Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the office for students registration fees on the financial viability of further education colleges.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
All providers are being treated equitably.
We consulted with all providers, including further education (FE) colleges, twice, on the introduction of registration fees (from December 2016 until March 2017, and from October 2017 until December 2017). The Office for Students (OfS) separately consulted on the model for deciding how student numbers should be determined to inform the fee levels. It published the outcomes of this consultation in October 2018. Following the consultation processes, a number of additional bands were added for smaller providers compared with the original proposal. The costs for a very small provider have decreased from the second phase of the consultation, where a provider with 0-50 full-time equivalent student numbers, the lowest band, was proposed to pay £18,200. Providers with full-time equivalent student numbers of no more than 25 will now pay £12,300, and providers with more than 25 but no more than 50 (full time equivalent) will pay £15,350.
We also considered the impact of fees more widely and published an impact assessment in March 2019. The impact assessment considered higher education providers – including FE colleges – taxpayers, the government and students. The impact assessment report stated:
‘We have … analysed Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) college accounts data for 120 FE colleges with Higher Education Funding Council for England funded learners, that have applied to register and found that FE colleges would be paying on average 0.2% of their total income in registration fees. This ranges from 0.05% to 1.3% of total income but with just one provider paying more than 1%. … these proportions are very small and highly unlikely to impede competition in the higher education market.’
We have committed to a full review of registration fees after 2 years, when the impact of the fees on all providers will be clearer.
I meet regularly with the Chair and officials from the OfS to discuss a wide range of issues, including the financial health of all parts of the higher education sector, which is kept under constant review by the OfS.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the introduction of a separate office for students registration fee banding for stand alone further education colleges.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
All providers are being treated equitably.
We consulted with all providers, including further education (FE) colleges, twice, on the introduction of registration fees (from December 2016 until March 2017, and from October 2017 until December 2017). The Office for Students (OfS) separately consulted on the model for deciding how student numbers should be determined to inform the fee levels. It published the outcomes of this consultation in October 2018. Following the consultation processes, a number of additional bands were added for smaller providers compared with the original proposal. The costs for a very small provider have decreased from the second phase of the consultation, where a provider with 0-50 full-time equivalent student numbers, the lowest band, was proposed to pay £18,200. Providers with full-time equivalent student numbers of no more than 25 will now pay £12,300, and providers with more than 25 but no more than 50 (full time equivalent) will pay £15,350.
We also considered the impact of fees more widely and published an impact assessment in March 2019. The impact assessment considered higher education providers – including FE colleges – taxpayers, the government and students. The impact assessment report stated:
‘We have … analysed Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) college accounts data for 120 FE colleges with Higher Education Funding Council for England funded learners, that have applied to register and found that FE colleges would be paying on average 0.2% of their total income in registration fees. This ranges from 0.05% to 1.3% of total income but with just one provider paying more than 1%. … these proportions are very small and highly unlikely to impede competition in the higher education market.’
We have committed to a full review of registration fees after 2 years, when the impact of the fees on all providers will be clearer.
I meet regularly with the Chair and officials from the OfS to discuss a wide range of issues, including the financial health of all parts of the higher education sector, which is kept under constant review by the OfS.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the article in the Guardian entitled A demeaning environment: stories of racism in UK universities, published 5 July 2019, if he will hold discussions with the Office for Students on their assessment of the scale and nature of racism in UK universities.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
There is no place in our society, including within higher education (HE) for hatred or any form of harassment, discrimination or racism.
The government is working closely with the Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students (OfS) to support work to address racism and other forms of harassment in HE, including implementation of UUK’s Sexual Violence and Harassment Taskforce’s recommendations.
Ministers and officials in the department meet regularly with the OfS, stakeholders and representative bodies about a range of student experience issues including racism, hate crime and harassment in HE. This includes specific quarterly meetings with the OfS to discuss how to tackle harassment and hate crime, including racism within the sector.
In its ministerial guidance, the government has asked the OfS to support this work and to make campuses places of tolerance for all students, and over £2 million has been invested in projects addressing hatred and harassment in HE.
The government will continue to work closely with the OfS to prioritise tackling of all forms of harassment and hate crime in higher education.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of reports of racism against students and staff in UK universities in the last five years.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The government takes all forms of hate crime extremely seriously. There is no place in our society - including within higher education – for hatred or for any form of harassment, discrimination or racism.
The government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students (OfS) to support work to address racism and other forms of harassment in higher education, including the implementation of UUK’s Taskforce recommendations. The government has also tasked the OfS to support this work, and over £2 million has been invested in projects tackling hatred and harassment.
The department regularly meets stakeholders and representative bodies about student experience issues including racism, hate crime and harassment. Officials hold quarterly meetings with the OfS and UUK to discuss how to make progress on harassment and hate crime, including racism within the sector. In addition, I have recently held meetings with the Union of Jewish Students and Jewish student representatives about antisemitism on campus.
The government expects providers to keep records of incidents disclosed to them and to act swiftly to investigate and address them. It is important to recognise that under-reporting is common. Higher education providers should look at how they can continue to break down barriers to reporting, in spite of the potential for it to lead to spikes in disclosures, and to make sure that students and staff feel safe and able to disclose racist incidents.
Evaluation to date has shown that progress has been made but that there is still more to do. On 7 January 2019; I wrote to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to welcome their Inquiry into Racial Harassment in Higher Education Institutions. I look forward to the new evidence that this inquiry will bring and will review its findings carefully.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with representatives from (i) Universities UK, (ii) other education sector bodies, (iii) trades unions representing staff, (iv) student unions and (v) NUS on the effect of incidences of racism directed at their members in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The government takes all forms of hate crime extremely seriously. There is no place in our society - including within higher education – for hatred or for any form of harassment, discrimination or racism.
The government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students (OfS) to support work to address racism and other forms of harassment in higher education, including the implementation of UUK’s Taskforce recommendations. The government has also tasked the OfS to support this work, and over £2 million has been invested in projects tackling hatred and harassment.
The department regularly meets stakeholders and representative bodies about student experience issues including racism, hate crime and harassment. Officials hold quarterly meetings with the OfS and UUK to discuss how to make progress on harassment and hate crime, including racism within the sector. In addition, I have recently held meetings with the Union of Jewish Students and Jewish student representatives about antisemitism on campus.
The government expects providers to keep records of incidents disclosed to them and to act swiftly to investigate and address them. It is important to recognise that under-reporting is common. Higher education providers should look at how they can continue to break down barriers to reporting, in spite of the potential for it to lead to spikes in disclosures, and to make sure that students and staff feel safe and able to disclose racist incidents.
Evaluation to date has shown that progress has been made but that there is still more to do. On 7 January 2019; I wrote to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to welcome their Inquiry into Racial Harassment in Higher Education Institutions. I look forward to the new evidence that this inquiry will bring and will review its findings carefully.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of equality and diversity training provided by higher education institutions; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making that training mandatory.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The government is committed to tackling inequalities. That is why, in October 2018, my right. hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, launched measures to tackle barriers facing ethnic minorities in the workplace, including a new Race at Work Charter and a consultation on ethnicity pay reporting.
Like all employers, higher education providers have responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) in relation to their staff. The government expects providers to comply fully with their obligations. As autonomous and independent institutions, it is for individual providers to ensure that the training they provide is appropriate.
The Equality Challenge Unit (part of Advance HE) has published guidance for higher education providers on embedding equality and diversity into HR policies. The Race Equality Charter also helps higher education providers to identify and address institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of minority ethnic staff and students. The Athena SWAN Charter recognises work undertaken to address gender equality.
The regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), and its predecessor, have provided over £4.7 million in funding for projects tackling sexual harassment, online harassment and hate-based harassment. This includes projects with a focus on developing and providing training for both staff and students on matters such as bystander intervention and handling of reports and disclosures.
In guidance to the OfS, the government has asked the regulator to positively engage with work to counter harassment and hate-crime and to make campuses places of tolerance for all students, and work with providers on equalities issues.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) terms and conditions for, (b) recruitment and (c) career advancement of BAME members of staff at UK universities.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Despite recent progress in staff representation and progression, for example improvements in the number of women in leadership positions in higher education (HE), there is more to be done to create a HE workforce that is representative of British society.
On 1 February 2019, the government announced measures to tackle inequalities and improve outcomes for underrepresented groups in HE. These measures include asking the HE sector to take action to eliminate ethnic disparities in their workforce and support better outcomes for ethnic minority staff. UK Research and Innovation will also be commissioning a review to understand and address equality and diversity disparities in research and innovation funding.
HE providers are independent, autonomous bodies and are responsible for decisions about who they employ and the terms and conditions of employment they offer. Like every employer they must meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and give due consideration to the way their recruitment, retention and promotion practises affect different sections of their communities and staff at different stages of their career.
The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers states that ‘diversity and equality must be promoted in all aspects of the recruitment and career management of researchers’. We expect to see this commitment reinforced as a revised Concordat is published in Autumn 2019.
The Race Equality Charter also helps HE providers to identify and address institutional and cultural barriers that may be impacting on minority ethnic staff and students. By improving the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff within HE we can ensure that everyone who has the potential to thrive at university, both as a student and as a member of staff, does so.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to introduce the teaching excellence framework by subject level for the 2019-20 academic year.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Dame Shirley Pearce is currently conducting an independent review of the operation of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), as required by section 26 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. She has spent several months collecting evidence through a “call for views” and an extensive series of listening sessions and we expect her to report in the summer. Alongside the review, the Office for Students (OfS) has been carrying out the second year of a pilot of subject-level TEF. This will conclude shortly and the OfS will publish its findings. We will await Dame Shirley’s recommendations, and take account of the evidence from the subject-level TEF pilot, before making a decision on the next phase of the TEF.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timeframe is for the publication of the report on the independent review of the teaching excellence framework.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Dame Shirley Pearce is currently conducting an independent review of the operation of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), as required by section 26 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. She has spent several months collecting evidence through a “call for views” and an extensive series of listening sessions and we expect her to report in the summer. Alongside the review, the Office for Students (OfS) has been carrying out the second year of a pilot of subject-level TEF. This will conclude shortly and the OfS will publish its findings. We will await Dame Shirley’s recommendations, and take account of the evidence from the subject-level TEF pilot, before making a decision on the next phase of the TEF.
Asked by: Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the insolvency of Hadlow College, what discussions (a) he and (b) the Education and Skills Funding Agency has had with (i) staff and (ii) student representatives at Hadlow College on protecting learner provision for existing students.
Answered by Anne Milton
Students are at the heart of the new education administration regime: its primary objective is to avoid or minimise disruption to the studies of existing students.
During the education administration, Hadlow College will continue to operate as usual and communications with students and staff have been a priority. The administrators have led communications with staff, including briefing sessions, a letter to all staff and a meeting with the University and College Union.
We understand from administrators that there are no student representatives other than the student governors. Therefore, in discussion with college management, the administrators have decided to communicate to students mostly through teachers as it was felt that this approach was least disruptive. College staff have been actively encouraged to update and answer questions from their students. The college also wrote to existing students, parents and guardians and prospective students to assure them that classes, exams and enrolments are continuing as normal. Students have been encouraged to submit queries either directly to the college communications team or via their teachers.
Earlier this year, we established a panel of insolvency practitioners to work on further education (FE) insolvencies, following a procurement process which, among other things, looked at FE sector experience. The firm appointed for Hadlow College’s insolvency is BDO, which has experience of the FE sector. Additionally, the administrators can draw on a wide range of other education expertise, including governors and staff at the college, the FE Commissioner’s team and the wider sector.