Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with (a) universities and (b) police forces on the safety of universities from terrorist activity.

Work to protect universities as potential targets of attack forms part of the Government’s crowded places strategy, of which universities form part of the higher education sector. As such, relevant high-quality protective security advice and guidance is made available to universities and other higher education institutions through the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) and via police Counter Terrorism Security Advisors, who operate in every region of the UK.

In addition, the Colleges and Higher Education Security Standard (CHESS) project, based at the University of Northampton, is working to identify and share effective practice from the further and higher education sectors to improve security, business continuity and resilience across the sector. This Home Office funded project, supported by the Department for Education and the Office for Students, is due to be completed shortly and will complement NaCTSO advice.