Neil Kay, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Economics, was one of the three economists appointed by the Scottish Government to make up the Economists Panel advising the Scottish Government/Universities Scotland Expert Group on the future funding of higher education in Scotland.
The report was published in March and showed that Scotland's universities will face a teaching funding gap each year, as a result of changes to the way universities in England are funded.
The report, prepared in partnership with Universities Scotland, presents a range of options for increasing income for universities as well as setting out various scenarios on the possible future funding gap between Scotland and England based on increased tuition fees south of the Border.
The Economists Panel was part of a short-life, joint Scottish Government and Universities Scotland technical working group to consider the size and nature of any gap in funding between north and south of the border which may be opening up, and comment on the possible effect of some of the funding solutions in terms of helping to close that gap. The other economists were: Dr Andrew Goudie, Chief Economic Advisor, Scottish Government; Professor David Bell, Stirling Management School; and Professor Anton Muscatelli, Principal, University of Glasgow.
The Group was formally established in early January 2011. Initial exploratory work began in December following the publication of the Green Paper 'Building a Smarter Future'.
The group met formally on February 11 when the initial outcomes from the work were discussed. This was followed by a meeting with the independent Economist panel on February 15 to test the results.
Ministers received its final report on February 23, 2011 and opposition parties and stakeholders received a copy of the report on February 28, 2011.