Higher Education Funding Council for England
| HEFCE | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1992 |
| Preceding agency | |
| Type | Non-departmental public body |
| Jurisdiction | England |
| Headquarters | Nicholson House, Lime Kiln Close, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, BS34 8SR |
| Employees | c.260 |
| Annual budget | £5.1 bn (2014–15) |
| Minister responsible |
|
| Agency executives |
|
| Parent agency | Department for Business, Innovation and Skills |
| Website | www.hefce.ac.uk |
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (previously the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, then the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) in the United Kingdom, which has been responsible for the distribution of funding to universities and Colleges of Higher and Further Education in England since 1992.
Most universities are charities and HEFCE (rather than the Charity Commission for England and Wales) is their principal regulator. HEFCE has therefore the duty to promote compliance with charity law by the universities for which they are responsible.
It was created by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, which also created the Further Education Funding Council for England (FEFC), and replaced in 2001 by the Learning and Skills Council.
Scotland merged its further and higher education funding bodies in 2005.
On 1 June 2010 HEFCE became the principal regulator of those higher education institutions in England that are “exempt charities”. This followed the Charities Act 2006, according to which all charities should be subject to regulation.
HEFCE staff work within six directorates. Leadership for these key strategic areas is shared between the Chief Executive and directors.
The chief executive of HEFCE is Professor Madeleine Atkins (since 1 January 2014), previously Vice-Chancellor of the University of Coventry. Her predecessor, Sir Alan Langlands is now the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds.
...
Wikipedia