Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government provides a crown guarantee to the Universities Superannuation Scheme via the Office for Students.

The Department for Education agreed to guarantee liabilities due to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) built up by the Higher Education Funding Council for England prior to its cessation in 2018. The department also agreed to guarantee future liabilities due to the USS built up by the Office for Students (OfS), in the event that there is winding up of the OfS or its successor body if no other body assumes the OfS’ functions.

The department’s liability in acting as guarantor for the USS was originally valued at £5 million, as recorded in the remote contingent liabilities section of the Department for Education’s 2017/18 financial year annual report and accounts. The liability valuation has remained at £5 million for all subsequent years, as shown in the department’s annual reports and accounts: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports.