Prime Minister Theresa May is the most powerful person in the UK. But she is struggling to "take back control" on behalf of the country because of the lack of unity on Brexit amongst her ministers.

Former Chancellor George Osborne recently provided some candid insights into the power-plays that rumble through Whitehall as the government machine wrestles with the process of policy-making. 

Recent Amendments to the BillI

Discussions with officials at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which is overseeing the research components of the bill, I learned that the powers granted to the Secretary of State (or, through the minister, to the Office for Students (OfS)) to change Research Council remits, to create or abolish Research Councils, or to repeal the Royal Charters, degree-awarding powers or university titles of universities will be enacted via statutory instruments that follow the "affirmative resolution procedure".

Remaining Challenges-Research

Concerns remain over whether this major overhaul of the higher education and research landscape will have all the promised benefits. With such far-reaching power-shifts, we need to act carefully - it is always easier to destroy that to build. The view has been expressed that the very welcome boost to the R&D budget announced in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement is Jo Johnson's ace in the hole when it comes to arguments about the re-organization of the research councils. 

Remaining Challenges-Higher Education

On the higher education front, there have already been some positive moves. As well as helpful clarifications of the protection of the university curriculum from political interference, there have been amendments to bolster representation of the interests of students within the OfS, and new measures to encourage effective cooperation between the OfS and UKRI. But there is still considerable room for improvement, and much of this has been delineated in measured detail by Universities UK (UUK) in a briefing document published just last week.