education, skills and lifelong learning, said the broad review would look at arrangements to achieve a professionalised workforce in further education, while also looking at the role of the IfL. However, it would only be commissioned once parties agree to refrain from seeking legal action in the aftermath of the dispute over memberships IfL fees." On 7 September 2011, UCU suspended its threatened legal action against the IfL and welcomed the decision of the Minister for Further Education, John Hayes, to commission an independent review into professional development for college lecturers that would involve looking at the role and effectiveness of the Institute for Learning. Sally Hunt, general secretary of UCU stated: "Boycotting the IfL has not been a decision our members have taken lightly, but to be effective as a professional body it must enjoy the confidence of the majority of practitioners. This is something the IfL does not have. It is essential that the forthcoming review does not shy away from asking awkward questions and that it hears directly from staff.". On 8 September 2011 an IfL press release stated that the IfL would "engage positively with the proposed review". On 9 September 2011 the AoC took the step of calling on member colleges not to discipline staff for non-payment of IfL fees. In March 2012, after more than a year of dispute surrounding compulsory membership of IfL, the review board led by Lord Lingfield published an interim report, stating: "We conclude that leaving matters as they are is not a practicable option … With the benefit of nearly five years of State funding and regulatory backing, the IfL has not won the confidence of those organisations which should be its partners. Regulatory compulsion increased the IfL’s membership from 4,000 to over 200,000 before it fell back to around 85,000 this year … The main response by the IfL to an end to government funding has been to seek to pass its costs on to FE staff, who are compelled to register with it … The IfL has made no other substantial changes, for example in the services it offers, which might have convinced lecturers that their subscription represented good value for money." The report called for the IfL be restored "to its original status as a private membership body, dependent on voluntary subscriptions in return for services." In September 2012, following the review of professionalism in further