Written Statements

Monday 20th April 2026 Written Statements

Monday 20 April 2026

Higher Education: Freedom of Speech

Monday 20th April 2026 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)]

Academic freedom and free speech are fundamental to our world-leading universities, and this Government are committed to protecting them. In January 2025, following my review of the potential impact of the legislation, I announced the future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. This included my intention to seek a legislative vehicle to repeal the tort and duties on students’ unions, to amend the complaints scheme and conditions of registration, and to commence these duties on higher education providers and the Office for Students in their current form. I set out in a policy paper in June 2025 my commitment to protecting freedom of speech and academic freedom, and how I intended to achieve that through a more workable, proportionate and effective approach:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-of-the-higher-education-freedom-of-speech-act-2023

I have also continued to keep all uncommented provisions in the Act under review, as I committed to last year.

On 1 August 2025, I commenced key provisions from the Act that strengthened provider duties on free speech and placed a requirement on the OfS to promote free speech. The OfS has also issued extensive guidance to the sector on the new duties and continues to work with providers to offer advice and share best practice, so higher education providers themselves are more effectively protecting free speech. I am confident that the new provisions in force from August 2025, together with the OfS’s advice and guidance, have led to improvements in how seriously free speech and academic freedom are taken by the higher education sector. However, I am aware of examples of academic staff who believe that their right to lawful freedom of speech and academic freedom is still being curtailed, and who are not permitted to express their lawful views on controversial issues.

I will now act quickly to provide a suitable route of redress for staff, external speakers and non-student members to an OfS complaints scheme, and to give the OfS the powers to regulate providers where there are serious and systemic issues in relation to free speech protection. Although I still intend to make the amendments I announced last year, pending suitable legislation, I am making this statement to inform the House that I will make commencement regulations by mid-June, to bring into force the following elements of the Act:

The complaints scheme for staff, external speakers and non-student members. I will not be commencing the scheme in relation to students, who already have access to an excellent complaints scheme at the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, which can consider free speech issues as well as wider student complaints, or in relation to complaints about students’ unions. The commencement regulations will bring this provision into force on 1 September 2026 in time for the start of the new academic year, and at which point the OfS will have published its complaints scheme rules.

The mandatory OfS conditions of registration. I will be commencing the duties on the OfS to put in place initial and ongoing conditions of registration set out in section 6 of the Act from 1 April 2027. These conditions will require not only that HE providers’ governance documents and arrangements ensure compliance with their duties under the Act, but that HE providers comply with their duties under the Act. The OfS will consult on and prepare conditions and guidance, and take forward other important work on provider governance, in time for those provisions coming into force.

I will seek a suitable legislative vehicle to repeal the tort and duties on students’ unions and will keep their commencement under review in the meantime.

I want to be clear that these new protections for freedom of speech will not protect any of the abhorrent and unlawful extremist speech and harassment that we have seen at some universities, which should not be tolerated on campus. Our social action cohesion plan has already set out how we will root out extremism and tackle division:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protecting-what-matters-towards-a-more-confident-cohesive-and-resilient-united-kingdom/protecting-what-matters-towards-a-more-confident-cohesive-and-resilient-united-kingdom

I will also keep commencement of the overseas funding measures under review. The OfS already has extensive powers to require information from providers, to investigate any breach, and to impose sanctions where breaches have occurred. The OfS has made it explicitly clear in its regulatory guidance that universities should not tolerate attempts by foreign states to suppress academic freedom. If we are to introduce new reporting requirements, we must ensure that they add value without being overly burdensome.

Our universities’ world-class reputation makes them a prime target for foreign states and hostile actors, who seek to erode that reputation by shaping or censoring what universities can offer. To tackle this enduring threat, we are investing £3 million to bolster existing support and access to expert advice on national security risk management, including a new academic interference reporting route and new guidance. We also recently worked with MI5 and cyber security services to deliver briefings to over 70 vice-chancellors on the threats of foreign interference to universities, as well as a suite of workshops with academic staff and students’ unions.

We have been clear to the sector about our expectations for providers to meet their regulatory requirements, and, where there are concerns, robust university processes and relevant national security legislation will be enforced. The commencement of the complaints scheme and the conditions of registration will also ensure that where foreign interference impacts freedom of speech or academic freedom, there are routes of redress for staff and external speakers, and the OfS has an opportunity to take action.

Commencement of these provisions will support protection for freedom of speech and academic freedom of campus for years to come, enabling staff and students to explore new and controversial ideas, test their thinking and for students to receive a higher quality education.

[HCWS1525]

Widening Access to NHS Careers

Monday 20th April 2026 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting)]

I am pleased today to announce that the Department of Health and Social Care is taking decisive action to break down long-standing barriers to NHS careers and to open up opportunity to people from every background.

For too long, where you grow up and how much your parents earn has had too big a say in whether you can become a doctor, a nurse or a healthcare professional. That is bad for opportunity and bad for the NHS. Too many talented people are being locked out of careers that they are more than capable of succeeding in. This Government are determined to change that. We are taking decisive action to ensure that careers in the NHS are open to everyone with the ability and ambition to succeed, and to build a workforce that truly reflects the communities it serves. The professions should be elite, not elitist.

First, we are setting a clear national ambition to widen access to medicine. By 2035, we will increase by at least 50% the proportion of students entering medical school who received free school meals. Today, just 7% of accepted students come from these backgrounds. That is not a reflection of talent, it is a reflection of unequal access to opportunity, and it must change. Progress will be tracked transparently, supported by a new advisory group bringing together schools, universities and social mobility charities, such as the Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility Foundation, to drive sustained improvement.

Secondly, we will better target medical school places to the parts of the country that need them most. This includes areas with poorer health outcomes, ageing populations, and communities that have historically been under-represented in medical careers. By training more doctors locally, we will not only strengthen the workforce, but improve care for patients and tackle health inequalities.

Thirdly, we are taking action to make medical training more accessible and more sustainable, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. From 2026, up to 25% of students at participating medical schools will be allocated to local foundation training places, enabling them to train and work closer to home. Alongside this, we will pilot new approaches to postgraduate training that reduce unnecessary geographical movement, to see resident doctors stay in one place for longer, easing the financial burden and disruption to family life.

Fourthly, over the next three years we will fund 2,000 places on access to medicine programmes to support young people from England’s most deprived areas to apply to university. This will see a significant expansion in opportunity, with the intention that this will result in nearly doubling the number of places on these programmes each year, by delivering 650 places in 2026-27, 650 in 2027-28 and 700 in 2028-29.

Fifthly, we will deliver 2,000 additional nursing apprenticeships over the next three years, backed by a £65 million investment for nursing apprenticeships. These “earn while you learn” opportunities will be focused in areas with the greatest need, allowing people to build skilled, well-paid careers in the NHS without needing to leave their communities or take on up-front costs.

Finally, we will go further to ensure that NHS recruitment reaches those who have too often been overlooked. Building on the success of the Widening Access Demonstrators programme, which has already supported over 1,000 individuals into pre-employment training, we will now extend this work across 14 integrated care boards. Alongside this, we will roll out successful proven pre-employment models nationally through £15 million in Government funding over the next three years, helping more people to take their first step into NHS careers.

These measures will deliver more opportunities for thousands of young people across the country, break down barriers and tackle inequalities. As part of our 10-year health plan, the Government are ensuring that the health service has a strong, diverse workforce that is critical to building an NHS fit for the future.

[HCWS1526]

Legacy Benefits: Abolition

Monday 20th April 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

Transforming the way the Department for Work and Pensions delivers its services is key to ensuring that we improve the customer experience while delivering value for money for taxpayers.

The purpose of the “move to universal credit” programme was to modernise and simplify the benefits system by replacing older legacy benefits with a single, monthly payment. Completing the implementation of universal credit is critical to that outcome. Universal credit is now claimed by more than 8 million people and therefore plays a hugely significant role in the fabric of our society.

On 31 March 2026, we completed the transition of customers receiving income support and income-based jobseekers allowance to universal credit, allowing the Department to close these outdated systems. In addition, I am setting out my intention to close income-related employment and support allowance and applicable housing benefit on 30 June 2026. Giving sufficient notice and support to some of our most vulnerable customers was important in enabling everyone who wanted to transition to universal credit the time needed to make the move.

The DWP recognises that, for many people, engaging with universal credit is a very different experience from ESA, with the transition process highlighting changes to appointees for customers as well. I am therefore further setting out that the DWP intends to exempt customers who require time to find an appointee from the initial abolition date. The DWP will provide customers with the additional time needed while a personal appointee is found, or a corporate appointee is agreed, finalising a later date for final closure when it is safe to do so.

The DWP will proactively engage with customers and their representatives to support them in making the move to universal credit.

The Department’s “move to universal credit” official statistics, published in February 2026, show that—as of 31 December 2025—2.4 million individuals across 1.8 million households have been notified of the need to make the transition to universal credit across all legacy benefits, with over 1.5 million households going on to make a claim to UC.

The continued engagement and collaboration of our external stakeholder network has been invaluable in ensuring that we continue to move those who remain on legacy benefits across safely.

It is right that we now continue to review carefully the support that universal credit provides, that we make sure we understand our customers fully, and that universal credit remains fit for the next decade and beyond.

Leading the UC review, I have engaged with a wide range of organisations and people, including those with first-hand experience of claiming universal credit, those who support them, and those with expertise in the system and how it works. The DWP has hosted workshops, roundtables and focus groups, and undertaken research, including a survey of nearly 10,000 customers. This insight has proved invaluable and I thank those whose time has gone into fulfilling our manifesto commitment.

[HCWS1524]