Leading article: Tsar's a star

It has taken an outsider with no experience of higher education to get action on cutting red tape in universities. Until Dame Patricia Hodgson was made university bureaucracy tsar, nothing happened. There had been two inquiries and much cynicism. She managed to find a way out of the impasse and persuade the Higher Education Funding Council to moderate its demands on universities. Her success should help to ensure that all funders and regulatory bodies are equally modest in their requirements. The great thing is that when she finishes the task, her job will end.