Scottish university chairs rebel over government reforms

Controversial laws which will change the way Scottish universities are run have been attacked by some of the most powerful officials in the sector, writes Andrew Denholm for Herald Scotland.

The chairs of Scotland's 18 universities and higher education institutions have written an open letter arguing that moves to make their position an elected post would have put them off applying. The intervention is significant because the chairs include high profile individuals from the worlds of law, banking, the media, education, business, religion, health and government.

The attack came as the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Bill passes through the Scottish parliament. Last month ministers backtracked over some of the new laws amid fears they would lead to greater ministerial interference in the sector. However, there is still confusion over plans to introduce new elected chairs of universities' powerful ruling Courts because Scotland's ancient institutions already have elected rectors who chair Court.
Full report on the Herald Scotland site