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Robert Sheldon MP, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, made a declaration to an audience of vice chancellors this week.

He said: "The Universities Funding Council is a splendid buffer."

The bemused vice chancellors were left reflecting, firstly on the fact that such a body no longer exists; and secondly that the one that does exist - the Higher Education Funding Council for England - has been very clear about declining the role of "buffer".