Mr. Tim Conlon:

As part of the process we have had conversations with institutions about the viability of what they are offering to us and have raised those kinds of questions with an eye to maintaining that balance in the national system. We do not want any of the five discipline areas we have looked at to cannibalise provision somewhere else or move it somewhere else. The HEA has to be very conscious that we have a higher education and research system that is very finely balanced. It is a very important question and one we have asked of institutions, that is, given the timelines and provisions they have offered us, whether they can realistically spin it up, as it were, how they will manage risk, how they will find the staff they need, and how they will develop the curriculum. We have had those conversations. As Dr. Wall has said, there are further steps to go through. In terms of the offer we have made to Government, we have checked that very carefully in terms of its viability because it is a big promise for institutions to make but we have held their feet to the fire to some extent on that.