Research sector stakeholder forum

We shared compliance data for the sector, highlighting our continued commitment to a greater range and number of assessments. Almost 40% of the Research sector assessments undertaken over the previous 12 months resulted in no shortfalls. Where shortfalls were found, these were all classified as minor, with an overall average of 2 shortfalls per assessment. The shortfalls we find mostly relate to processes being poorly documented - this is something we will continue to address with individual establishments where we find shortfalls and proactively reinforce to the sector; for example, through our newsletter, including the sharing of good practices. It was positive and reassuring to discuss the assessment outcomes, confirming the ongoing high performance in the sector and that our view of the lower level of risk in the Research sector is still fair. We also discussed how the HTA uses data to inform our risk-based approach in the sector, including reference to the Data Collection Exercise planned for 2025.

We found it useful to devote time to discuss the feedback from our stakeholder event in September. In addition to addressing specific queries, we agreed that we will continue our approach to provide case studies and practical examples in our published guidance, especially where there are no statutory definitions for concepts or terms.

One interesting discussion centred on environmental sustainability in research practices and facilities. For those interested in sustainable research practices, these resources were shared and may be helpful:

• AMRC's guide to decarbonising research
• MyGreenLab's "-70 is the new -80" guidance

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the forum – we hugely appreciated your time and willingness to share your insights to strengthen the efforts we make together.