by encouraging good management processes. Dynamic, responsive and innovative management is crucial to the effectiveness of the higher education (HE) sector. The continuing pressures for change and improvement in the sector present opportunities for higher education institutions (HEIs), but these opportunities call for high quality, strategic, decision-making and effective arrangements for governance and management. Over the years we have, therefore, invested in supporting HEIs to develop effective management practice through two initiatives: the Good Management Practice Fund and the LGM Fund.
4. We launched the LGM Fund in August 20041 with £10 million available over three years to fund a wide range of projects that contributed towards meeting our strategic plan objectives for supporting leadership, governance and management in higher education.
LGM Fund evaluation
5. The Fund has proved to be highly effective: it has enabled us to provide active financial support to broad-based partnerships within the sector, with a focus on building on the sector's success, preparing for the future, and providing continuous improvement.
6. A recent independent evaluation2 described the Fund as punching '…above its weight', and concluded that our investment has made a significant contribution to improving LGM practice in English higher education. Many of the projects would not have taken place without LGM Fund support, and the funding has stimulated innovation, better practice and practical improvements in areas such as governance, estates, and managing relationships with staff, students and trade unions, as well as newer areas such as shared services and sustainable development. HEIs have welcomed these 'pump-priming' funds as a way to build the sector's capacity while minimising the risks to individual institutions, and there is good evidence of the positive impact on management practice.
7. The successes of the LGM Fund led the HEFCE Board to agree new funding of £10 million to take the Fund through to 2010.
Partnership with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education
8. In this new phase of the Fund we will be working in partnership with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.3 The recent evaluation highlighted some confusion in the sector around funding responsibilities and differences between the LGM Fund and the Foundation - specifically in the area of leadership development - so we are responding by clarifying our priorities and distribution of funding responsibilities.
9. When the LGM Fund was first launched in August 2004, HEIs requested assurance that its remit should not overlap that of the Leadership Foundation, and since then we have tried to ensure that the two initiatives complement each other.
10. We do have strong links with the Foundation as its Chief Executive, Ewart Wooldridge, is a member of the Fund's external strategic advisory panel, and its Director of Programmes, Stephanie Marshall, is now a member of the Fund's internal assessment panel.
11. The Leadership Foundation provides a dedicated service of support and advice on leadership, governance and management to all UK HEIs. The LGM Fund, by contrast, supports strategic national projects and seeks to release the potential of the sector by funding such projects in response to demand. Outputs from the LGM Fund inform provision by the Leadership Foundation, and we hope that HEI staff who have benefited from that provision will be involved in LGM Fund applications.
Guidelines for funding
12. The LGM Fund will continue to be directed primarily towards funding specific projects. We will continue to seek proposals for projects which will identify and disseminate good practice in higher education leadership, governance, and management. We will also support the extension of already well-adopted good practice to different and/or more challenging settings if this can be shown to lead to a better return on investment, and we encourage HEIs to identify areas of innovative practice from other organisational settings or from overseas. The outcomes of projects must be measurable and transferable and make an appreciable improvement to the higher education sector.
13. Our aim is to fund the best applications from wherever they emerge. All HEIs funded by HEFCE, consortia of institutions, and representative bodies are encouraged to apply. Where relevant, we would expect HEIs to demonstrate in their application that they have the active support of the relevant professional bodies.
14. For information about how to apply please visit the LGM Fund web pages where there are also examples of projects funded so far.
15. For further information please contact Tracy Allan 0117 931 7025 t.allan@hefce.ac.uk or Kath Thompson 0117 931 7393 k.thompson@hefce.ac.uk
16. Since 2004, the LGM Fund has supported a wide range of projects which have developed original good practice in leadership, governance and management processes. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership to build from the base, and further develop the quality, distinctiveness and effectiveness of governance and management in the sector.
Yours sincerely
Professor David Eastwood
Chief Executive
Notes
1. LGM Fund. June 2004/26. Special Initiative. LGM Fund: response to consultation and invitation to submit applications
2. Evaluation of HEFCE's investment in good management practice development in the higher education sector. A report for the HEFCE by Oakleigh Consulting Ltd. April 2007.