Antisemitism: Universities

Debate between Baroness Smith of Malvern and Lord Pannick

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

If a university gets to the point of having to be referred to the OFS as part of E6, it has clearly already failed and not done what this Government—I know this is supported across the House—have been very clear that it should be doing, including directly with vice-chancellors. The OFS would have the opportunity to investigate and take action, including through fines.

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

Does the Minister agree that all students are suffering from the conduct of extremists on campus? Does she agree that the right to protest does not include the right to disrupt lectures, examinations and degree ceremonies, to the detriment of all students?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

I strongly agree with the noble Lord. That is why I was clear earlier that the right to protest is most certainly not a right to disrupt, intimidate or harass. It is the responsibility of all of us, including those in the leadership of universities, to make sure that students and staff can go about their business, worship and learn free from harassment and intimidation. That is what we are determined to deliver.

School Teachers’ Review Body: Recommendations

Debate between Baroness Smith of Malvern and Lord Pannick

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Lord raises an interesting point. There are of course people who enter the teaching profession, teach for 10 years, and then leave to become Members of Parliament and Ministers. I am probably too old now to ever countenance going back into the classroom, but the noble Lord makes an important point about how we attract people into the profession at a later age.

That requires, for example, some of the flexibilities we have introduced through the postgraduate apprenticeship route into teaching. It also means that you have to make teaching an attractive profession for people to enter at any age and, importantly, to stay in. That is why we are—through the targeted retention incentives, the bursaries we are offering for specialist subjects, the action we are taking on supporting teachers on the considerable workload they face and the action we are taking to ensure that technology can support teachers in doing the face-to-face work in the classroom that makes all the difference—helping to recruit teachers at the beginning of their careers and teachers who are perhaps coming from other areas and, most importantly, to retain the excellent teachers that we have.

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

Will the Minister say something about where the 1% efficiency savings in schools might be found?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

Yes, they might be found by, for example, schools being able to take the opportunity of the national energy contract that the DfE has entered into. We have already seen that schools that take part in that save considerable amounts of money. They might be found in other ways by thinking about the procurement that schools are doing. To emphasise the point I made earlier, we are not asking schools to do this alone, not least given the enormous pressures that we know there are on head teachers; we are standing alongside schools to support them with a wide range of advice and practical things, such as the energy contract, to be able to achieve this.

It is not unreasonable, at a time when we are asking organisations across the public sector to find efficiencies, that a small part of the contribution to the teachers’ pay award should come from efficiency. On top of that, of course, is the considerable investment of £615 million that this Government are making in teachers through the teachers’ pay award.