The shift from the grant letters to the financial memorandum is the third key strategy. In the financial memorandum, the terms and conditions for the payment of HEFCE funds to higher education institutions and how the latter use grants and control their financial management are specified.
The financial memorandum, that requires the agreement by each institutional chief executive reveals the emergence of new explicit and contractual government university relationships. While funded universities are required to fully satisfy all calls for information and financial statements, universities are subject to ‘ordeal by standards, inspection, and paperwork’ (Robertson 1998).