Cable insists Ebdon is right man to be universities tsar

The Business Secretary rejected an attempted veto by the influential Commons business select committee, and reported concerns of some senior Tories, to name Prof Ebdon the head of the Office for Fair Access (Offa).

He insisted that Prof Ebdon –who is vice-chancellor of Bedfordshire University and chairman of million+, which represents new universities – was the right candidate for the job.

The academic has “the qualities and determination to help those students from low-income or other under-represented groups to secure the places in higher education that their attainments and potential show they deserve”, Mr Cable said.

Prof Ebdon said he felt “privileged” to be given the post, adding he was “passionate about access to higher education and strongly believe that no one should be put off from going to university because of their family background or income”.

The decision to name Prof Ebdon as the Government’s preferred candidate to lead Offa, which is responsible for ensuring fair access to higher education, sparked a political row after the Commons Business, Innovation and Skills (Bis) select committee refused to endorse the choice.

At a pre-appointment hearing earlier this month, Prof Ebdon told the cross-party group of MPs that he was prepared to use tough sanctions such as fines or withdrawing funding agreements for universities that fail to meet targets on recruiting and retaining disadvantaged students.

The committee later voted against the Government’s choice, citing concerns about Prof Ebdon’s descriptions of the “root causes of the obstacles to accessing universities”.

The professor’s appointment is also said to have been opposed by the Prime Minister and Education Secretary Michael Gove.

Mr Cable was summoned to the Commons to answer an urgent question on his decision.

He denied an accusation by Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna that Prof Ebdon’s appointment had been secured as “part of some trade-off in the ongoing turf war in Government over higher education policy”.

It has been reported that the Government is expected to scrap a plan championed by the Lib Dems to impose penalties on students who pay off university loans early as part of a deal that saw David Cameron back down over Prof Ebdon becoming the new Offa director.

The National Union of Students welcomed Prof Ebdon’s sppointment. Its president Liam Burns said: “Vince Cable and (Universities Minister) David Willetts are right to have resisted attempts by vested interests and old boys’ networks to sabotage Professor Ebdon’s appointment, and we now look forward to a much-needed shake-up to ensure Offa is transformed from a toothless bureaucracy into an effective regulator.