Geoffrey Holland

A former 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment, between 1982 and 1994, Holland held the posts of Director, Manpower Services Commission; Permanent Secretary at the Department of Employment and Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education.

Some of his lab-rat experiments with education during this period include the Youth Training Scheme, the Restart Programme, the National Curriculum and the initiative that saw polytechnics become independent new universities. From 1998 to 2002 he was President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and was Chair of the Government’s Sustainable Development Education Panel from 1998 to 2003.

Sir Geoffrey, at least when Vice-Chancellor of Exeter University, denounced odd-ball cults. When the 'London Church of Christ' (not a think tank) hired Exeter for a conference, the media backlash propelled Holland to disassociate himself and his university from the "methods of recruitment and activities of the London Church of Christ... such activities are not welcome here now, during the conference, or in the future". But they kept the money.

Holland is a Governor (along with Baroness Butler-Sloss) and Chairman of the Merchant Taylors' Company Educational Trust (MTET) which acts as steward of the affairs of both Merchant Taylors’ & St John’s Schools. The Merchant Taylors' School website tells us: "The Governing Body consists of: representatives of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors' of the Fraternity of St John Baptist in the City of London." This provides some background on Holland adding: "He wrote the Government report Young People at Work (1977) - widely regarded as a turning-point in the battle against youth unemployment." The website praises Holland on the grounds that:

"Above all, he has challenged the divide between 'Academe' and 'Mammon', understanding that a post-industrial economy would increasingly prize 'soft skills' and breadth rather than a narrower subject-specific expertise."

The Fraternity of St John Baptist will tell us that Mammon is the imaginary (depending on your point of view) god of money — the divide between it and “Academe” is similarly a matter of faith — unbelievers will note that Holland's 'major achievements' include overseeing the establishment of the School of Business presumably devoted to the work of Francis of Assisi. Holland is also a non-executive Director of Limia Investment Group PLC. As a god Mammon would seem somewhat omnipresent in Holland's world — he was a member of the Government’s Committee on the Future of Higher Education (the “Dearing” Committee) from 1996 to 1997. This brought together representatives of Sainsbury’s, the Weir Group, Psion plc, Ulster Bank, Glaxo Wellcome plc and Brenda Dean (now dressed up as Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde) to go through the “Academe” and “Mammon” ritual.

Holland is also an appointee at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), chairs the Government’s Quality Improvement Agency for Lifelong Learning. Curiously Holland has been quoted, in an investigation into 'What sort of people make successful vice-chancellors, and what exactly is their business?' as inferring that people get to the top in universities because of blithe indifference, if not blithering incompetence:

""There are few sectors of our society so amateur, so apparently unconcerned, as higher education about the development of its leaders."

Just about praying to Mammon, Holland calls "for a big expansion of programmes in which higher education leaders sit alongside leaders in business..." Who can we blame? This report also notes that "Stephen Bampfylde, chairman of headhunters Saxon Bampfylde Hever who are currently "scouring the world" for the next vice-chancellor of Oxford." Saxon Bampfylde Hever also include ERA's Lord Stevenson.