Report in waiting

Sir Ron Dearing's report is out, the higher education bill has been published, the fuss over Oxbridge college fees is reaching its climax. So whatever happened to the North report? Peter North's inquiry into the future of Oxford, set up three years ago, is still at the printers and unlikely to appear before Christmas. But the identities of the perfectionists who have honed the report can be revealed.

They are: Anne Hudson, professor of English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford; Onora O'Neil, principal of Newnham College, Cambridge; Anthony Nicholls, director of the European Studies Centre, St Anthony's College, Oxford; Ron Oxburgh, rector of Imperial College; George Radda, chief executive of the Medical Research Council; Richard Smethurst, provost of Worcester College, Oxford; Nicholas Woodhouse, reader in mathematics at Wadham College, Oxford.